CREATING VISUAL EMBLEMS FOR EASTERN ZHOU MILITARIZED FRONTIER SOCIETIES (771-221 BCE)

My dissertation examines the hybrid imagery on burial objects from the tomb of the Zhao (赵) Minister of the Jin (晋) State in and the Zhao King Tomb No. 2, for example, gilded plaques decorated with paired dragon motifs (Fig. 1) and bronze daggers with a combat scene of tiger and bird (Fig. 2). These objects were considered to be modeled on Sino-Siberian motifs in past scholarship. Instead of using the term ‘hybridity’ merely as a stylistic label to describe these bronze artifacts as in previous scholarship, I re-define my use of this term and analyze how hybridity is practiced in different aspects. Hybridity is seen as a hybrid design on burial objects. It is also reflected in the purposeful selection of different practice for elite tombs and in the co-existence of both Zhou (周) and local population in commoner burials in this frontier region. \ud My research explores multiple meanings of these hybrid artifacts of the Jin and Zhao and consists of manifold approaches. I analyzed the broad social and political context of Jin and Zhao based on textual documents, which accounts for the needs of empowering themselves. A more confined perspective to examine these hybrid artifacts in burial setting aims to analyze how the Jin and Zhao elites used these artifacts to create a unique identity displayed at the time of their death. The third approach focuses on trade networks and bronze production in the region in order to show the development in the design of these hybrid style bronzes and to suggest a reciprocal relationship between the Chinese states and the frontier groups. \ud In conclusion, the creation and placement of the hybrid bronze artifacts in the elite Jin and Zhao tombs revealed a unique cultural identity for them that goes along with the unstable political tides around the 500 BCE. The practice of hybridity manifested itself on burial artifacts and programs and so were in accord with their all-inclusive diplomatic strategies that these practices became the sanctioned and collective means to negotiate their cultural identity and assert their power in the region. \u