This paper reexamines the famous painting from Mawangdui Tomb number 1. Instead of approaching it as an independent “work” and matching its images with fragmentary textual references, I explore its relationship with other buried objects, the tomb's structure and symbolism, and the ritual process during which the tomb was constructed. Based on ancient ritual canons, I reject the popular opinion that the painting served to summon the departed soul or to guide the soul to Heaven. Rather, the painting formed part of the jiu-group (“the body in its long home”) at the center of the burial, and enclosed by the guan-coffins decorated with images of protection and immortality, and again by the guo-casket, a replica of the deceased's household (zhai). The painting's meaning and function must be comprehended within this architectural-ritual context. Moreover, neither the painting nor the whole tomb represents a coherent conception of the afterlife. This feature separates this tomb from those constructed earlier and later, and represents a transitional period in the history of early Chinese art and religion.

本文重新考察馬王堆一號漢墓出土的著名帛畫. 作者不把此畫作爲一件單獨藝術作品或對照零散文獻推斷其內含，而希望揭示其與墓內葬具的關係,墓葬的結構和象徵意義,以及墓葬形成的禮儀過程. 根據古代禮書,作者否定了把此畫看成是招魂或引魂昇天工具的流行觀念,提出此畫實際是墓葬中心的“柩”之一部分，幾層飾有保護死者和昇仙題材的畫棺圍繞著“柩”. 而“棺”又位於象徵死者住宅的“梆”內.作者認爲帛畫的含義和功能必須在這個建築及禮儀的雙重環境中加以考察推定,並進而提出馬王堆帛畫和整個墓葬並不反映對死後世界的系統完整的觀念.此墓因而有別於以前或以後的墓葬, 而反映了中國早期宗敎及美術的一個過渡時期.