175 DOI: 10.4312/as.2019.7.2.175-201
Cliff  T omb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi 
from Sichuan from the Eastern Han Dynasty
Hajni Pejsue ELIAS
∗10
Abstract
Cliff tombs and decorated stone sarcophagi from the Eastern Han period have been 
found in especially large numbers in Sichuan. Th e sudden rise of cliff tomb burial in the 
southwest and its decline by the 3rd century CE suggests that it was a trend that answered 
a particular call in a specific period. Their geographical concentration and use in a period 
of general social and political stability and economic prosperity in the region point to a 
distinctive new development in burial custom. Cliff tomb burial represented a funda -
mental shift in artistic and communicative objectives and a modification in cemetery 
layout. After examining cliff tombs found in Hejiang county, Sichuan, and especially the 
iconography and meaning of images carved on stone sarcophagi found therein, the paper 
suggests a number of possible reasons for the rise of cliff tomb burial, including a wish to 
eschew the ostentation associated with funereal practice at the time. 
Keywords: Eastern Han, cliff tombs, stone sarcophagi, tomb decoration, southwest China
Skalne grobnice in okrašeni kamniti sarkofagi iz province Sichuan iz obdobja 
dinastije Vzhodni Han 
Izvleček
V provinci Sichuan je bilo odkritih veliko skalnih grobnic in okrašenih kamnitih sarko-
fagov iz dinastije Vzhodni Han. Nenadni pojav skalnih grobnic na jugozahodu in upad 
teh v 3. stoletju kažeta, da je šlo za težnjo, ki je zadostila posebnim zahtevam v tem speci -
fičnem obdobju. Njihova geografska zgoščenost in uporaba v obdobju splošne družbene 
in politične stabilnosti ter gospodarske blaginje v regiji kažeta na povsem nov razvoj v 
pogrebnih običajih. Skalne grobnice tako predstavljajo temeljno spremembo v umetniških 
in komunikacijskih težnjah ter spremembo v načrtu pokopališč. Po proučitvi skalnih 
grobnic, najdenih v okrožju Hejiang v provinci Sichuan, in zlasti ikonografije in pomena 
podob, izklesanih na kamnitih sarkofagih znotraj grobnic, prispevek predstavi več možnih 
razlogov za porast skalnih pokopov, med katerimi izpostavi predvsem težnjo po izogiban -
ju pompoznemu razkazovanju, ki je bilo povezano s takratno pogrebno prakso. 
Ključne besede: Vzhodni Han, skalne grobnice, kamniti sarkofagi, dekoracija grobnic, 
jugozahodna Kitajska
* Hajni Pejsue ELIAS, PhD,   
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge.
 Email address: hpe20 [at ]cam.ac.uk
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176 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
Introduction
To date, tens of thousands of cliff tombs from the Eastern Han period (25–220 
CE) have been discovered, primarily located in the Sichuan Basin, along the 
Yangtze river and its larger tributaries, the Min 岷, Tuo 沱 and Fu Rivers 涪江. 
The sudden emergence of cliff tombs and their proliferation during the first and 
second centuries CE confirm their importance in the region’s funerary customs. 
Their concentration in geography and time points to a distinctive new devel -
opment in burial practice. The popularity of cliff tomb burial in the southwest 
appears to have coincided with a period of relative social and political stability 
and great economic prosperity. From textual sources it is evident that there was 
a wish, on the part of some, for moderation and frugality in a society that was 
becoming increasingly aware of its unnecessary extravagance.
1
 This paper ar -
gues that this wish for more frugal ways of life is reflected in the region’s cliff 
tomb burial practice in which not one, but several family members were buried 
together in a single tomb. Cliff tomb decoration was also sparser than that seen 
in contemporaneous chamber tombs, which in many instances display pictorial 
brick tiles and stone reliefs throughout the interior of the tomb space. Further -
more, cliff tombs represented a change in the layout of cemeteries and in the 
location where funerary rites and ancestral sacrifices were conducted. Therefore, 
cliff tomb burial was not a more ordinary or economical version of entomb -
ment for the poorer section of the population, as suggested by some scholars, 
but a distinct type of burial that became widely used by the inhabitants of the 
southwest, including those with considerable means (Luo 2002; Xuan 2015; Xie 
2000).
2
 The sudden rise of cliff tomb burial in large numbers in the 1st century 
CE, and its decline by the 3rd century suggests that it was a trend that answered 
a particular call during a specific period. While burial practices changed in other 
regions of the Eastern Han Empire, this paper cannot examine all of these de -
velopments but focuses on the southwest where this phenomenon is found. Fur -
ther study might show how other regions adjusted burial practices in response 
to their changing political and social circumstances. 
1 The increasing visibility and excessive display of elaborate ritual procedures and practices of the 
Ruists led thinkers like Wang Chong 王充 to advocate frugality and criticise extravagance and 
conspicuous consumption, especially in relation to the increasingly complex and costly funerary 
displays of their time. Wang questioned the necessity for lavish burials, along with the belief in the 
existence of ghosts and shen 神, which drove people to indecent behaviours. He dedicates whole 
chapters in the Lunheng 論衡 to challenge what he termed as false and nonsensical notions of his 
day. See Lunheng jiaoshi 論衡校釋 (Critical Explanation of the Balanced Discussions) (Wang 1990, 
62: “Lun si” 論死; 63: “Si wei” 死偽 and 64: “Ji yao” 紀妖).
2 Xie (2000, 18–25) also proposes that inscriptions found in cliff tombs are generally short in content 
and crude in style, confirming the ordinary nature of cliff tomb burial. 
