Studies on the Lacquer Wares Unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tombs

The project-Studies on the Lacquer Wares Unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tombs, supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China, was launched in 2008 and completed in 2014. Chen Jianming, curator of the Hunan Museum was in charge of it. The project was eventually rated as “excellent work” with a monograph including four volumes. The first and second volumes are mainly about reviews of the related studies; the third is about research results and the fourth features the catalogues of artifacts.

The project team sorted out systemically lacquer, wood and bamboo items unearthed from the three Mawangdui Han tombs, and at the same time made sure that the study adopt scientific research method and use possibly enough materials. The unprecedented compilation of more than 700 cultural relics was a tribute to the great discovery of the Mawangdui Han tombs made 40 years ago. With a sound combination of archaeological typology, cultural elements analysis, natural scientific method as well as interdisciplinary comprehensive research, the project has opened up a unique field for the study of the history of lacquer art. The project, marked with several innovative outcomes, has expanded archeological study and provided valuable data for the study of lacquer technology during the Chu (1115 BC—223 BC) and Han (202 BC—220 AC) periods, thus enjoying considerable significance in both academic and practical fields.