3D Gallery of the IHP

This set of six marble animal sculptures arranged in three pairs, joined head-to-tail, excavated from rammed earth in the southern tomb passage of Tomb M1500 at Hsi-pei-kang (Xibeigang), was found facing the burial pit, with the larger dragon at the front, an ox in the middle, and a smaller tiger at the rear. Their placement is deliberate, and, aside from slight displacement caused by rammed backfill, remained largely undisturbed; this model reconstructs the arrangement based on photographs taken at the time of excavation. The set is grayish-white in color and roughly rectangular in form, depicted in a seated or crouching posture. All three creatures share eyes incised in the form of the character chen 臣, with details rendered through incised linework. The sides of the bodies feature shallow bas-relief depicting the musculature and toes of the four legs, executed in a stylized manner. The form and motifs are relatively simple, with shallow carving and distinct traces of grinding and sanding, markedly different from the intricate style of the animal sculptures excavated from Tomb M1001. As no similar sets of animal sculptures from the same period have been discovered, the meanings of this grouping remain unknown.

(This English translation was produced with the assistance of AI (Anthropic Claude).)