Inscribed wooden tablet Back

The tablet, dated on both sides to the 28th year of the Jianxing reign (340), was carved in low-relief with a standing robed figure in a greeting posture detailed in ink. The pine man, as suggested by the inscription “song ren” on his belt, was intended to face the consequences of sins in the deceased’s stead in the nether world. The rest of the tablet is covered with salvation inscriptions, the gist of which being the family of the deceased named Wang Luozi beseeches the heavenly envoy, or the shamanic fangshi performing the ritual, to deliver the deceased from condemnations and to protect the surviving family.

The people of the Eastern Han, Wei and Jin periods used to place salvation inscriptions in tombs. Usually written in vermilion on pottery, lead plaques or stone, they were intended to save the deceased from sin and its consequences, and to protect the living from evil influences. This wooden tablet bears on of these salvation charms and is an example of early Daoist talismans. As attested by pottery inscriptions of the late Eastern Han, there were a number of ways in which they customarily pleaded for salvation. It was a common practice to use a lead figurine as the substitute for the deceased, to be questioned or enslaved in hell, but this carved wooden figure is the first of its kind so far known to us. This is also the sole example of a tablet bearing both an image and a lengthy inscription, providing valuable information for further studies of burial customs after the Eastern Han period.