A wall painting found in a tomb at Dingjiazha in western China and dated to the early Six Dynasties (220-589) is wrapped in a mystery of identity and motive. Archaeologists have dated the tomb, which is in Gansu province, to the fourth or fifth centuries, and a contemporaneous record from eastern China suggests that the scene illustrates a tragic incident involving the birth of a deformed baby and an appeal for relief from drought through an ancient practice of ritual exposure. Professor Clydesdale argues this painting sheds light on how superstition, folklore, and associated practices can seem to fall out of use, but actually go underground and, like a rhizome, sprout over vast distances and through centuries in times of deprivation.

Heather Clydesdale is a lecturer in the Department of Art and Art History at Santa Clara University in the Bay Area, where she teaches courses on the Silk Roads as well as modern Asian art. Her research focuses on cultural exchanges and artistic innovations on China’s northwestern frontier. She holds a PhD in art history and archaeology from Columbia University and wrote her dissertation on third and early fourth century tombs in the Hexi Corridor.