Cosmic Board (Liuren shipan)

Six Dynasties (220-589 CE) – Sui dynasty (581-618 CE)
CENTRAL CHINA

Cosmic Board (Liuren shipan)
3rd-7th c.
Bronze
2.4 x 10.3 x 10.3 cm

Gift of Ellen Bronfman Hauptman and Stephen Bronfman in memory of Barbara Bronfman

In ancient China, geomantic boards were apparently used to determine the most auspicious orientation for burial and a tomb’s layout and furnishing. Between the square plate, representing the Earth, and the smaller detachable dome, being the Sky, are featured twelve earthly stems, twelve heavenly branches, twenty-eight constellations and thirty-six animals and the Big Dipper. Complex calculations and astrological triangulations obtained by rotating the mobile disc around the square base to obtain adjustments corresponding to specific moments of the day, month and year would all play a part in the divination process.

Only a few Liuren boards are known to exist in the world. Moreover, there are no traces of any similar objects in other museums in the West. The MMFA is therefore very grateful for the gift of this extremely rare and important object. In addition to shedding light on ancient divination practices, the board enriches the Museum’s Chinese art collection as a tangible remnant of ancestral beliefs that still find resonance today.