Kneeling Singer

Northern Wei
Datong City Museum

This lively stone sculpture depicts a kneeling singer with head turned and open mouth. The figure is clothed in Tuoba costume, with a leather helmet and cloth coat. He supports an instrument of some kind between his legs, probably a monochord (one-stringed zither) but hard to identify because of damage to that part of the statue; he may have held the instrument's bow in his upraised hand.