Artist: unknown
Title: The Fei-yi ("Flying Banner")
Material: pigment on silk
Site: from the tomb of the Marquise of Dai, at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan.
Current Location:
Period/Date: ca. 180 B.C.E.
Iconography/Iconology: The banner is divided into three sections and scenes that are to be viewed starting from the bottom, progressing to the top. The scenes, from the bottom to the top, depict the passage of the soul of the Marquise of Dai into the afterlife (see following screens for details).
Stylistic Comments: This is one of the earliest surviving examples of Chinese painting on silk, a tradition that becomes increasingly popular with time continuing to the present day. The highly sophisticated quality of workmanship indicates that painting on silk was already a well-developed medium in Chinese art.