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177 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
Overview of the Southwest’s Early Burial Practices 
Archaeological discoveries have shed light on early burial customs in the south -
west. Stone coffins placed in stone-lined pits, belonging to the “cist tomb culture” 
of the Neolithic period, have been unearthed in the upper Min River valley which 
scholars have identified as affiliated with the Shu 蜀 peoples and their burial 
culture (Orioli 1994; Xu 1995). Another type of burial practice came to light 
with the discovery of graves containing wooden, boat-shape coffins (Mengoni 
2004). Dated to the fifth to the fourth centuries BCE, these coffins have been 
ascribed by scholars as belonging to the Ba 巴 peoples of the southwest (Sage 
1992).
3
 By the third and second centuries BCE, wooden encasements placed in 
simple rectangular pits became the most widespread form of burial in the region, 
while boat coffins gradually disappeared (Mengoni 2004, 54). From the Western 
Han (206 BCE–9 CE) to the beginning of the Eastern Han period, traditional 
vertical shaft pits were superseded by brick and stone chamber tombs, and from 
the second half of the Eastern Han period there was a substantial decrease in the 
number of chamber tombs, with cliff tombs established as the predominant tomb 
type in Sichuan (Sichuan sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiuyuan 2014). Cheng Te-k’un 
(1908–2001), an archaeologist and curator of the West China University Museum 
at Chengdu in the 1930s, suggested that cliff tombs evolved from brick chamber 
tombs and represented a new burial custom which gradually gained popularity in 
the Eastern Han and came to dominate the region’s burial practice (Cheng 1957). 
Wu Hung supports Cheng’s findings and draws our attention to cliff tombs as 
representative of the zenith of Sichuan tomb art and architecture (Wu 1987, 94). 
In summary, scholars are generally in agreement that cliff tombs are distinct to the 
southwest, and that this type of burial practice became standard and the prevalent 
form of burial in the region by the Eastern Han dynasty.
Distribution of Cliff Tombs and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi in the 
Southwest
The majority of decorated stone sarcophagi from the Eastern Han period are 
found in Sichuan, with a small number from the area occupied by present-day 
Guizhou 貴州 and Chongqing 重慶 (Gao 2011). This finding suggests that by 
the first and second centuries CE, decorated stone sarcophagi were primarily 
3 The historical references to the region of present day Sichuan province and Chongqing Municipality 
for the period between the fifth and second centuries BCE mention two ancient states: Shu and Ba. 
Archaeological material dated from the Han period, especially if excavated from funerary contexts, 
has thus generally been grouped and interpreted under the labels Ba culture, Shu culture or Ba-Shu 
culture. These terms have strong cultural and ethnic connotations (see Mengoni 2004, 52).
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178 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
employed in the southwest where cliff tombs became the preferred means of bur -
ial, as mentioned above (Erickson 2003, 405). The main locations of cliff tombs 
where stone sarcophagi have been found in the southwest are along the hill-sides 
of the upper Yangtze river in the Chuanxi plain 川西平原 near Leshan 樂山 and 
Pengshan 彭山 counties; along the Yangtze and its larger tributaries, the Min 
and Tuo rivers located in the Chengdu plain; and along the Fu and Yangtze river 
valleys near Luzhou city 蘆州 and Hejiang 合江 county (Luo 2000, 47) (Map 1). 
Map 1: Distribution of Eastern Han Dynasty cliff tombs and stone sarcophagi excavated in  
Sichuan (Luo 2000, 47).
Regarding the size and layout of the tombs, they vary in scale, with some contain -
ing a single shallow burial chamber of a few metres in length, while others, ex -
tending over tens of meters into the mountain side, are constructed with multiple 
chambers to accommodate numerous coffins. They are usually laid out in groups, 
resembling a small cemetery, with tombs positioned next to each other horizon -
tally, and forming several layers vertically along the upper reaches of the hills and 
mountain sides (Wu 2000, 79). 
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179 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
Cliff Tombs at Hejiang County
In order to understand the general layout of cliff tombs and how they may have 
been used, let us take a closer look at examples discovered at Hejiang county. 
Situated along the upper Yangtze river, Hejiang county has one of the largest 
number of cliff tombs as well as decorated stone sarcophagi in Sichuan discovered 
to date. Over 1,250 cliff tomb cemetery complexes have been found in the county, 
predominantly along the banks of the Yangtze, the Chishui 赤水 and the Xishui 
習水 rivers. There are more than 50 cliff tomb complexes which hold ten or more 
tombs (Figs. 1a, 1b).
4
 
Figures 1a, 1b: Cliff tombs at Hejiang county, Sichuan (Photos by Author).
4 This information was obtained from a personal interview with the Hejiang County Han Dynasty 
Pictorial Stone Sarcophagi Museum ( Hejiang xian Handai huaxiang shiguan bowuguan 合江縣漢
代畫像石棺博物館) director, Zhang Caixiu 張采秀, during field trip conducted at the museum in 
May, 2016.
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180 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
For entombing the dead, coffins made in wood, earthenware and stone were 
placed in them, although today we only have a small number of earthenware 
coffins and almost no wooden coffins are left intact. Due to the durability of 
their material, stone sarcophagi have survived in the largest numbers and are 
therefore, alongside mingqi 明器 objects, the primary material culture for the 
study of cliff tomb burial in the region. On average, stone sarcophagi weigh 
around 1–1.5 tons, and are approximately 2.25 metres in length, 0.66 metres in 
height and 0.62 metres in width. The Hejiang County Han Dynasty Pictorial 
Stone Sarcophagi Museum alone holds over 60 decorated stone sarcophagi in 
its collection (Gao 2002, 6). 
