Allison Miller’s Kingly Splendor: Court Art and Materiality in Han China is an impressive and welcome contribution to the study of the early Western Han period. Focused primarily on the first 60 years of the Han period (i.e., 202–141 BCE), the monograph demonstrates that artistic production and culture were not exclusively produced by the Han court to radiate outwards into the empire, as has often been assumed, but rather that the courts of the Han kings were themselves sites of artistic and cultural innovation. As such, the book argues for a reinterpretation of the role of the kings enfeoffed in various parts of the empire when the Han dynasty was founded. Miller argues that the institution of kings was neither static nor identical to the system in place during the Zhou. In particular, she notes that the kings had a high degree of “diversity and freedom in artistic production” (p. 20) during the reign of Emperor Wen (r. 180–157 BCE), who “supported the institution of kings” (p. 40) rather than attempting to limit their power. Through five case studies (rock-cut tombs, terracotta armies, jade suits, tomb murals, and purple textiles), Miller demonstrates the richness of funerary art produced by the kings’ courts, showing connections with and divergences from earlier Chinese artistic practices, and offering a compelling argument for the importance of the kings in both shaping the culture of the early Han and in maintaining regional characteristics. The book contains an impressive number of images, including select color reproductions, as well as drawings, maps, and tables, which guide the reader through the rich material.
Miller employs a materials-based methodology, “paying attention to materials and the processes by which works were manufactured as well as objects’ contexts of display” (p. 5). This approach stands opposed to the “linguistic turn,” which has dominated studies of Chinese tombs, and which reads objects purely in religious and symbolic terms (pp. 8–9). Although Miller argues that much has been gained from these readings, her “study proposes that much can be gained from understanding the material side of tomb objects and the meanings that arise from other phases in an object’s life cycle” (p. 9). To gain this understanding, Miller marshals an impressive array of sources, including early Chinese texts, archaeological reports, and scientific analyses of materials, as well as the objects themselves, while at the same time she employs social and art theory to situate the findings. Following the book’s introduction, which lays out the methodology and aims, the book is divided into six chapters: the first chapter provides a discussion of the changing role of kings during the early Western Han, and each of the following chapters is dedicated to one of the five case studies of the book. Each chapter’s conclusion provides a helpful summary of that chapter, and the book’s conclusion likewise summarizes the overall contributions and themes of the monograph.
Chapter 1 discusses the kings in early China. Miller argues that the Han institution of kings was a “new, experimental, and constantly changing mode of governance” (p. 14) rather than a reestablishment of the Zhou system. The relationship between the kings and the imperial court changed throughout the early years of the Western Han: Miller shows that the institution of kings thrived under Emperor Wen, who “wanted to strengthen the system rather than eliminate it,” creating new kingdoms and strengthening ties between the kings and the court (pp. 28–36). This policy was reversed under Emperor Jing, who sought to reclaim territory held by the kings and centralize power, provoking the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms in 154 BCE. Following the rebellion, the throne limited the political authority of the kings, introduced advisors to oversee the remaining kingdoms, and created new policies, including, notably for this study, regulations on funerals and burials.
The five case studies begin in Chapter 2, with rock-cut tombs that became a dominant royal style. Miller argues that this particular form of tomb was inspired by Emperor Wen’s Baling tomb, which was the first imperial tomb to be constructed in a mountain, rather than by raising a tomb mound, as previous Qin and Han emperors had done. Wen’s choice to use a mountain reflected his concern for the people—by using an existing mountain rather than creating a new tomb mound, Emperor Wen minimized the amount of tax and labor burden on his population (p. 75). While the Baling site has not been identified, and therefore cannot be compared with excavated royal tombs, Miller argues that the kings were inspired by Wen’s precedent, choosing to construct their own tombs in mountains within their kingdoms. Miller convincingly shows that the development of rock-cut tombs came from experimentation at Shizishan, in the Kingdom of Chu, where workers began constructing a traditional vertical-shaft tomb, but changed direction on discovering high-quality rock into which they could carve tunnels. This style became so popular that subsequent Chu tombs retained this style until the end of the Western Han, and the style was also adopted by other states, even inspiring later kings to construct tombs with stone-lined walls when there were no more suitable mountains. While the Han emperors after Wen reverted to previous Han-imperial practice, the rock-cut tombs of the kings demonstrate a shared identity among the kings.
Chapter 3 shows a continuity in practice between the Qin terracotta warriors and the miniaturized armies found in pits near kings’ tombs. Miller argues that the miniaturization was not, as is sometimes believed, due to lack of resources, but, like the royal tombs, an attempt to lessen the burden on the population—not only were the tomb figurines smaller, so too were the pits that needed to be dug to contain them. This stylistic change was also due to the changing nature of warfare in the Han, when cavalry came to be of greater importance than infantry. Through miniaturization, Han artisans could create more distinction between divisions of the army, and better represent the important and costly horses and riders. While Han figurines appear less technically complex and individualized than their Qin counterparts, Miller shows that opulent paint, now mostly lost, allowed for a high degree of individuation, and that the less complex surfaces of the Han figurines allowed the application of detailed painted features.
