|
Brick and stone reliefs: Chinese paintings in 3-D
 Brick reliefs: A clear portrait of Han society
 An imprint of an Eastern Han Dynasty brick depicting two
mythical creators of the world, Fuxi, and his sister Nuwa. The figures
have snake-shaped bodies and are holding geometrical instruments, with the
sun and moon on their heads. |
 Dragons and lions had already developed during the Warring
States period. During the Han Dynasty they became a very popular motif.
These two examples are playing with a jade disk, a symbol of heavenly
contact with the owner of the disk. |
 Another picture that shows mythical tradition is this rubbing
of a brick from the Eastern Han Dynasty. These two birds with a man's head
symbolize the moon and the sun. On the moon lives a toad, on the sun a
crow. |
 This rubbing of an Eastern Han Dynasty stone has a special
religious background. Especially during the Han dynasty, the veneration of
the so-called Mother Queen of the West was very popular among many social
groups, peasantry as well as upper class. In this picture, we see the
mythical animals toad, crow and hare and people making chariot
wheels. |
|
|
E-Mail
This Article 
Print
Friendly Format 