The proliferation of cliff tomb burials and the use of stone sarcophagi in Hejiang 
county appear to be closely connected to its geography, economic wealth and po -
litical importance, which developed as early as the Western Han period. Hejiang 
county, known in ancient times as Fu county 苻縣, was established in 115 BCE 
(Li 1989, 33.2788; Ban 1962, 28A.1599). It first became prominent when the 
Han envoy, Tang Meng 唐蒙, was appointed to lead a military force of 1,000 
soldiers and over 10,000 porters out of the county to visit the Marquis of Yelang 
夜郎, Duotong 多同 (Sima 1959, 116.2994). According to Sima Qian’s account, 
Tang Meng presented Duotong with generous gifts and, pronouncing the might 
and virtue of the Han Dynasty, urged him to permit officials to be sent to the 
area. Everyone in Yelang was keen to obtain silk from the Han, and Duotong, 
considering that the road between his territory and the Han Empire was too steep 
and perilous to be kept open for long, agreed to listen to Tang’s demands. Tang 
then returned to the capital to report on his mission. As a result, a commandery 
was established in the area and conscripts from Ba and Shu were sent out to work 
on its roads, extending them through Po 僰 in the direction of the Zangke 牂柯  
River (Sima 1959, 116.2994; Wade 2009, 188). Thus, Fu county’s position as a 
military and economic centre of strategic importance to the Han government is 
evident from early records. 
One of the most important cliff tomb complexes in Hejiang is located near the 
small town of Fubaozhen 福寶鎮, known as the Gaocun cliff tomb (Gaocun 
yamu 高村崖墓) complex. This complex or cemetery contains 205 independent 
tombs carved into the side of a hill covering an area of approximately 850 me -
tres in length. The majority of the tombs are small in scale, primarily containing 
a single chamber with a dome-shaped ceiling. Those that are accessible from 
the road without climbing are built at the end of a narrow tomb passage carved 
into the face of the cliff.
5
 Each passage, called the tomb road ( mudao 墓道), leads 
5 Information was obtained from the archives of the Hejiang County Han Dynasty Pictorial Stone 
Sarcophagi Museum ( Hejiang xian Handai huaxiang shiguan bowuguan 合江縣漢代畫像石棺博
物館) and from personal experience during field trip conducted at Gaocun in May, 2016.
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181 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
to the primary entrance of the tomb known as the tomb gate ( mumen 墓門). 
Through the tomb gate one enters the main chamber ( mushi 墓室), which may 
contain a single chamber or have further niche openings in the side and back 
walls ( bikan 壁龕). The main chamber, which is usually the largest space in the 
tomb, contains the area known as the front room ( qianshi 前室), or sacrificial 
chamber ( xiangtang 享堂) (Wen 1955), where the ceiling is built slightly higher 
to allow a more comfortable standing space for people to conduct rituals and to 
offer sacrifices (Huo 2008, 297). Sacrificial chambers are known from chamber 
tombs where an altar was set for conducting rituals and sacrifices to the dead 
in the front section of the tomb space. Some of the cliff tombs also contain a 
“kitchen” area with a stove and shelves carved as part of the tomb wall. The 
addition of such prima facie practical and utilitarian spaces substantiates the 
equivalence of the tombs with a home (Erickson 2003, 414–15) (Figs. 2a, 2b). 
The interiors of the tombs were generally left plain, but some have been found 
decorated with simple carved pictorial freezes above built-in architectural struc -
tures, such as beds, couches and cliff sarcophagi (Figs. 3a, 3b).
Figures 2a, 2b: Interior of a cliff tomb, Gaocun, Sichuan (Photos by Author).
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182 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
Figures 3a, 3b: Interior wall decoration in a cliff tomb, Gaocun, Sichuan (Photos by Author).
There are no traces of wall hangings or wall paintings apart from somewhat 
crudely painted architectural beams and structures, which suggest that hanging 
decoration, if it existed, may have perished or been plundered over time. Since, 
however, there are no markings or obvious means of fixing to be seen on the walls 
of the tombs, it is unlikely that hangings were an aspect of the tombs’ interior 
decoration (Nylan and Loewe 2010, 88).
6
 It is worth noting that the walls of cliff 
tombs were carved in a particular manner whereby the stone was chiselled out 
with well-defined thick lines extending from top to bottom, left to right, often in 
a horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines, creating distinct patterns on the surface of 
the stone that left it rough to the touch. Cliff tomb walls are rarely smooth, and to 
paint any decoration on such an uneven surface would have been a challenge and 
aesthetically not very pleasing (Figs. 4a, 4b).
The decoration found in larger cliff tombs is simple and modest compared to that 
found in some of the region’s chamber tombs, where fired pictorial brick tiles and 
larger blocks of stone relief carvings were placed on the smooth surface of the 
walls for decoration, and often not only in one area but throughout the tomb’s 
interior space.
7
 Cliff tombs contained, as did chamber tombs, mingqi in the form 
6 Nylan and Loewe 2010, 88, also mention that chamber tombs were often decorated with fabric, 
presumably made of silk, hanging on the walls of principal chambers. 
7 See for example the chamber tomb unearthed at Yangzishan 揚子山, located in the suburb of 
Chengdu city, that was decorated with a series of pictorial brick tiles and stone reliefs throughout 
its interior. For a full excavation report on the Yangzishan tomb see Yu 1955. 
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183 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
of pottery figurines of humans and domestic animals, pots and vessels of various 
shapes, architectural models of granaries, buildings and farm enclosures, a com -
mon practice in burial throughout the empire.
Figures 4a, 4b: Interior of a cliff tomb, Gaocun, Sichuan (Photos by Author).
