| Using jade, a particular category of art objects, as the point of entry, this study seeks to explore and question the issue of materiality and identity within the context of tomb art, and the wider issue of cultural and social practices in the Han Dynasty.;Despite the fact that there has been an enormous amount of jades excavated from the Western Han tombs of Chu Princes, Xuzhou in Jiangsu province, little scholarly literature has been focused on these artefacts. Based on archaeological findings, this thesis selects some significant jade objects as the focus of attention, including jade pendants, jade vessels, jade weapons, jade suites and other burial jades. As the role and value of jade is varied in the hierarchy of material within different cultural and historical context, the changes in its functions and meanings, to some extent reflects the changes in politics, economy, and society. Through tracing their origins, the identity of the owners and examining the changes in material and society, this study attempts to reveal the cultural and social value embedded in these objects, and in doing so to reconstruct the changes in material concepts and aesthetic ideologies in the Han periods.;On the basis of the achievements have hitherto in Han jade study, the present study is expected to shed light on our understanding of tomb culture and its relation to the society from a broader and more comprehensive perspective. Aside from placing specific types of jade into an accurate period or investigating their functions and sources, this study will read the object by cross reference to ancient textual material. |
