One of the most excellent among the many stone carvings of domesticated and wild animals in the tomb is the Horse Stepping Horse Stepping on a Xiongnu Soldier, Western Han Dynasty. on a Xiongnu Soldier. The sculpture vividly displays the great power of the Western Han Dynasty and Huo Qubing’s immense military contribution. The horse is brave, strong, placid and firm. The soldier under its feet, although in the panicked last moments of his life, has a fierce expression. Even though his failure is destined, he still holds his weapon, as if putting up a desperate last struggle.
Making a tomb Qilian Mountain
These stone carvings have a direct relationship with Qilian Mountain. Besides, the stones on the tomb are also arranged in the shape of Qilian Mountain, hence the name “ making the tomb a Qilian Mountain.” A Galloping Horse and A Lying Horse present the rural and pastoral landscape after winning the Xiongnu. The galloping horse symbolizes the vitality of life and the lush grass. It is 145cm tall and 240cm long and is carved into a huge stone. Its hind legs are bended, the fore legs humped up and the head flung back. The carvings on the fore legs and hind legs are very prominent, giving the stone horse a strong and mighty posture and a tough-and-go dynamic sense. The lying horse and ox are strong but calm with a heavy and quiet air that suggest a quiet and harmonious idyllic life.
There are also some stone carvings that describe the tough battle life, such as the stone carvings of A Giant Fights A Bear and A Monster Bites Sheep. They represent a life-and-death fight between people and the beast and are reminiscent of the difficulties and dangers of the battlefield. The stone carving of A Giant Fights A Bear is carved in low relief on a piece of 277cm-long and 172cm-wide stone. The figure is crude and primitive but it gives out a feeling of strength.
Some single animal sculptures are also impressive. The stone carving of a frog is made in green granite, round and a bit pointed. Its texture, feel and shape are similar to the frog.
Artlessness behind handiness
It is necessary to question, after seeing the above stone carvings, why sculptural technique from the Han Dynasty seem so crude and uncompleted when compared with the elegant and delicate figures of the earlier Qin Dynasty. The truth is that there were many horse figures made during the Han Dynasty and many metal sculptures inherited the realistic style of the Qin terra-cotta warriors and horses and the romantic nature of the Chu culture.
There is another famous representative sculpture of the Han Dynasty: The bronze statue of a Horse Stepping on a Swallow. The romantic image of the swallow sets off the power and strength of the horse, providing a rich imaginative experience for viewers. The stone carving technique is based on high conception. That is the unique aesthetic considerations of the Han Dynasty.
Skillful but not exquisite
The stone carvings of the tomb of Huo Qubing adopted a realistic technique and deforming style. When craftsmen carved the figures of animals, they used the natural characteristics of the material to reflect those of the animals. The stone is carved based on its nature. It is skillful and not exquisite with Chinese traditional aesthetic values, in sharp contrast with the aesthetic value of clever contrivance and specious skill from the late Qing Dynasty.
Chinese culture is reserved, undemonstrative and gentle and has been so for more than a thousand years. The reserved beauty of the tomb of Huo Qubing is like the beautiful jade hiding in the stone. Although it is not exquisitely carved, it contains the profound philosophy of great art.
Carved stone animals in the Eastern Han Dynasty
The carved stone animals that guard the mausoleums are outstanding representatives of the stone carvings from the Han Dynasty. These carved stone animals are fantastic . They resemble tigers but are not tigers. They are ferocious, strong, vigorous and powerful. A piece of stone carving unearthed in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, in 1959 is 105cm tall and 159cm long. The stone animal has its chin up and chest out with two eyes that are wide open. It is roaring and looking around superciliously. The complete sculpture is forceful and powerful. The waving of the body gives a feeling of vitality.
These type of carved stone animals guarded the mausoleums and were always in pairs. Two such animals stand in front of the tomb of a procurator from the Eastern Han Dynasty. The words Tianlu (god blessing you) and Bixie (avoidance of evil) are engraved on their arms. Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) an outstanding writer and historian from the Northern Song Dynasty mentioned these two words in a book and later generations used the same words to name the imaginative feral animals. The carved stone animals from the Eastern Han Dynasty are filled with vitality, power and wisdom, which have a far reaching impact on decorative stone carvings from mausoleums of later ages. On the whole, sculptural arts from the Han Dynasty contain important and inherent characteristic of traditional Chinese culture.