The layout of cliff tomb complexes differs significantly from that of chamber 
burial cemeteries from the same period. Eastern Han cemeteries with a verti -
cal shaft pit and chamber tombs were customarily demarcated by walls, moats, 
mounds or stone markers as a separate bordered space. They resembled large rec -
tangular parks with the location often determined through divination (Barshier 
2014, 292). Known as funerary parks ( zangyuan 葬園), the tombs of several 
families were placed in areas separated by clearly marked moats. Liu Xixiang, in 
his report on a Han cemetery excavated at Xinxiang 新鄉 in Henan province, 
notes how the cemetery itself was divided into a number of “districts,” each of 
which contained an independent family cemetery within the larger park (Liu 
2007, 46–9). Burial sites within the cemetery were marked by a tumulus above 
each tomb. Leading to the tumuli were pathways called the spirit path ( shendao 
神道) that were marked by a pair of gate towers or que 闕. Visitors or family 
members of the deceased embarked on the spirit path that led them through 
the gate towers, after which they encountered a number of stone sculptures in 
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184 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
the form of guardian animals. Following the path, they would come to a stele 
(or two stelae) erected in front of an ancestral shrine ( zongmiao 宗廟), with the 
tumulus behind it (Wu 1995, 189–250). Cliff tomb burials showed a marked 
change in the layout of the Eastern Han cemetery. Compared to burial com -
plexes that housed the spirit path, que, ancestral stele, shrine and the mound, 
cliff tomb cemeteries appear to have lacked much of these accompanying public 
monuments and spaces. Firstly, there is no marked boundary around the ceme -
tery site, nor any spirit road lined up with stone sculptures leading to the tombs. 
The lack of que leading to the cliff tomb is mentioned in a commemorative stele 
erected for the “filial and incorrupt ( xiaolian 孝廉)” official Liu Min 柳敏 (fl. 
146 CE) which is worth examining in more detail. The eulogy section of the 
stele reads as follows:
山陵玄室, [X]斯邦兮. 先人修質, 尚約清兮. 汶飭不雕, 隩處臧兮. 季子
信舊, 帶樹松兮. 僑俗追歿, 激[X]揚兮. 亡而像存, 樂嘉靈兮. 宗子於
集, 喈其鳴兮. 四祀[X]嘗, 不廢荒兮.
8
The mountain tomb is a dark room,
9
 [X] this is [now his] country ah! 
[His] ancestors cultivated plainness and gave precedence to restraint and 
clarity ah!
10
 Patterns are orderly and [there is] no carving, [everything is] 
concealed in the cave ah! [His] youngest brother faithful to old tradition 
[buried him under a] belt of trees and pines ah! [He] rose above custom 
pursuing [it to the] end, and [thus] surges [X] [how] exalting ah! [Al -
though] he has perished, yet his image remains, [we] rejoice in his auspi -
cious spirit ah! His ancestors and sons have gathered here, keeyeh-keeyeh 
they cry ah! The four sacrificial [offerings] have been tasted, nothing has 
been omitted and neglected ah! (Gao 1990, 69)
Liu Min’s final resting place is described as a dark room in a mountain surround -
ed by trees and pines, suggesting that we are looking at a cliff tomb burial. The 
interior of the tomb is concealed in a cave that bears no decoration. We are also 
told that his ancestors cultivated austerity and gave precedence to moderation. 
Liu was buried in a manner that conformed with his family’s wish for a burial that 
was not only simple but also fulfilled the necessary requirements, with nothing 
omitted that would help his spirit remain auspicious. In an earlier section, the text 
8 [X] represents characters that are undecipherable due to damage to the stone.
9 Nylan and Vankeerberghen (2015, 404–5, 551) mention xuanshi 玄室 as a grave, a hidden and 
recessed room suitable for storing treasures or a dark meditation chamber. 
10 I have translated zhi 質 as “plainness” as I believe in this context its meaning gives priority to 
simplicity that is in sharp contrast with adornments and trappings. For a discussion on the different 
interpretations of zhi and its usage with wen 紋, see Loewe (2011, 275–86).
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185 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
on the stele describes Liu as a person who was honest, measured and frugal, and 
a man who encouraged his sons and grandsons to follow in this custom. His final 
resting place was a hall with no ornament and magnificence, and his grave had no 
ancestral stele marking its location ( 堂無文麗, 墓無碑誌). As mentioned earlier, 
the path leading to his tomb had no remains of a que (行無遺闕), which confirms 
the lack of monuments leading up to the tomb. Thus, Liu Min’s stele, which was 
erected sometime after his death in commemoration of his official service, affirms 
intentional moderation and restraint from display and extravagance as a style of 
burial in the region, and celebrates a preference for frugality and moderation in 
accordance with the family’s traditions.
Stelae positioned in front of shrines appear to have been omitted altogether, 
although sometimes replaced by inscriptions carved on the tomb walls or on 
the entrance gates. Compared to ancestral stele inscriptions, those found in 
cliff tombs are concise, with the majority containing only a few characters (Gao 
1990, 18; Davis 2015, 177–80). Although the tomb interior included a special 
area for conducting funerary rites as found in chamber tombs, the nature of 
that space within the tomb is generally very limited in both area and height and 
not conducive to a sizeable gathering. It was almost physically impossible to 
accommodate more than a few people, let alone groups or crowds in cliff tombs, 
which suggests that ceremonies at such tomb sites must have been more inti -
mate affairs (Fe 1965, 62.2067; Asselin 2010, 249).
11
 Where funerary rites were 
conducted for cliff tomb burials remains unanswered, although it is noteworthy 
that any substantial ceremony must have taken place significantly removed from 
the tomb site itself.
