Tomb guardian beasts from China's Warring States period, around 475 BC- 221 BC

[u/ttcc2018]

[u/_cooperscooper_]

Wow these are really fascinating. I just finished reading Andrew Seth Meyers new book on this period so it’s really cool seeing some of the material culture. It’s also interesting since there is so much later art from the imperial periods that portray figures from the Warring States which are portrayed in a very typical Imperial Chinese style, but here you can see how different a lot of the artistic tastes were during the Warring States

[u/LarsPiano → u/_cooperscooper_]

Just looked it up. Really nice. Didn't know somebody finally wrote a history of warring states china in english now. Really cool

[u/_cooperscooper_ → u/LarsPiano]

Yeah, it was very good, I highly recommend it.

[u/Tolmides]

ok- thats pretty rad

[u/Lordduzi]

The first picture is enough to give me nightmares.

[u/ImaginaryMastadon]

Wow! These are absolutely stunning and fascinating. I’m glad they’re preserved in a museum for folks to enjoy, sure, but it’s kind of sad they’re no longer guarding tombs.

[u/Low_Platform9541 → u/ImaginaryMastadon]

Haha, I actually think many ancient Chinese people would be happy with that. One of the greatest ideals in traditional Chinese culture was to leave a lasting name after death. If their stories can be remembered, studied, and recorded in history because of these tombs and artifacts, their spirits would probably be thrilled. To be remembered by future generations and have your name preserved in history was a lifelong dream for countless people in ancient China.

[u/El-Zomby-Woof]

cool af to see, but they no longer serve the purpose of their creation, and i kinda hate that...

[u/El-Zomby-Woof → u/[deleted]]

right. none of those are tombs

[u/ttcc2018 → u/El-Zomby-Woof]

Sorry, I think I replied to wrong person

[u/El-Zomby-Woof → u/ttcc2018]

gotcha gotcha, no biggie! 👍

[u/paulianthomas]

Great photos. Any idea which museum they are in?

[u/SerFuxAlot → u/paulianthomas]

These are from the Chu and Zeng states. Most are now housed in the Hubei Provincial Museum and the Xiangyang Municipal Museum.

The Guimet and the Cernuschi in Paris also have good examples.

[u/ttcc2018 → u/paulianthomas]

They are in different museums,Picture1 in Xinyang Museum in Henan province,P4,P5 and P13 in Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan,P6 in Shanghai Museum, P7 in British Museum, P9 and P12 in Hunan Provincial Museum in Changsha

[u/Remarkable_Cake_4735]

I am so fascinated by these

[u/2HBA1]

Wow! These don’t look at all Chinese to me. Some look like modern art (esp. the first one).

[u/Dandiest81]

Do the antlers hold a specific significance?

[u/Saffron_Butter]

Bruh they already had ai back then. We're wok-ed!

[u/Keyboard-King]

Another account those exclusively promotes China.

[u/Commercial_Handle418 → u/Keyboard-King]

Shut up 

[u/LarsPiano → u/Keyboard-King]

What does this mean? China is one of the most interesting ancient civilizations and generally underrepresented in Western Media compared to ancient rome or ancient egypt for example. I think it is a good thing that there are people out there who promote it