The ancient Chinese people believed in “视死如生”, ie, life after death. This tomb from Xin Dynasty (9-23 AD), a period between the two Han dynasties that was formed by the usurpation of Wang Mang (45 BC – 23 AD).
Mural Tomb At Xincun Village, Yanshi District, Luoyang, Xin Dynasty 偃师辛村新莽墓壁画
Stone carvings | Xin Mang (9-23 AD) | Discovered in 1991 at Xincun village, Gaolong town, Yanshi district | Luoyang Ancient Tombs Museum Collection. 石刻｜新莽（公元9-23年）｜1991年偃师辛村出土｜洛阳古墓博物馆藏
Discovered in 1991 at Xincun village, Gaolong town, Yanshi district, the tomb is built with hollow bricks and consists of the shaft tomb passage, gate, coffin chamber and side chambers. The rectangular coffin chamber features a flat-ridged hip-roof-like top. The coffin chamber is divided by balustrade door and baulk into the front, central and rear chambers.
It was common for wealthy individuals to have a stone door built at the entrance of their tomb which was carved with images of mythical creatures to guard against evil spirits. Eight murals are painted on the east and west walls of the front chamber, lintel of the balustrade door, east and west walls of the central chamber, and the baulk between the central and rear chambers.1
On the door, there are Changyi, Xihe and Fang Xiangtu. In the middle room, there are cooking scenes in kitchen, Liubo banquets, dance banquets, etc on the walls. On the lintel in the middle room and the back room, there are the Queen Mother of the West 西王母, rabbit on the moon 玉免擣藥, mythical toad, two-winged beast 雙翼獸, nine-tailed fox 九尾狐, vermillion bird 朱雀, etc., and outside the door of the two ear chambers, there are officials holding halberds. There are 13 pieces of funerary goods of pottery-made jars, warehouses, stoves, pots and other tableware, as well as pottery well wheels, well railings, etc.2
Queen Mother of the West and Phoenix 西王母、凤鸟图
The Queen Mother of the West 西王母 is an important goddess in the Taoist world of heavenly immortals. She is the main goddess of folk beliefs in the Han Dynasty. She holds the elixir of immortality in her hand, and also has the divine power to guide the souls of the deceased to ascend to heaven.3
Mysterious Beast, Fuxi and Nüwa 神兽、伏羲女娲图
This mural is also interpreted as “Fang Xiangshi with Xiho and Changxi, Sun and the Moon Figure “「方相氏與羲和常羲擎日月圖」.4 For a long time, Xiho 羲和 and Changxi 常羲5 have been regarded as the earliest forms of Fuxi 伏羲 and Nüwa 女娲, except that Xiho and Changxi are usually depicted as individual supernatural beings like in this particular mural and not intertwined together.
Fuxi and Nüwa 伏羲女娲
The current incarnation of Fuxi and Nuwa only appeared in post-Han dynasty tomb carvings and murals.6 Fuxi 伏羲 (above, left) and Nüwa 女娲 are primordial creator deities in Chinese mythology, brother and sister, who are often depicted with human upper bodies and intertwined snake-like lower bodies. They are credited with repopulating the world after a great flood, with Nüwa creating humans from clay and Fuxi establishing marriage customs.
They are also linked to the creation of writing, the Bagua trigrams, and the symbolic tools of the compass and square, representing Heaven and Earth.7 Their common depiction with human torsos and snake-like tails symbolises a connection to the earth and cosmic order. They are not alone in the history of humankind, as their likeness is found in civilisations around the world.8
Dinner Party – Female Guests, In the Kitchen (Middle) 宴饮（女宾）图、庖厨图 （中）
The ancient Chinese people believed in “视死如生”, ie. the belief of life after death. Therefore they would incorporate the things that they liked in life as part of the funerary goods in the burial rituals, so that they could carry on their daily routines in the afterlife. The Han people believed that the body and soul are part of the human, and death is when the body has died but the soul continues to live on “another realm”.9
Liubo 六博 was an ancient Chinese board game for two players. The rules have largely been lost, but it is believed that each player had six game pieces that were moved around the points of a square game board that had a distinctive, symmetrical pattern. This game was played since the the Warring States era (4th century BC) and maybe much earlier (7th century BC) as it is quoted in Confucius’ Analects (Book XVII, 22): “It is difficult for a man who always has a full stomach to put his mind to some use. Are there not players of liubo and weiqi? Even playing these games is better than being idle.”
Apparently very popular during the Han dynasty (207 BC – 220 AD) when the best players were well respected and formed a teams, just like e-sports these days. It later vanished, probably outshone by the Chinese adaptation of Nard (a Backgammon ancestor) coming from India and Persia when the Tang (618-907) re-opened the Silk Road. The very last reference dates from the Song time (before 1162) where it was quoted as an “old game”.
