During the Han dynasty, processions of chariots shaded by parasols or occasionally by canopies were among the most popular subjects painted, stamped, or carved on the walls of tombs and shrines.[1] Often accompanied by riders on horseback, chariots with parasols in particular seem to gallop across the walls of tombs housing high-ranking nobles and officials. Although the rise of cavalry in the fourth century BCE reduced their role in warfare, chariots retained their importance as indicators of rank and wealth.[2] A third-century BCE poetic description of the affluent early Chinese metropolis of Linzi in Shandong characterizes the populace as enjoying the luxuries not only of chariots, but also of musical instruments, fighting cocks, and games of dice and soccer; the streets of Linzi were “so choked with chariots that the hubcaps struck against one another.”[3]

Life-size chariots and their horses were often buried with the dead of noble or royal rank, thus continuing to confer status after death; this practice began in the Shang and continued through the Han dynasty. Chariots shaded with parasols appeared in graves as early as the Western Zhou but became more prevalent around the late sixth to early fifth century BCE and were increasingly popular in the Qin (221–206 BCE) and Han (206 BCE–220 CE) dynasties. These were the most lavishly embellished vehicles, with elegant fittings of gilt bronze (cat. nos. 28, 31, 39–44) and gold and silver inlay (cat. nos. 29, 30).[4] Unmistakable symbols of wealth and status, these chariots not only maintained the luxurious lifestyle of the deceased but were also thought to carry him on his final journey to the land of the immortals.

Examples of chariot fittings as well as other grave goods from at least two Western Han rock-cut royal tomb sites in Shandong, one at Shuangrushan, Changqing county, and the other at Jiulongshan in Qufu county (see p. xx, fig. 1), are included in this exhibition.[5] Shuangrushan Tomb 1 remained undisturbed until its excavation, preserving over 2,000 burial items, including life-size one- two-and four-horse chariots along with a half-size chariot and a miniature one. The following four gilt bronze and inlaid chariot fittings, catalogue nos. 28 through 31, come from the surviving chariot burials at Shuangrushan. At Jiulongshan the four royal tombs contained some twelve life-size chariots and the remains of fifty horses as well as several miniature chariots. The site yielded four of the gilt bronze chariot fittings in the exhibition (cat. nos. 39–44).

This small gilt bronze ornamental fitting is shaped like a fantastic arched animal. At the front, its head has a flat pig-like snout with two raised ridges across the top and two bulging eyes accentuated by two raised ridges: one forms an eyebrow and the other, the edges of the eyelids. This second ridge continues along the side to the top of the head, where it is transformed into low-relief bands that become curled horns. Another band runs between the horns, along the animal’s arched back, and ends in a T-shape. The body ends in a tail shaped as three large saw-teeth.

Called an ejiao, literally “yoke horn,” this ornamental fitting was placed at the curved ends of the yoke saddle that was fitted around the horse’s neck (for diagram of chariot parts, see appendix 1).[6] The head of this fantastic creature resonates with the same energy as the heads on the bronze lamp- or iron-stand (cat. no. 10) and on the large stone striding bixie that guarded the spirit roads approaching tombs. Fittings and stone sculpture alike were invested with apotropaic power to protect the deceased and to ward off evil. A very similar fitting was excavated from the late second-century BCE Western Han tombs of Prince Liu Sheng and Lady Dou Wan at Mancheng, Hebei.[7] A slightly different gilt bronze ejiao, with an open loop in the center and no saw-tooth tail, was excavated from the Western Han tombs at Jiulongshan, Qufu county (cat. no. 40).