Cliff tombs also reflect a new development in grave construction. To keep the 
tomb dry, it was necessary to build drainage to allow water which would accu -
mulate in the excavated cave to flow out. Tomb builders found a solution to the 
problem that was possible with cliff tombs but not with chamber tombs, whereby 
a drainage system was built into the tomb that comprised a horizontal stone base 
with several meters of pottery pipes that drew water from the interior of the tomb 
to the tomb passage outside. To this day we can see this kind of built-in drainage 
system with the original Han pipes clearly visible and intact, protruding at the 
entrance (Figs. 5a, 5b). 
11 The Hou Hanshu 後漢書 (Book of the Later Han) (Fan 1965, 62.2067) records the biography of 
Chen Shi 陳寔 (104–186 CE) who was buried in a chamber tomb and was mourned by thirty 
thousand people in attendance. Asselin (2010, 249) notes that funerals of officials, patrons and 
teachers in the late Eastern Han attracted hundreds, if not thousands of people, and participation 
in the funerary rites was at once an act of filial piety as well as a political one that demonstrated 
one’s commitment to the policies or teachings of the departed.
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186 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
Figures 5a, 5b: Cliff tomb drainage pipes, Pengshan, Sichuan (Photos by Author).
Cliff T omb Decoration 
As mentioned earlier, cliff tombs were generally left undecorated or with some 
minimal decoration placed at the entrance or tomb gate (Figs. 6a, 6b). 
Figures 6a, 6b: Cliff tomb gates, Pengshan, Sichuan (Photos by Author).
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187 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
Carvings with auspicious connotations such as rams, fish, plants, animals, birds, que, 
Xiwangmu’s sheng 勝 head-dress
12
 and images of human musicians were carved on, 
above or to the side of tomb gates that were fashioned to imitate wooden architec -
tural structures. We also find depictions of intimacy, such as the remarkable carving 
of a seated naked couple, embracing and kissing, formerly on the lintel of the gate 
to tomb number 550 at Zhaizishan 寨子山, given the title “Picture of Secret Play” 
(“Mixi tu 秘戲圖”) by scholars (Fig. 7), and another depicting a fully clothed cou -
ple embracing and kissing, carved on a lintel at the entrance gate of a cliff tomb at 
Leshan (Fig. 8) (Lim 1987, 127).
13
 These images are significant for their explicit 
sexual context, and as such are considered special to the art of Sichuan. Lucy Lim 
(ibid.) notes how some of the most surprising finds amongst Sichuan’s material 
culture are representations of intimacy. She further suggests that Han reliefs seem 
to epitomise the Sichuan artists’ open and honest acceptance of life in its various 
aspects and the joy they took in human relationships. Scenes of such intimate nature 
are explained by Wu Hung to be linked to Xiwangmu, who was closely associated 
with fertility and the practice of the Daoist sexual arts (Wu 2000, 89). While the 
meaning of intimate scenes placed above entrances of cliff tombs, and also found on 
stone sarcophagi, remains difficult to establish with certainty, it may be suggested 
that they are linked to the notion of sexual union and fertility.
Figure 7: Cliff tomb lintel carving of “Picture of Secret Play”, Pengshan, Sichuan (After Lim 1987, 131).
12 Xiwangmu 西王母 is typically depicted wearing her victory crown known as dai sheng 戴勝 or 
sheng 勝 over her hair. Depictions of the sheng in tomb art are known to represent Xiwangmu. 
13 The relief carving of the “Picture of Secret Play” is now housed in the Beijing Palace Museum (see 
Lim 1987, 131).
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188 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
Figure 8: Cliff tomb lintel carving of couple embraced and kissing, Leshan, Sichuan (After Lim 1987, 130).
Decorative Themes Found on Stone Sarcophagi
In contrast to the lack of decoration of the walls, the inclusion of rich imagery on 
stone sarcophagi and the hundreds of burial objects placed in the tombs suggest 
that there was a continued desire to furnish tombs, although perhaps in a modi -
fied manner. The typical layout and iconography of decorative themes found on 
stone sarcophagi can give us an insight into the thinking about the transition in 
death to the afterlife at the time they were made. Pictorial carvings on stone sar -
cophagi were placed on the external faces and on the cover, and never in the inte -
rior. Artisans used a number of carving techniques, which included varying levels 
of low, high and circular reliefs on the flat and vaulted surfaces. Low relief carving 
incorporated delicate sunken lines for details such as facial expressions, clothing 
and architectural components. Outlines of the main motifs were accentuated with 
deeper lines in high relief which give an effect of three-dimensionality, as well as 
spaciousness and lightness to the design. The background was usually left plain or 
was densely carved with diagonal lines in high relief, similar to the effect and fin -
ish seen on the walls of cliff tombs. The prominent lines on the sarcophagi created 
a distinct background setting within the framework that give weight to the main 
pictorial theme. The arrangement of the decoration on the sarcophagi generally 
adheres to the following rules: one end of the coffin typically carries images that 
represent the entrance into the other realm with the picture of the que, the symbol 
of the gateway (Figs. 9a, 9b, 9c) . If one end was the entrance then we may assume 
that the other end of the sarcophagus portrays the other realm, the abode of Fuxi 
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189 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
伏羲 and Nüwa 女媧, who feature prominently together with propitious symbols 
and animals (Figs. 10a, 10b, 10c).
14
Figures 9a, 9b, 9c: Stone sarcophagi decorated with que, Hejiang and Lushan counties, Sichuan 
(Photos by Author).
Figures 10a, 10b, 10c: Stone sarcophagi decorated with Fuxi and Nüwa, Hejiang and Lushan 
counties, Sichuan (Photos by Author).
Decoration on the sides of the coffin, sometimes divided into different levels 
and bearing a more complex pictorial programme, shows what appears to be the 
beginning of the deceased’s journey in the lower section, and the continuation 
14 See Tseng (2011, 285–90) for a detailed explanation on the representation of Fuxi and Nüxa in 
Han material culture. See also Powers (1991, 113–17) on the stylistic development, and the classical 
versus the analytical approach to depictions of Fuxi and Nüwa in Sichuan and North China. 
