LADY DAI
Xin Zhui, the Diva Mummy
INTRODUCTION
MUMMIFIED BODIES IN CHINA
Ancient Human remains can tell us about the evolution of our own species through the years. Archaeologists can depict the lifestyle of the individual whose body has been found by sometimes ordinary people and have been preserved by the environment that they were left to die in. Human remains can also help us redirect our knowledge of a time and place somewhere in the world.
The Egyptians weren't the only ones who mummified their dead as the Chinese did the same. Self mummification had been a practiced by Monks between the 11th and 19th centuries. This practice would mean the Monk would have to decide a few years before his expected death to conduct the ritual. The Monks didn’t view this as an act of suicide, but rather as a form of further enlightenment.
The Chinese also seemed to know how they wanted to bury their dead, especially the rich, as Archaeologists have found coffins filled with belongings that the devices would bring with them to the the after life, just like the Egyptians.
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OVERVIEW
Xin Zhui, better known as Lady Dai, was the wife of the Chinese marquis of the Dai fiefdom during the Han Dynasty and is speculated to be the world's best preserved mummified body. Although found when she was approximately 2,000 years old, her body was in almost immaculate condition - blood was still present in her veins!