An Iconological Study Of Music And Dance Images In Xuzhou Figure Stones Of Han Dynasty

Xuzhou is a geographically pivotal city which connects five provinces, the cradle of Han culture and the birthplace of Liu Bang, the first Emperor of Han Dynasty. It is endowed with enormous historic relic resources as the main enfeoffment of the royal families in Han Dynasty. It is also an intersection place as various regional subcultures fused here because of its advantageous transportation. Figure stones in Han Dynasty were created as the ornamental paintings in Han tombs with considerable archeological, historic and cultural implications. Those focused on music and dance, the fine art works themed on music, reflects social life, aesthetic culture and religious life of the Han people. They are one of the ideal topics of interdisciplinary research.Based on previous study, this thesis utilized multi-disciplinary research methods of archeology, fine arts, comparative musicology and sociology. Field research in the six counties and the downtown area in Xuzhou was implemented to collect the figure stones about music and dance in Han Dynasty in a comparatively comprehensive way, which provided abundant and reliable first-hand resources. Longitudinally, it interpreted thoroughly the implication of the images based on the three-hierarchical iconological system(describing, analyzing and interpreting,) to reveal the symbolic meanings of the images; horizontally, the figure stones about music and dance in Han Dynasty unearthed in Xuzhou were compared with those unearthed in Sichuan, Henan and Shanxi to discover the uniqueness of the Xuzhou stones.This paper was divided into three parts according to the three-hierarchical iconological system: Part One concentrated on the field research of the figure stones about music and dance in Han Dynasty. Two tables of Distribution List of Xuzhou Figure Stones about Music and Dance in Han Dynasty and Detailed Information of Xuzhou Figure Stones about Music and Dance in Han Dynasty, which formed the interpretation of the “natural meanings” on the first hierarch. Part two focused on the stylistic characters and artistic language of the Xuzhou Figure Stones About Music and Dance in Han Dynasty. The carving techniques, composition features, aesthetic implications, artistic language as well as their enlightenment of the second hierarch “normal meanings”. Part three elaborated the symbolic meanings represented in Xuzhou Figure Stones about Music and Dance in Han Dynasty as the interpretation on the third hierarchy of “symbolic meanings”.