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190 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
of that journey, but now perhaps in the other realm, on the upper division (Huo 
2008, 303). The pictorial iconography of the coffin appears to have been inde -
pendent of its surroundings, unlike the complex pictorial programmes placed 
across the walls of chamber tombs, where different images were connected 
across the tomb space. Images found on stone sarcophagi are often scenes of 
everyday life activity; well-known historical figures and stories; images of auspi -
cious and mythological importance; mansions and architectural structures; and 
motifs and patterns of purely ornamental nature (Luo 2000, 38–43; Gao 2011, 
7–14) (Figs. 11,12).
Figure 11: Stone sarcophagus decorated with a banquet scene, Pi county, Sichuan  
(Photo by Author).
Figure 12: Stone sarcophagus decorated with the mythological tale of “Playing with Monkeys,” 
Xinjin county, Sichuan (Photo by Author).
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191 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
One of the most important deities associated with the world of the immortals, 
and as such most frequently depicted on stone sarcophagi, is Xiwangmu. Depic -
tions of her are abundant, and even when she does not appear as a carved image, 
she is often represented by her attribute, the sheng (Figs. 13, 14). In the Han mind, 
Xiwangmu dwelt in heaven, dominated other spirits, controlled access to immor -
tality and promised ecstatic flight through space (Cahill 1993, 31). On depictions 
of Xiwangmu in cliff tombs David Yu notes the “cave” being significant to the 
theme of journey and passage. The Chinese word for caves is “ dong 洞” which 
conveys the meaning of  “ tong 通” to pass through or to connect. Mountains have 
passes and cave-like recesses which one journeys through to reach the land of 
the immortals and the habitat of Xiwangmu (Yu 1986, 15).
15
 The significance of 
Xiwangmu is also related to the origins of cliff tomb burials and their connection 
with the local Daoist movement of the “Way of the Five Pecks of Rice,” or the 
Wudoumi Dao 五斗米道 (Wu 2000). Depictions of large mansions also feature 
prominently on stone sarcophagi, such as the example from a cliff tomb at Zhang -
jiakou 張家口, which shows a single architectural structure, with a slightly ajar 
front-entrance and two figures standing on the side (Fig. 15). We can also find 
carvings of buildings on stilts which appear to represent the southwest’s distinct 
local architecture (Fig. 16). 
Figure 13: Stone sarcophagus decorated with Xiwangmu, Hejiang, Sichuan (Photo by Author).
15 See Jiyun 集韻 (Assembled Rhymes) (Ding 1927–1935, 7.2; “Qu sheng. Song yun” 去聲 . 送韻) 
where tong 洞 is explained as a variant for tong 通, meaning to penetrate or pass through.
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192 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
Figure 14: Rubbing of stone sarcophagus decorated with Xiwangmu’s sheng, Luzhou, Sichuan  
(After Gao 2011, 332).
Figure 15: Stone sarcophagus decorated with a large mansion and figures, Zhangjiakou, Hejiang, 
Sichuan (Photo by Author).
Figure 16: Stone sarcophagus decorated with a single building on stilts, Luzhou, Sichuan  
(Photo by Author).
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193 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
The question of why buildings were carved on sarcophagi when the tomb itself, 
with its architectural structures, already represented a home, as believed by schol -
ars, needs to be addressed. The images of buildings may have served to highlight 
the function of the sarcophagus itself as the new dwelling of the deceased in his or 
her afterlife, rather than the tomb, as suggested by some scholars (Wu 2010; Raw -
son 1999; Nylan 2006). Bearing this in mind, the que positioned at the head of the 
coffin symbolises the entrance upon death into another place of being, perhaps 
the heavenly domain. Furthermore, if the coffin, with its mansion, represented the 
deceased’s transition to and dwelling in the other world, then the tomb, which 
belonged to the family or lineage, with its homelike features, may have functioned 
as a communal space that provided everyone with a secure arena or shelter, but 
was not the designated abode of any specific person in the family. The buildings 
on the sarcophagi are typically depicted as large mansions, appearing to represent 
a wealthy and comfortable life. This may be associated with the region’s prosperity 
at the time or perhaps with the wish, on the part of the family, for a comfortable 
existence for the deceased in his or her afterlife.
In summary, depictions of local buildings as well as mythological figures, such as 
Xiwangmu, Fuxi and Nüwa, provided representations appropriate to people’s final 
resting place and transition to the afterlife. Both Michael Loewe and Mu-chou Poo 
mention how early writings devoted little attention and speculation to describing 
life after death. Comparing Confucian, Mohist and Daoist texts, Poo notes that a 
common feature that emerges is a reticence to debate post-mortem existence and 
whether or not there is life after death, or what that afterlife may be (Loewe 1994, 
115; Poo 1990, 38). In her study of mourning in the Eastern Han, Miranda Brown 
also suggests that people perhaps focused on the experience of loss because the life 
to come was not celebrated at the time. Eulogists whose writings are found on ste -
lae questioned outright whether personal survival after death was possible, though 
they did believe that the dead lived on in communal memory as moral exemplars 
(Brown 2007, 17). Another view suggests that perhaps death was not seen as final, 
and a post-death journey of the soul was indeed a possibility. The goal of ascending 
to the heavens could be realised with the aid of mountains, animal vehicles, specific 
deities and auspicious surroundings (Erickson 1994, 18). Whatever death may have 
meant for people at the time, it is clear that certain ideas, left unarticulated in writ -
ing because of their inherent elusiveness, were nevertheless imaginatively expressed 
and alluded to in pictorial form on the sarcophagi of the period. 
