Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Rat (Aries)
500–600
- Medium
- gray earthenware with traces of slip
- Dimensions
- Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)
- Genre
- Sculpture
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)
About
The twelve-animal zodiac series—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar—signifies a traditional Chinese concept of time structured in a cyclical order. The twelve animals are also linked to the art of fortune-telling that underlies human existence in connection with the changes of the universe. The use of the twelve zodiac animals as tomb furniture suggests they provided a cosmological structure for the afterlife.