Frieze Fragment with Chariot Procession

The frieze shows a procession of horse-drawn chariots passing through terrain animated with wild animals and a monkey climbing a tree. The border of swirling clouds above conveys associations with heaven or the remote land of immortals in the high mountains.<br> <br>Comparable in style with the stone reliefs of the Wu Family shrines, this stone may have been originally carved for a local Eastern Han dynasty family tomb of similar status.<br><br>To take a rubbing of the frieze, a moistened sheet of paper is laid over the slab and tamped with an ink pad that then darkens the raised areas, leaving concave sections and incised lines blank.