Mingqi

Mingqi (Chinese: 冥器 or 明器, p míngqì), sometimes referred to as "spirit objects"[1] or "vessels for ghosts", are Chinese burial goods. They included daily utensils, musical instruments, weapons, armor, and intimate objects such as the deceased's cap, can and bamboo mat.[2] Mingqi also could include figurines, spiritual representations rather than real people,[3] of soldiers, servants, musicians, polo riders, houses, unicorns and horses.[4] Extensive use of mingqi during certain periods may either have been an attempt to preserve the image of ritual propriety by cutting costs, or it may have a new idea separating the realm of the dead from that of the living.[5]

Terra cotta figure from Shaanxi, Western Han Period (206 BC – 9 AD)

Purpose

Mingqi served to provide the deceased with necessities and comforts in the afterlife. The deceased person's po was said to remain in the realm of the tomb while the hun ascended to heaven. To appease and make worthwhile the deceased's po, mingqi claimed relevant and liked by the deceased were placed in his tomb. Upon placing mingqi in the tomb, humans, according to the Confucian ideal, were harmonizing the cosmos by striking a balance for the comfort of the deceased who is also comforted in heaven.[6]

In various dynasties after the Qin dynasty, some important Confucianists also believed in xian, the Taoist concept of immortal spiritual beings, and the land in which they lived. Mingqi was thought by these Confucianists to be able to harness the hun and po to give the status of an immortal unto the deceased.[7]

The more mingqi one held to have the wealthier and strong social status one may have.[8]

See also

References
  1. Loewe, p. 266
  2. Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L. (1999). The Cambridge history of ancient China: from the origins of civilization to 221 B.C. Cambridge University Press. pp. 728–. ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  3. Higham, Charles (2004). Encyclopedia of ancient Asian civilizations. Infobase Publishing. pp. 224–. ISBN 978-0-8160-4640-9. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  4. Brooks, Sarah (January 1994). "Images from the Underworld". The Rotarian. Rotary International: 22–23. ISSN 0035-838X. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  5. Stark, Miriam T. (2006). Archaeology of Asia. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 212–. ISBN 978-1-4051-0213-1. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  6. Clydesdale, Heather Colburn. "The Vibrant Role of Mingqi in Early Chinese Burials". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. Scarpari, Maurizio (2006). Ancient China: Chinese Civilization from the Origins to the Tang Dynasty. Translated by Milan, A.B.A. New York: Barnes & Noble. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-7607-8379-5.
  8. https://www.lotusgallery.co.uk/antiques/p/tang-female-figurine-rider
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