Possible Reasons for the Shift in Burial Practice and T omb Decoration
Scholars have noted the lack of decoration on cliff tomb walls in contrast to the 
intricate carvings found on stone sarcophagi within the tombs. Luo Erhu suggests 
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194 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
that because sarcophagi already relayed images, there was no need to repeat these 
on the walls. He further proposes that decorated stone sarcophagi, as opposed to 
those made of other materials, may have been reserved for the head of the family, 
or the most eminent member buried in the tomb (Luo 2002, 49). His conclusion is 
based on the examination of the fourteen sarcophagi found in a multi-chamber cliff 
tomb at Tianhuishan 天回山 near Chengdu. Amongst the coffins, eleven are made 
of earthenware, one of brick and two of stone. Of the two stone coffins, one was built 
on a platform chiselled out of the wall and left undecorated, while the other is finely 
carved on one side with a picture of a large mansion and with figures and animals on 
the other. The front of the coffin is carved with the que motif, while the head bears 
the outlines of an unfinished building suggesting that the decoration may not have 
been completed in time for the burial (Luo 2002). It may also suggest that that the 
period between coffining and the internment ceremony may have become shorter 
than originally thought.
16
 The Tianhuishan stone sarcophagus’ lid is made in the 
shape of a gabled roof, consistent with the notion that the coffin represents a home 
or dwelling.
17
 Inside the coffin a gilded iron book knife was found with an inscription 
attributing its manufacture to the Guanghan workshop ( Guanghan gongguan 廣漢
工官). This workshop was responsible for the production of luxury goods of tribute 
for the Eastern Han court. It is an important find that confirms the high status and 
eminence of the deceased placed in the coffin, and supports Luo’s suggestion that 
the deceased was possibly the head of an extensive clan (ibid.). The differences found 
between decorated and non-decorated coffins, as evident from the Tianhuishan cliff 
tomb burial, suggests that there was a hierarchy established within the tomb and 
those of importance were buried in distinctly decorated and more lavish coffins.  
Erickson has also noted the general scarcity of any decoration found in cliff tombs 
compared to those in chamber tombs. She suggests that this is because the images 
placed in chamber tombs were sculpted or moulded on panels outside the tomb 
and then installed. By contrast, images in cliff tombs were carved directly into the 
living rock (Erickson 2003, 434). While this explanation may present a practical 
reason for the scarcity of tomb wall decoration, it does not explain the artistic or 
communicative objectives behind this fundamental shift. 
Bearing the above mentioned studies in mind, we suggest two possible explana -
tions for the change in the decorative practices that have been observed. The first 
16 This contradicts Miranda Brown’s suggestion that many members of the Han elite were in no great 
hurry to bury their dead, since they presumably were not eager to separate their deceased loved 
ones from the living. She further notes that the internment ceremony was often put off from several 
months to even several years (see Brown 2007, 16). In the southwest, however, it appears that burial 
of the dead was seen as a priority, even if the decoration of the coffin was not completed.
17 During my fieldwork in Hejiang and Pengshan counties, I found that about one third of the stone 
sarcophagi had lids shaped after garbled roofs. 
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195 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
addresses the question as to who commissioned the making of the tomb. The 
housing of several coffins in one tomb and its re-opening, perhaps not only once 
but on several occasions at different periods, suggests that tombs came to cater to 
the needs of the family or lineage rather than a single individual, and the building 
of tombs must have become a family responsibility expanding over a number of 
generations. If we regard the interior of the tomb as a communal “family” space, as 
suggested earlier, with less emphasis on the individual, the coffin may have become 
the main carrier of personal memorial and identity, as well as the means of the 
deceased’s transition to and dwelling place in the afterlife. Decoration placed on 
the walls of chamber tombs would have related to the burial chamber as a whole 
and addressed a wider audience, which included the mourners gathered at the 
time of burial, while decoration on the sarcophagus had a more personal connota -
tion, and as such was directly linked to the deceased. This suggestion is supported 
by social developments of the Eastern Han period, when we see the rise of major 
lineages or great families who became influential on a regional level (Lewis 2007, 
121). Mark Lewis equates the emergence of these locally powerful families with 
the decline of the central court, and the consequent shift of authority from the 
capital to the regions. He notes that much of the history of the Eastern Han is, 
accordingly, the history of lineages and factions with regional power bases (ibid., 
24). Patricia Ebrey explains that on the one hand, these lineages were established 
by local leaders who earned the respect of their contemporaries for gathering to -
gether a loyal following and using it to administer a locality with justice, efficiency 
and generosity. On the other hand, they were also recognised as being a threat to 
the effective control of centrally authorised officials (Ebrey 1986, 630). The use of 
cliff tomb complexes, which may have been employed over several generations, is 
consistent with the increased visibility and self-awareness of such lineages during 
a period of relative economic and political stability. 
Another explanation for the shift in the decorative practice may be due to a wish 
for more moderate display in burial matters in a society that enjoyed great eco -
nomic wealth and prosperity. A preference for thrift and restraint is expressed in 
the two commemorative stelae dedicated to Shu Commandery 蜀郡 governors, 
Li 李 and Pei 裴, dated to 133 CE and 144 CE, respectively. According to the 
stelae inscriptions, the two governors encouraged society to pursue a prudent and 
less lavish lifestyle (Elias 2018). An ancestral stele erected for the Ba commandery 
巴郡 xiaolian Liu Min, mentioned earlier, also affirms intentional moderation 
and restraint from display and extravagance as a style of burial, and celebrates a 
preference for frugality and moderation in accordance with the Liu family’s tra -
ditions (ibid., 139–41). This type of motive may have been a factor in the shift 
towards the use of cliff tomb burials in a region which was inherently more mod -
est in appearance, rather than the use of extensive cemetery layouts of chamber 
tomb burials. A drive for less lavish display may well have encouraged people to 
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196 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
reassess the levels of display in their burial practices. Whether a sarcophagus was 
intricately or sparsely decorated, a considerable level of expertise was required in 
its making, which was undoubtedly time consuming and certainly more costly 
than the production of a wooden or earthenware coffin. Thus a seemingly more 
modest and understated form of burial was probably not without considerable 
cost. The objective may have been to avoid ostentatious display rather than reduce 
costs, since the overriding purpose was to perform the correct funerary procedures 
for the deceased. 
