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I managed to find a nice cheap copy of Michael Loewe's book Ways to Paradise: The Chinese Quest for Immortality. Thanks to ebay I managed to get a book listed on abe at $45 for the low price of $15! And it was definitely worth it!
This is the third book by Loewe I've read. The first being everyday life, and the second looking at different aspects of Han religion. (Which I wrote about back on 14th of November.) While an older writer he writes well, clearly and always has interesting arguments to make. He's quickly becoming my favorite author on the Han dynasty.
Ways to Immortality looked at three, at the time the book was originally written in 1976, recent archaeological discoveries and concepts. After a brief chapter on the cosmology of the Han he first examined a tomb from the early Han. The tomb was thought to be of a 50 year old countess from the south west of China. In particular he focused on a burial shroud from the tomb. The cloth, for shroud might not be the right word though it was found with the body inside the coffin, contained an image of what was thought to be the soul's progression after death. He went into detailed analysis of all the imagery used in the silk painting and the different interpretations that had been given.
The next topic were TLV mirrors, several of which are at the local Asian Art Museum here in Seattle. These are bronze mirrors with squares inside circles, and often have inscriptions round the edges. A terrible discription of them, but then Loewe devotes 2 appendicies to trying to, if you've seen them you'll know what he's talking about. I knew next to nothing about these mirrors. They were also tomb objects though due to the state of archeology and imperalism and war most of the mirrors in museums today don't know their original locations or origins. Loewe theorized that these mirrors might be a permanent representation of the diviners board that had been used to secure the best possible outcome for the deceased. There were lovely diagrams of Han diviners boards, examples of how they were used, references to them in literature from the period. One of the most exciting parts was in one of the appendices at the end of the book, for the book was half content and half notes and appendices, was the inscriptions, written in modern Chinese and then on the facing pages the translations in English. That will be some fun practice translating to do when I get better at Chinese! Almost worth the entire dollars in itself.
But there was also a wonderful chapter on the history of the Queen Mother of the West, and intriguing Han deity who was responsible for the elixir of life, I was going to say that she made it but she had rabbits or hares in the moon who actually made it for her. But he looked at the history of her in literature and art. He even mentioned a little about the millenarian cult that worshiped her around 3ad. For approximately 6 months that year, people went around spreading her teachings, handing out talismans with the idea that whoever didn't have one would perish. Fascinating, he also looked at the similarities between her and the myth of the weaving maid and the Ox herd. A similarity I'd not heard anyone mention before. I know that a more recent complete book about the Queen Mother of the West has been published and now I definitely want to go and get that!
He concluded with a small look at the bird in the sun and the hare in the moon, common symbols not just to China. But both symbols that have been associated with the Queen Mother of the West. He showed how the three birds with her got changed into a three legged bird, perhaps due to Han cosmology ideas of Yin Yang and the 5 elements. And also looked at the Toad and Hare in the moon. Which caused me to laugh out loud when I read the phrase "hares pounding drugs on the moon". Sounded like a bad 70's concept album or something. But despite that it was a really wonderful book.
This is the third book by Loewe I've read. The first being everyday life, and the second looking at different aspects of Han religion. (Which I wrote about back on 14th of November.) While an older writer he writes well, clearly and always has interesting arguments to make. He's quickly becoming my favorite author on the Han dynasty.
Ways to Immortality looked at three, at the time the book was originally written in 1976, recent archaeological discoveries and concepts. After a brief chapter on the cosmology of the Han he first examined a tomb from the early Han. The tomb was thought to be of a 50 year old countess from the south west of China. In particular he focused on a burial shroud from the tomb. The cloth, for shroud might not be the right word though it was found with the body inside the coffin, contained an image of what was thought to be the soul's progression after death. He went into detailed analysis of all the imagery used in the silk painting and the different interpretations that had been given.
The next topic were TLV mirrors, several of which are at the local Asian Art Museum here in Seattle. These are bronze mirrors with squares inside circles, and often have inscriptions round the edges. A terrible discription of them, but then Loewe devotes 2 appendicies to trying to, if you've seen them you'll know what he's talking about. I knew next to nothing about these mirrors. They were also tomb objects though due to the state of archeology and imperalism and war most of the mirrors in museums today don't know their original locations or origins. Loewe theorized that these mirrors might be a permanent representation of the diviners board that had been used to secure the best possible outcome for the deceased. There were lovely diagrams of Han diviners boards, examples of how they were used, references to them in literature from the period. One of the most exciting parts was in one of the appendices at the end of the book, for the book was half content and half notes and appendices, was the inscriptions, written in modern Chinese and then on the facing pages the translations in English. That will be some fun practice translating to do when I get better at Chinese! Almost worth the entire dollars in itself.
But there was also a wonderful chapter on the history of the Queen Mother of the West, and intriguing Han deity who was responsible for the elixir of life, I was going to say that she made it but she had rabbits or hares in the moon who actually made it for her. But he looked at the history of her in literature and art. He even mentioned a little about the millenarian cult that worshiped her around 3ad. For approximately 6 months that year, people went around spreading her teachings, handing out talismans with the idea that whoever didn't have one would perish. Fascinating, he also looked at the similarities between her and the myth of the weaving maid and the Ox herd. A similarity I'd not heard anyone mention before. I know that a more recent complete book about the Queen Mother of the West has been published and now I definitely want to go and get that!
He concluded with a small look at the bird in the sun and the hare in the moon, common symbols not just to China. But both symbols that have been associated with the Queen Mother of the West. He showed how the three birds with her got changed into a three legged bird, perhaps due to Han cosmology ideas of Yin Yang and the 5 elements. And also looked at the Toad and Hare in the moon. Which caused me to laugh out loud when I read the phrase "hares pounding drugs on the moon". Sounded like a bad 70's concept album or something. But despite that it was a really wonderful book.