# Hunping

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Imperial China funerary urn

"Soul jar" and "Soul vase" redirect here. For other uses, see [Phylactery](/source/Phylactery_(disambiguation)).

A *hunping* jar of the Western Jìn, with [Buddhist](/source/Buddhist) figures

A [celadon](/source/Celadon) *hunping* jar with sculpted [designs of architecture](/source/Chinese_architecture), from the Jin dynasty

The ***hunping*** ([Chinese](/source/Chinese_language): 魂瓶; [pinyin](/source/Pinyin): *Húnpíng*), translated as **soul jar** or **soul vase**, is a type of ceramic [funerary urn](/source/Funerary_urn) often found in the tombs of the [Han dynasty](/source/Han_dynasty) and especially the [Six Dynasties](/source/Six_Dynasties) periods of early imperial China.[1] It was characteristic of the [Jiangnan](/source/Jiangnan) region in modern southern [Jiangsu](/source/Jiangsu) and [Zhejiang](/source/Zhejiang) provinces.[2]

The purpose of a *hunping* is somewhat enigmatic, but archaeologists suggest that they may have been used as containers for fruit accompanying the deceased into the afterlife.[1] According to the [Metropolitan Museum of Art](/source/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art), the ancients may have hoped that the soul of the deceased would eventually reside in the vessel.[2]

Since the last decades of the Han dynasty, the top of *hunping* vessels started to be decorated with miniature sculptures of men, animals, birds, etc. Gradually, sculptural compositions became more elaborate, including images of entire buildings.[1]

It is due to an early-[Jin dynasty](/source/Jin_dynasty_(265%E2%80%93420)) *hunping*, dating to 272, that an early example of a [tortoise-born stele](/source/Bixi_(tortoise)) is known to us.[3]

## See also

- [Haniwa](/source/Haniwa)

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-dien_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-dien_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-dien_1-2) Dien, Albert E. (2007), [*Six dynasties civilization*](https://books.google.com/books?id=0zp6iMZoqt0C&pg=PA214), Early Chinese civilization series, Yale University Press, pp. 214–215, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-300-07404-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-300-07404-8)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-met_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-met_2-1) [Funerary urn (*hunping*), Western Jin dynasty (265–317), ca. 250–300. China. Earthenware with green glaze. (1992.165.21)](http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1992.165.21) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Abe, Stanley K.](/source/Stanley_K._Abe) (2002), [*Ordinary images*](https://books.google.com/books?id=q7mSgzODyKMC&pg=PA72), University of Chicago Press, pp. 71–72, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-226-00044-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-226-00044-3)

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Hunping](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hunping).

- [A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics](http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/38422/rec/3) from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

v t e Chinese ceramics Ancient pottery Proto-celadon Terracotta Army Green-glazed pottery Earthenwares, stonewares and others Yue Celadon Yaozhou Longquan celadon Cizhou Ding Ge Guan Jian Jizhou Jun Ru Yixing Shiwan Tang tomb figures Porcelain Xing Ding Qingbai Jingdezhen/Imperial wares Dehua Transitional export Kraak Swatow Tianqi Canton Decoration Sancai Blue and white Wucai Doucai Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte Ash glaze An hua Kilns, shapes Dragon kiln Mantou kiln The Five Great Kilns Cong Ding Guang Hunping Meiping Gaiwan

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