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Unearth the mysteries of the Mawangdui tombs and take a sneak peek at life in Han dynasty China! This middle-grade chapter book unearths one of China’s top archaeological finds of the last century. Miniature servants, mysterious silk paintings, scrolls of long-lost secrets, and the best preserved mummy in the world (the body of Lady Dai) are just some of the artifacts that shed light upon life in China 2200 years ago. Illustrations include archival photographs as well as gorgeously rendered illustrations of Lady Dai's life. Back matter includes historical notes on the Qin and Han Dynasties, a time line, glossary, author’s note, bibliography, quotation sources, and an index.
*Debut author Liu-Perkins' infectious curiosity shines in this exploration of a Han dynasty burial chamber excavated in 1972. The "best preserved body in the world." This honor goes to no ordinary mummy. It belongs to the remains of one Chinese woman known as the Marchioness of Dai, or Lady Dai. Buried beneath two hills called Mawangdui, Lady Dai's tomb held three nobles: the marquis Li Cang, his wife, Lady Dai, and apparently one of their sons. As archaeologists dug through layers of white clay and charcoal, they uncovered more than 3,000 "astonishingly well-preserved" artifacts. Most amazing of all was Lady Dai's body. After being buried for almost 2,200 years, her skin remained moist, her joints were movable, and her finger- and toeprints were still discernible. Other rare finds included an elaborate silk painting called a feiyi and the oldest and largest stash of silk books ever discovered in China. Based on 14 years of extensive research, the author's storytelling is clear, inviting and filled with awe, as if she's right there alongside the dig experts. Fictionalized vignettes of Lady Dai's life that introduce each chapter add charm and perspective. Artifact photographs and illustrations heighten the fascination. In particular, Brannen's illustration of Lady Dai's chamber of multiple, nested coffins demonstrates the creative ingenuity of these ancient embalmers.
Move over King Tut. Lady Dai is in the house.
-Kirkus Reviews, *starred review
Methane gas and a layer of white clay were tip-offs that laborers building an air raid shelter in 1971 Hunan Province had made a critical discovery. Formal excavations soon began which uncovered the two thousand year old tombs of the emperor appointed marquis Li Cang, his wife Xin Zhui, and one of their sons. All the tombs yielded priceless grave goods, but that of the wife, known by the honorific Lady Dai, also held her remarkably intact remains, so well-preserved that tissue was soft, joints somewhat flexible, and even stomach contents full of undigested melon seeds. Liu-Perkins is a knowledgeable and enthusiastic docent, leading readers through the particulars of the excavation and reveling in the enormous amount of information the find revealed about the Qin and early Han periods, which had been presumed to be forever lost to object decay and human destruction. Books that scholars had only known from references in other works were unearthed, along with musical instruments still playable, silk maps still readable, game boards still playable (if only we knew all the rules), foods still aromatic, and equally important, a cadaver that could be fully autopsied. The author supports her neatly organized chapters with brief, conjectural musings on Lady Dai’s life, plenty of diagrams and photographs, a glossary with Chinese pronunciations, a dual timeline of Chinese and Changsha (Li Cang’s kingdom) history during the relevant period, quotation sources, bibliography, index, and a substantive history of Chinese unification under the first emperors. This material will be a boon for archaeology fans who have exhausted standard library offerings on Middle Eastern and occidental mummies and excavations, as well as a vital resource for collections that are top-heavy on the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army.
-The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Autorentext
Christine Liu-Perkins (Author); Sarah S. Brannen (Illustrator)
Leseprobe
In the peaceful stillness of the museum, I looked down through a window into a room below my feet. There lay a woman, face-up, draped in white silk. She appeared to be sleeping. But this woman had been "sleeping" for more than two thousand years. I had seen mummies before, but those were dry, skin-covered skeletons--not like this soft-fleshed body. I could not stop staring at her, Lady Dai from the Mawangdui tombs.
Inhalt
Introduction: Face-to-Face with Lady Dai…..4; Chapter 1: Excavation of a Time Capsule…..6; Chapter 2: The Mysterious Cadaver…..18; Chapter 3: A House UndergroundR…