Model of house, from tomb at Ichang, Hubei Province, China

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This model house comes from a fairly low-status Han period grave in Hubei Province, China. Tombs were treated as houses for the dead, and models of various structures, equipment and foodstuffs were placed in them for the afterlife.

The model house has been made from slabs of clay and shows a two-storey house with projecting roof and a door and a first-floor window in the centre.

By the 4th century BC the Chinese believed that after death the soul divided into a 'spirit soul', which travelled to the spirit world, and an 'earth soul' which remained in the tomb and needed equipment for the afterlife.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-180-000-754-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland Part 2
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  A.1939.138
• Date: 206 BC - 220 AD
  Between 206 BC and 220 AD (Han period)
  
• Material: Dark grey earthenware
  House, two-storey / model
  
• Dimensions: 10.00" H x 7.00" L x 5.50" W
  
• What: House, two-storey / model
  
• Subject: Ceramics
  
• Who:
• Where: China, Hubei Province, Ichang
  
• Event:
• Description: Earthenware two-storey model house, with a projecting roof, and a door with a window above in the centre of one side: China, Hubei Province, from a tomb at Ichang, Han dynasty, 206 BC - 220 AD
  
• References:
  • Sheridan, J A (ed). Heaven and Hell and Other Worlds of the Dead. Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland, 2000. 
• Translations:
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