Conclusion
Examination of the images found in cliff tombs and on stone sarcophagi reveals 
that decoration on the latter appears to have served as the primary visual enhance -
ment placed in the interior of the cliff tomb, at times in combination with limited 
architectural structures and burial furnishings. Although carvings with auspicious 
connotations were placed at the exterior of tomb gates, inside the tomb walls were 
usually left plain or only minimally decorated. This decorative scheme represents 
a shift from what we see in chamber tombs from the southwest, where pictorial 
images were placed on the walls, either carved in stone or made of fired earth in 
the form of moulded brick tiles that appear to have been produced in large quan -
tities, as we see from the many extant examples today.
The change in the decorative scheme between chamber tombs and cliff tombs 
suggests that there was a shift in burial custom, in the target audience of mourners 
and, perhaps most importantly, in the establishment of the tomb as a communal 
space for the family or lineage rather than the final resting place of only one de -
ceased person. While decoration placed on the walls of chamber tombs, which in 
many instances extended from the entrance through the main chamber and even 
to the rear chambers, took the entire tomb space as its canvas, that found in cliff 
tombs was inherently more modest and simple. Decorative themes placed on stone 
sarcophagi are individual, with no two coffins ever the same, suggesting a person -
alised choice that was more likely to have been directly connected to the deceased. 
We also observed the distinctly regional nature of images carved on sarcophagi. 
This is in sharp contrast with the many pictorial brick tiles found in tombs, that 
appear to have been mass produced with the use of the same mould, thus result -
ing in identical images placed in different tombs. The prevalence of depictions on 
the sarcophagi of buildings, gateways and the image of a half-open door embody 
representations of a final ideal dwelling and indicate an understanding of death as 
a threshold to another realm. In this context, stone sarcophagi in cliff tombs may 
have symbolised the new heavenly residence of the departed, while the tomb as a 
whole functioned as a shared burial space for the family or lineage.
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197 Asian Studies VII (XXIII), 2 (2019), pp. 175–201
Another important observation made regarding the development of cliff tomb 
burials is the change in the layout of the cemetery which differed significantly 
from that of the established chamber burial cemeteries of the Eastern Han period. 
The absence of public monuments leading to the tombs, such as the walls, moats, 
spirit path, stone markers, stelae, mounds and shrines, must have made cliff tomb 
internment a different undertaking from earlier traditions. We see no evidence 
of shrines in the immediate vicinity nor remains of any above ground structures 
that may have been linked to the tombs. This reflects a shift in the function of 
cemeteries from being social or public arenas towards private spaces that focussed 
primarily on the deceased and their family members. Cliff tomb burials came to 
represent an important adaptation in how society in the southwest became more 
focused on the family or lineage in its greater surroundings. The burial of not only 
several family members but even different generations in one tomb or tomb com -
plex is another new development in Eastern Han funerary practice. The layout 
and construction of cliff tombs confirm this trend, and affirm the rise and power 
of the lineage, especially in the southwest.   
Cliff tomb burials developed during a period in the southwest’s history when it 
experienced relative social and political stability and great economic prosperity. 
Early texts describe the southwest as well irrigated and containing rich soil that 
produced abundant food, making it one of the wealthiest regions in the empire at 
the time. Its established waterways and roads, as we read in the Shiji 史記, made 
it a centre of trade between the West and Central Plains (Sima 1959, 116.2994). 
Economic wealth and general social stability helped create a conducive environ -
ment for the development of cliff tomb construction and its prolific use in this pe -
riod. An analysis of the principle locations of cliff tomb developments in Sichuan 
shows that they served the population centred in its largest cities located within 
a short travelling distance, such as the Shu commandery capital of Chengdu and 
the Ba commandery capital of Jiangzhou 江州 (present-day Chongqing city), on 
the banks of the Yangtze.
We have also seen evidence of a wish for moderation and frugality in a society 
that was criticised by its own people for unnecessary extravagance. Frugality and 
restraint were reflected in a burial custom that was less showy and more family 
orientated and personal, yet had all the ritual elements required in a proper funer -
al. In its more modest presentation cliff tomb burials may have been a reaction to 
the increasingly lavish funerary customs that came to prevail in the wider empire, 
especially in the Central Plains. Furthermore, its sudden rise in the Eastern Han 
period and decline by the 3rd century CE suggest that it was a trend that an -
swered a particular call at a specific period. 
Due to the scarcity of supporting material many questions regarding the origins 
and rise of cliff tomb burial practice and the use of decorated stone sarcophagi 
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198 Hajni Pejsue Elias: Cliff Tomb Burial and Decorated Stone Sarcophagi...
remain difficult to answer. For example, the identity of the majority of those bur -
ied in cliff tombs is unknown, nor do we know how the funeral protocol for cliff 
tomb burial was conducted. Limited space for public gatherings at the cliff tomb 
cemetery does not mean that mourning and rituals were not conducted, but they 
may have been shifted elsewhere. However, cliff tombs and decorated stone sar -
cophagi were clearly a distinctive feature of the southwest in early Imperial China.
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