TEXTS, PERFORMANCE, AND SPECTACLE: THE FUNERAL PROCESSION OF MARQUIS YI OF ZENG, 433 B.C.E.

Abstract

AbstractThis article analyzes the bamboo strips recovered from the northern chamber of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (d. 433 b.c.e.). It argues that the strips comprised at least two separate texts that were integral to the organization and performance of the Marquis's funerary cortège. One text lists on individual strips the chariots and horse teams used in the procession, as well as their donors, categorizing them under bureaucratic offices. A second text describes these same chariots one after another, along with their drivers, decorations, and armor. Counting marks next to each of the chariot names appear to have verified the written totals found in the text. This evidence demonstrates that the director of the cortège combined together donated materials from a vast geographic area in order to create a distinctive funerary spectacle that displayed the wealth, status, and power of the Marquis and the state of Zeng. The article further argues that characterizing the Zeng texts as “inventories” (qian'ce 遣策)—so often analyzed for evidence of ideas about the afterlife—hardly does justice to the complex role that the texts played in the funeral procession and Zeng royal display. It concludes that this political display function drove the production of the texts and the organization of the funeral, not least because Marquis Yi's heir and Zeng state officials would have wanted to ensure a smooth transfer of power.