Summary
Han tombs reflect a complex set of beliefs about death, the soul, and the afterlife. The scenes and objects depicted in tomb murals and figurines provide valuable glimpses into the daily lives and customs of Han people.10 The study of Han tombs thus offers a fascinating window into the complex and multifaceted world of Han China, from the grand visions of the emperors to the intimate details of ordinary life.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes:
- 1991年发现于偃师区高龙乡辛村。该墓为空心砖砌成，由竖井墓道、墓门、墓室及耳室组成。墓室平面呈长方形，顶部作四坡平脊形式，墓室被勾栏门和隔梁分成前、中和后室三部分。
壁画分别绘于耳室门外、勾栏门门额、中室东西壁和中、后室之间的隔梁上，共计8幅。Museum Information Card ↩︎ - 斜坡幾頂空心磚墓，具有前、中、後室及耳室。壁畫面積不大，分佈在勾欄門額上、中室東西壁、中室與後室橫隔、兩耳室門外北側等處。門額上爲常儀、羲和、方相圖，中室有庖廚、六博宴飲、對舞宴飲等，中室與後室的橫隔上有西王母、玉免擣藥、蟾蜍、雙翼獸、九尾狐、男子、朱雀等，兩耳室門外有持棨戟門吏。隨葬品有陶器製成的罐、倉、灶、甑等食器，以及陶井輪、井欄架等共13件。 Museum Information Card ↩︎
- 西王母是天国神仙世界一位重要神祇，是汉代民间信仰的主神，她手中有长生不老的灵丹，还具有引导逝者灵魂升天的神力。 ↩︎
- 畫面中央為一頭頂豬頭、呈馬步蹲站狀的怪人，眼鼻掩於豬頭下，盆口大張，牙齒裸露，獠牙奇大，鬍鬚篷亂，脖後黑色樂毛如翼。上身赤裸，雙臂呈弓形，握拳於胸前，下體著豬色褲子，褲腿高捲至膝，帶不獸足，身上有稀疏的黑色體毛，其狀甚凶猛。
左右臂彎裡分別端坐羲和、常義，二人皆慈眉善目，上體人形著衣，下體蛇形鱗軀，兩軀尾部相交於下，淡青色塗紅、黑色斑點。左側羲和戴黑冠，冠帶繫於領下，細直眉，閉目，直鼻，櫻口，八字鬍奇長。身著綠色交領寬袖上衣，赭色領袖，雙手拱舉胸前擎日，其為黑邊豬色圓形，內無金烏。右側常羲束髮，鬢髮下垂，直眉彎梢，閉目，隆鼻，櫻口，八字鬍。身著交領寬袖楮衣，雙手拱舉胸前擎月，其為黑邊白色圓形，內無蟾蜍。
與此圖最為近似的是偃師辛村新莾壁畫墓前室勾欄門上額壁畫，不同之處是前者中間怪人體細小而頭部碩大，左人身蛇軀者擎日，右人身蛇軀者擎月，二者尾部不相交，日月中分別有金烏和蟾蜍。學者多釋二者為神話中日、月的母親羲和與常羲，或伏羲和女媧；中間的怪人為驅邪打鬼中的蒙熊皮的方相氏。《周禮•夏官司馬•方相氏》云：「掌蒙熊皮，黃金四目，玄衣朱裳，執戈揚盾，帥百隸而時儺。大喪，先柩，及墓，入壙，以戈擊四隅，歐方良。」時人把方相氏和羲和、常義擎日月描繪於墓室中，顯然是借助他們的法（筆者按，應漏一「術」字）來驅邪鎮墓，保佑墓主人平安的。（圖一）Extracted from “A research on the new discovery “the man of God and Fuxi and Nuwa” Han Dynasty mural brick in Luoyang”, Lu Jui-Ching（魯瑞菁）, 彰化師大國文學誌第三十三期, 彰化師範大學國文學系2016年12月https://libap.nhu.edu.tw:8081/Ejournal/AB05003302.pdf, accessed 1 Nov 2025 ↩︎ - Xiho 羲和 and Changxi 常羲 are the wives of the Heavenly Emperor Diqun 帝俊（帝喾）; Xiho gave birth to 10 sons whom became the suns in the sky, Changxi gave birth to 12 daughters whom became moons. https://baike.baidu.com/item/常羲/7112783 ↩︎
- “马王堆汉墓出土两幅T形帛画上部正中的白衣人身蛇尾神的身份到底是什么？” 敖强, 1 Oct 2025 https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/1956501500600770636, accessed 1 Nov 2025 ↩︎
- “Fuxi and Nüwa” by REN ZHIYU, Chinese Social Sciences Today 2023-10-16 http://english.cssn.cn/skw_culture/CULTURE_Horizontal/202310/t20231012_5690158.shtml, accessed 1 Nov 2025 ↩︎
- 伏羲女媧的蛇身形象，在全球多個古文明中有驚人類似案例：
印度教中的Nāga兄妹，同為蛇身人首神祇，掌管水源與守護繁衍。
古巴比倫的恩基 (Enki) 與寧瑪赫 (Ninmah) 為兄妹神，具水與生育神格，也有蛇形描述。
埃及神話中的尼赫貝考（Nehebkau），為蛇身創世神，象徵再生與生命。
古希臘中的伊希斯 (Isis) 與塞拉匹斯 (Serapis)，同樣具備交纏蛇形圖騰，用以象徵生命合一。https://tw.news.yahoo.com/新疆古墓出土伏羲女媧-交尾圖-蛇身交纏酷似dna雙螺旋引熱議-080600946.html, accessed 1 Nov 2025 ↩︎ - 墓葬之所以涉及宗教说法及注重陪葬品的安排方式，其实正表现了人们对死者是“视死如生”。视死如生的观念的根源源自一种灵魂未灭的说法，以为人的肉体与灵魂是两个部份，肉体死了，灵魂尚存；死者不再在人间生存，但他原有的生命并不曾完全“消失”，而是转化成另一种“生命形式”，在另一不可见也不可知的世界过活。https://www.cntombstone.com/m/view.php?aid=1741 ↩︎
- https://fiveable.me/the-archaeology-of-ancient-china/unit-6/han-dynasty-tombs-burial-practices/study-guide/iNW1v9z1DCOeuw3g, accessed 14 Nov 2025 ↩︎
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