Figurines such as these, half-naked, represented a new form for the period and only a small proportion of Han human figures. Nudity was associated in China with uncivilised peoples, hence very seldom seen in orthodox, official artefacts. Indeed these figurines were not intended to be seen thus. Originally after being modelled and sculpted they were fired, painted and finally dressed. The textiles and wooden arms added to the figures decayed after being buried for centuries in the tombs of the Han noblemen. An amazing discovery of 600 figures accompanied by 4000 artefacts, was made in the tomb of the Emperor Liu Qi (r.156-141 BC) in Xianyang, Shaanxi. These figures were intended to continue providing the Emperor with the same services as those he enjoyed in his lifetime.Such figures and models and other miniature or non-functional objects are collectively known as ‘mingqi’ (spirit articles) and have been traditionally interpreted as substitutes for the animals and human victims sacrificed during the funeral, as well as surrogates for objects of value placed in the tomb. Yet recent archaeological evidence have highlighted that these objects might have instead constituted an integral part of the strategy to recreate the earthly dwelling of the deceased. The replication of the living world and its constituents within the tomb might have been induced by various ideological factors, including a new religious trend emphasising the separation of the dead from the living and other material manifestations of different philosophical ideas, but also possibly by the effort to reproduce a self-sustaining version of the world- a fictive and efficacious comprehensive replica, made up of both real sacrificed humans and animals (the 'presented') and elements such as the terracotta army (the 're-presented').In ancient China, burials constituted the preferred platform for social aggrandizement and strongly signified the power and status of their builders and occupants; soldiers, concubines or animals, or precious articles in the tomb constituted a symbol of power and reflected the wealth of its occupant. By the Qin period and throughout the Han period, the ability to have them reproduced – hence possessing the aesthetics, cognitive, technological and economic resources to reproduce the world- became a more efficient way of asserting power and status.References:Yang Shaoneng ed. The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology, 1999, and Kesner, L.”Real and Substitute in the Early Chinese Mortuary Context, Mysteries of Ancient China, 1996. As a principal burial component reserved for the members of the ruling class, such models have been found around the Han capital of Xi’an, in Shaanxi province: see the archaeological reports published in Kaogu 1984.10: 887-94, and Kaogu yu Wenwu 1990.4: 45, 53. - (LA.530)

Antiquities
Ancient Asian