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A civil official of one of the Northern Dynasties. The figurine, 142.5 centimeters tall, is the largest among pottery figurines unearthed from tombs built during the period of the Southern-Northern Dynasties. | Use of human figurines as funerary objects dates back to the Shang-Zhou period, to a period from 1600 BC to 1000 BC, to be exact. Before that period, hundreds and even more than 1,000 slaves were buried alive together with a dead nobleman, supposedly to serve their master in the nether world. The practice eventually ceased to exist as human labor became more and more productive and, as a result, human figurines were invented for use as funerary objects. Things of straw that look like scarecrows were used at first, followed by pottery and wooden figurines.
Human figurines used as funerary objects before the Qin Dynasty were quite small, just a few to a dozen centimeters tall. Along with improvement in workmanship, however, they became more and more real in style, not only in human shape but also with details such as the hair, eyes and eyebrows painted. Some figurines "wear" armor suits painted in color, and we have also found figurines with silk clothes on.
We are unable to know who invented the practice of using human figurines as funerary objects, but we do know that the practice originated from the late period of China's slavery society and thrived during the Qin and Han dynasties.
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| Photo shows a terracotta horse-drawn chariot, a funerary object for Emperor Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty. | The Chinese sage Confucius was strongly against use of human figurines as funerary objects. Said he, "If only the originator of funerary figurines die without a son!" According to one assumption, even though the practice of burying peoplealive had ceased to exist, those figurines looked so real that they may prompt a desire to restore it and for that, the sage condemned its originator. |