Jade burial suits are the subject of Chapter 4. Miller discusses the 10 complete and several partial burial suits that have so far been excavated. The suits, she argues, “expressed a king’s affiliation with the imperial house,” as well as other meanings (p. 151). In particular, jade could represent virtue, and for this reason, this costly good could be used without raising accusations of extravagance. Although Han emperors sometimes bestowed jade suits on their favorites, which were produced in the capital, other suits were constructed locally and depended on access to high-quality jade and skilled artisans within the kingdoms. This chapter effectively discusses the evolution of ideas about jade, the use of the material, and scholarly debates about the meaning and use of jade in early imperial times. Miller argues that the kings’ use of jade suits showed not only their ability to afford and create these extraordinary objects but also their membership in the Liu imperial family and their connection to the imperial court. This, however, raises a question which the chapter does not address—if this is the case, why, then, is the most exquisite of the known jade suits found in the tomb of one of the leaders of the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms?
Chapters 5 and 6 turn to more local artistic styles: the mural paintings at Shiyuan in the Kingdom of Liang and the purple-dyed textiles from the Kingdom of Qi in present-day Shandong. The three murals in the Shiyuan tomb, possibly belonging to the first wife of King Xiao of Liang (r. 168–144 BCE), are both the earliest set of wall murals and the only set of murals found in a royal tomb. They are thus unique and reveal local identity. Rather than read these murals, as previous scholars have, as representations of the flight of the soul into the afterlife, Miller argues that the murals represent southern ideas of death popular in the former state of Chu, specifically that of non-bodily ascension (p. 203). The murals were, therefore, intended to represent “a general desire to achieve transcendence” (p. 204) and to express group solidarity with southern elites who shared these beliefs. Architecturally, the murals divided space within the tomb between coffin and offering rooms. As there are no other murals in Western Han royal tombs, Miller argues that the Shiyuan tomb was a site of experimentation, and represents the artistic freedom enjoyed by the kings. The final case study, “the Purple Textiles of Qi,” shows how a local industry shaped taste throughout the empire. Purple-colored textiles were very expensive to produce, and therefore highly valued at court. Falling outside of the five “correct” colors (zhengse 正色), purple threads and cloth were employed by rulers of Qin and Han alike. Purple became so popular that in early Han times, members of the elite were expending vast sums to clothe themselves in it, and it became even more valuable during the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BC), who elevated the deity Taiyi 太一, and associated it with the color purple. Miller introduces the work of Wang Xu, a textile archaeologist, to demonstrate that Qi’s source of purple dye was the Shandong mollusc, allowing the Kingdom of Qi to maintain a monopoly on this precious color. The scarcity and cost of these purple dyes led to technological innovations in synthetic pigments, with purple and blue paints becoming themselves markers of status in the Han.
The monograph makes a compelling argument for the kingdoms as sites of artistic innovation, demonstrating that during the early Western Han, not only did the kings play an important role in shaping Han elite culture, but that culture and authority did not simply radiate from the center to the kingdoms. The materials-based approach allows Miller to investigate the local characteristics of funerary objects, and to better understand how goods and styles circulated within the empire. While this approach allows us to see valuable new dimensions to royal and imperial art in the period, I was left wondering why, in this monograph on funerary objects, there is scant discussion of the afterlife. While Miller clearly states that she wishes to step away from the discussion of the well-studied religious and symbolic meaning of these objects, it is surprising that there is almost no discussion of how ideas about the afterlife may have influenced styles, whether local or empire-wide. The southern beliefs of non-bodily transcendence are referred to in Chapter 5 as the reason that the wall murals should be read as ornamental rather than as religiously efficacious objects, and one wonders whether the other artistic media may have similarly been shaped by local or changing beliefs.
Another key argument is that funerary objects and their production were an important factor in shaping Han culture, and Miller convincingly argues that new techniques and styles flowed from the royal courts to the center as well as from the center to the courts. She further argues that the art and architecture of the Han tombs were meant to communicate meaning to the elite subjects who would see the objects, as well as to the population, who would understand that their labor and taxes were not being expropriated to create lavish tombs. This is in contrast to the First Emperor of Qin, whose tomb was so grandiose and abundantly furnished that, according to Miller, news of its contents would be communicated by word of mouth throughout the empire (p. 114). However, the monograph does not consider how this communicative function of tomb objects was reconciled with the very real fear of tomb robbers. While Miller is certainly correct that not all of those who worked on the First Emperor’s tomb were executed, precautions were nonetheless taken to limit information about what was contained within the tomb, and, despite our increased knowledge of communication within the Qin, there is no evidence of laborers discussing the tomb in this way. While it is of course almost impossible to measure this kind of communication, more could be said about the audiences for the objects, and the attempts to prohibit knowledge about tombs are worth taking into consideration.
These qualms aside, Miller has produced a very impressive monograph, which not only enriches our understanding of the early Han kings and the production of culture but also will encourage future study on the subject. The book is thoroughly researched and highly readable, and contains excellent images, tables, and a comprehensive bibliography and index.
