From Ancestral Worship to Pursuit of Immortality: Bronze Age to Pre-Buddhist Chinese Art

This presentation uses artifacts from the New Orleans Museum of Art and the exhibition "Buddha and Shiva, Lotus and Dragon: Masterworks from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at Asia Society," and visual materials from recent archaeological discoveries to discuss the changing ideas and attitudes toward life, death, and afterlife in pre-Buddhist China. From the Early Bronze Age to the first Empires, religious centers moved from family lineage temples to individual tombs, reflecting profound socio-political transitions in the declining of a hierarchical genealogical structure and the rising importance of one's achievements through personal efforts. Dr. Yu Jiang is Director of Global Engagement at Xavier University of Louisiana. As Chief/Senior International Officer for the University, he provides strategic vision and leadership for Xavier’s comprehensive internalization efforts. Jiang received his B.A. in Archaeology from Beijing University, China, and Ph.D. in Chinese Art History from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the Paul Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian Institution 2004-2005, and an art history and museum studies faculty at Florida Atlantic University (2005-2008) and Southern University at New Orleans (2008-2012), before coming to Xavier. Dr. Jiang’s research focuses on bronze and jade art of early China.