What She Left Behind
Objects from the tomb of Xin Zhui
49g
One of the most remarkable silk garments from Xin Zhui’s tomb.
Explore the gown ⊙
Plain Unlined Gauze Gown
Light as air
Made from exceptionally fine silk gauze, the gown reveals the sophistication of early Han textile craftsmanship.
Material
Silk
Western Han Dynasty
Xin Zhui’s Tomb
The gown was woven from extremely fine silk threads. Its lightness and delicate structure show the remarkable skill of Han textile production more than 2,000 years ago.
Made to be
almost weightless
At only about 49 grams, the gown is remarkable not only for its appearance, but also for the precision required to make it.
The extremely fine silk threads created a fabric that was thin, light and almost transparent. It reveals how advanced silk craftsmanship had become during the Western Han Dynasty.
49
GRAMS
More than
an object
What the garment tells us
The objects buried with Xin Zhui allow us to imagine the material world of a woman living more than 2,000 years ago.
Clothing was not simply something to wear. The materials, patterns and craftsmanship also reflected daily life, technology and social identity.
What remains
Silk, lacquerware and painted objects preserve fragments of the world Xin Zhui once knew.