TY  - GEN
AB  - The Dingling Mausoleum was built as the afterlife abode of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty (r. 1573–1620) and his two wives. Among the thousands of burial goods excavated from the site are two embroidered silk jackets that belonged to Imperial Honored Consort Wang, often referred to as Empress Dowager Xiaojing. With their physical proximity to the deceased body, sophisticated craftsmanship, and unusually festive motifs of one hundred playing boys, the jackets are both fascinating and puzzling. Through closely attending to the visual and material aspects of the jackets, and considering them together with the funerary context and historical circumstances, this paper suggests that these jackets were designed not only to serve the deceased in her afterlife, but also to maintain and strengthen her connection with her offspring in the living world as a means of power assertion and political protection.
AD  - University of Chicago
AU  - Yi, Sizhao
DA  - 2023-07-03
ID  - 6655
JF  - Arts
KW  - late‑imperial China
KW  - Ming Dynasty
KW  - Wanli period
KW  - tombs
KW  - funerary art
KW  - hundred-boys motif
KW  - textile
KW  - embroidery
KW  - material culture
L1  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/6655/files/Mother-Always-Protects.pdf
L2  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/6655/files/Mother-Always-Protects.pdf
L4  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/6655/files/Mother-Always-Protects.pdf
LA  - eng
LK  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/6655/files/Mother-Always-Protects.pdf
N2  - The Dingling Mausoleum was built as the afterlife abode of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty (r. 1573–1620) and his two wives. Among the thousands of burial goods excavated from the site are two embroidered silk jackets that belonged to Imperial Honored Consort Wang, often referred to as Empress Dowager Xiaojing. With their physical proximity to the deceased body, sophisticated craftsmanship, and unusually festive motifs of one hundred playing boys, the jackets are both fascinating and puzzling. Through closely attending to the visual and material aspects of the jackets, and considering them together with the funerary context and historical circumstances, this paper suggests that these jackets were designed not only to serve the deceased in her afterlife, but also to maintain and strengthen her connection with her offspring in the living world as a means of power assertion and political protection.
PY  - 2023-07-03
T1  - Mother Always Protects: Two Embroidered Hundred-Boys Jackets in a Ming Imperial Tomb
TI  - Mother Always Protects: Two Embroidered Hundred-Boys Jackets in a Ming Imperial Tomb
UR  - https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/6655/files/Mother-Always-Protects.pdf
Y1  - 2023-07-03
ER  -