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Jiezhuping — “Release from Repeated Death-Pollution” Bottles

Canonical entry drawn from a single source layer in 17_AGGRESSIVE_ARCHIVE_SWEEP_II_v2_5.md.

Layer 1: Jiezhuping — “Release from Repeated Death-Pollution” Bottles

Section titled “Layer 1: Jiezhuping — “Release from Repeated Death-Pollution” Bottles”

Source file: 17_AGGRESSIVE_ARCHIVE_SWEEP_II_v2_5.md

Chinese: 解注瓶 / 鎮墓瓶
Period: Han through Six Dynasties, regional variation
Class: EARLY DAOIST / FUNERARY APOTROPAIC TECHNOLOGY
Source state: ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES ACCESSIBLE

Archaeological studies document ceramic bottles placed:

  • inside tomb gates;
  • at tomb centers;
  • in corners; sometimes with inscriptions and deposited substances.

Examples can contain:

  • medicinal substances;
  • lead human figures;
  • eggshell; with associated objects such as seals, mirrors or stone animals in some tombs.

“Zhu 注” could denote a contagious chain of deathly misfortune or disease associated with the dead. The funerary technology sought to break transmission between corpse/tomb and surviving family.

This is a material analogue to later Japanese pollution-contact systems, though historically independent and not to be conflated.