Haicheng Wang: Beautiful Writing In The First Civilizations; Guolong Lai: The Tomb Guardian Figure

00:01:20
Haicheng Wang, Professor of Art History, University of Washington
“Beautiful Writing in the First Civilizations”

In Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Maya cities, and China, writing seems to have been invented in various contexts of use — but in each place, it quickly came to serve the interests of the elite, for whom its display provided legitimation of power and hierarchy. This presentation will describe the rise of display writing and the forms it took in these four civilizations, with special attention to the inscriptions that have survived best from ancient China: those on bronze ritual vessels and bells.

00:30:05
Guolong Lai, Professor of Liberal Arts, Westlake University
“What is the So-called ‘Tomb Guardian Figure’?”

Often perceived as a unique artistic and religious phenomenon of the Chu during the Warring States period, the so-called zhenmushou (the “tomb guardian figure” or “antler and tongue” motif) is a well-studied yet elusive and enigmatic work of early Chinese art. Based on a self-identifying inscription, excavated religious documents, a philological and phonological investigation, and a typological study, this talk proposes that this wooden or bronze figure is actually a phallus symbol representing the fecundity god in early China.

01:01:40
Q&A

Co-organized by the Asian Art Museum and Hubei Provincial Museum. Symposium made possible with the generous support of the Bei Shan Tang Foundation.