Chinese Ming Dynasty Mingqi Green Glazed Cupboard – A miniature cupboard with offerings made especially for burial purposes. The Chinese have from very early times held reverence and respect for the departed soul and generally believed that given a respectful burial, he or she will be happy in the afterlife, reducing the chance that the soul will become a wandering soul or hungry ghost, bringing havoc to those in the living world.
It was therefore considered a good idea in order to appease the soul and give assistance whilst transitioning into the afterlife, to place in the burial chamber replicas of objects that gave him or her pleasure whilst he or she was alive.
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Some of these
mingqi tomb objects would include functional items in the form of earthenware cooking vessels, wine jars, and jewellery, whilst others are purely tomb objects made in miniature form to resemble tables, chairs, food offerings, replicas of their home, animal figures that they may have been used to plough a field, or animals that helped assist in their livelihoods such as buffaloes, camels, horses or a much-loved pets.
Those who were wealthy or of noble birth were buried with more lavish items, bronze, gold, silver, and paintings. Before the Han dynasty (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD) slaves or concubines were interred with the deceased, often whilst still alive along with their master or mistress to take care of them in the afterlife.
Fortunately, this practice ceased during the Han Dynasty and instead living sacrifices were replaced with clay or earthenware figures, although there is evidence in the tombs of some Ming emperors that human sacrifice still existed, although they were buried in separate tombs nearby.
Confucius said:
‘In dealing with the dead, if we treat them as if they were entirely dead, that would show a want of affection, and should not be done; or, if we treat them as if they were entirely alive, that will show a want of intelligence, and should not be done.
On this account the bamboo artefacts made for the dead should not be suited for actual use; those of earthenware should not be able to contain water; those of wood should not be finely carved; the zithers (musical instruments) should be strung, but not evenly; the mouth organs should be prepared, but not in tune; the bells and chime stones should be there but have no stands. These objects are called spirit objects because they are created to honour the spirit of the dead.
