Model of a Farmhouse

Place of OriginChina

DateEastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE)

DimensionsBase, c. 7 1/2 x 8 in.; H: 7 1/2 in.

MediumEarthenware

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1950.326

Not on View

Label TextThis miniature farmhouse is a mingqi, translated as "funerary objects" or "spirit utensils." The enclosed courtyard contains a feeding trough for animals. Earthenware mingqi were found in tombs across a broad social stratum in the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). This illustrates the rise of a bureaucratic class. Also, significant changes occurred in Chinese ideologies of funerary practices at that time. Unlike in the Shang or Zhou dynasties where ritual objects (such as bronze vessels) were dedicated to ancestors, mingqi in the Han Dynasty were believed to comfort and satisfy the soul in the afterlife. This may explain why replicas of farmhouses, animal pens, and watchtowers were produced for burial—they provided models of the deceased’s material possessions and occupation. These architectural structures serve as a record of rustic buildings and preserve a vivid picture of rural activities in ancient China.