# Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Dragon (Leo)

- Date: 500s
- Medium: gray earthenware with traces of slip
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)
- Culture: China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)
- Credit line: The Norweb Collection
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.76.5)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.76.5/1972.76.5_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The twelve-animal zodiac series—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar—signifies a traditional Chinese concept of time structured in a cyclical order. The twelve animals are also linked to the art of fortune-telling that underlies human existence in connection with the changes of the universe. The use of the twelve zodiac animals as tomb furniture suggests they provided a cosmological structure for the afterlife.