Funerary banner from tomb No.1, MA-WANG-TUI : Painting as a deviated notational system

With its diagrammatic, notational quality, the painting of the funerary banner from the Han tomb no.1 at Ma-wang-tui exemplifies the ambivalent nature of pictorial space ― characteristic to ancient Chinese painting ― in which the space of painting and that of writing are not fully differentiated but rather Merged. In this paper I will first discuss the synecdochic and emblematic representation of the spiritual journey of the deceased (1. Metaphorical landscape : reduction to elements), and then a superimposition of two kinds of spaces, figurative and ornamental (2. Oscillating images: representation vs. decoration). Finally, in the course of retracing the pictographic origins of Chinese painting as well as writing, I will suggest a possible alternative view of the art form