 By linking theories of ritual passage with the architecture of Eastern Han underground palace tombs, it is seen that the carved stone doors in Eastern Han tombs signaled that the tomb was a locus of transformation to an audience of the living and the dead.An analysis of the working stone doorways within Eastern Han tombs shows that death, a system-endangering event of central importance, was defeated by the correct program of mortuary ritual at the site of the doors and doorways within the tombs.Mortuary ritual functioned as a homeostat, providing a mechanism to repair the tear in the fabric of Han society caused by the death of a family member.