|
|
Article: From life to immortality.(Current and coming.)
- Article from:
- The Magazine Antiques
- Article date:
- March 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The preparations for a Chinese nobleman's or ruler's passage into the afterlife were complicated during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 9), before the introduction of Buddhism into China. It was then thought that the deceased split into two souls. One of these, called the hun-soul was thought to travel to the immortal realm, while the other, the po-soul, stayed in the tomb. The tomb, therefore, was an elaborate affair, for it had to be appointed with celestial images that would guide the hun-soul to immortality and worldly goods to be used by the po-soul. Indeed, the tombs were often so well equipped that they included entire chariots buried with live horses. Recent ...