Grave goods were an important status symbol in ancient China, used by those of importance and affluent as companions in their travels through the afterlife, and would take the form of familiar people, items and animals. Such figures, known as mingqi in Chinese, were to provide service and entertainment to their owner as they journeyed to the underworld. Such terracotta figures were originally placed at each side of the entrance of the tomb gate, which was located at the end of a long underground ramp. Mingqi gained their notoriety through the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, founder of the Qin dynasty, whose terracotta army is widely known. Yet, the Tang Dynasty were responsible for the largest volume and variation of terracotta figures. The advent of new production techniques in this period, using moulds, allowed for production on an unprecedented scale.
To discover more about Tang statuettes, please visit our relevant blog post: Terracotta Tomb Attendants.
