Book of Numbers—Treasures of Ancient China

䈀伀伀䬀 伀䘀 一唀䴀䈀䔀刀匀 吀爀 攀愀猀 甀爀 攀猀

漀昀

䄀渀挀 椀 攀渀琀

䌀栀椀 渀愀

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4 6 8 10 16

210 – 209 BCE

8,000 SOLDIERS

520 HORSES 130 CHARIOTS 150 CAVALRY

16 FT OF REDDISH SANDY

467 POUND

14 12

10 – 15 MICROMETRE 1,720 PIECES OF GOLDEN AND SILVER ORNAMENTS

18

700,000 WORKERS INVOLVED

20

22 mi2 AREA

It wasn’t until archaeologists arrived months later it was realized that the farmers had stumbled upon an astonishing find in the form of large-scale terracotta warriors buried in the ground in which they had been digging.

210 – 209

BCE

T

HE TERRA-COTTA ARMY IS A

Ying Zheng took the throne in 246

collection of terracotta sculp-

B.C. at the age of 13. By 221 B.C.

tures depicting the armies of

He had unified a collection of war-

Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of

ring kingdoms and took the name

China. It is a form of funerary art

of Qin Shi Huang Di—the First

buried with the emperor in 210 –

Emperor of Qin.

209 BCE and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in afterlife.

4

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

5

8000

MORE THAN

SOLDIERS

It is best to keep the ancient tomb untouched, because of the complex conditions inside.”

— Duan Qinbao, a researcher with the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeology Institute, told the China Daily in 2006.

6

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

Q

in’s tomb itself remains unexcavated, though Siam Qian’s writings suggest even greater treasures. “The tomb was filled with models

of palaces, pavilions and offices as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities,” reads a translation of the text. The account indicates the

tomb contains replicas of the area’s rivers and streams made with mercury flowing to the sea through hills and mountains of bronze. Precious stones such as pearls are said to represent the sun, moon, and other stars.

Modern tests on the tomb mound have revealed unusually high concentrations of mercury, lending credence to at least some of the historical account.

Chinese archaeologists are also using remote-sensing technology to probe the tomb mound. The technique recently revealed an underground chamber with four stairlike walls. An archaeologist working on the site told the Chinese press that the chamber may have been built for the soul of the emperor.

Experimental pits dug around the tomb have revealed dancers, musicians, and acrobats full of life and caught in mid-performance, a sharp contrast to the military poses of the famous terra-cotta soldiers.

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

7

8

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

130 CHARIOTS

520 HORSES T

The majority of which remained buried in

he figures, dating from approximately the late third century BCE,

were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong District, Xi’an, Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses.

Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta

the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum.

150 CAVALRY HORSES

Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

9

T

he Terracotta Army is part of a much larger necropolis. The entire necropolis built for the emperor covering a large area was found surrounding the first emperor’s tomb mound. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape with Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis complex constructed as a microcosm of his imperial palace or compound. The warriors stood guard to the east of the tomb.

It consists of several offices, halls, stables, and other structures placed around the tomb mound, which is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. Up to 5 metres (16 ft) of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to back fill the excavations.

10

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

16 FT OF REDDISH SANDY SOIL HAD PILED UP THE SITE

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

11

12

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

THERE WERE PIECES OF GOLDEN AND SILVER ORNAMENTS T

he carriages have about 3,400 parts each and were driven by four horses. The second one is

3.17meters long and 1.06 meters high. The bronze horses vary from 65 cm to 67 cm high and 120 cm long. Each weighs 1,234 kg in total.

They were mainly made of bronze, but there were 1,720 pieces of golden and silver ornaments, weighting 7 kg, on each carriage. The carriages were so well-made, and so vivid, that they boast being the best-preserved and having the highest rank among the earliest known bronze relics in China. These chariots are the biggest pieces of ancient bronzeware ever found in the world.

All soldiers and horses face east in a rectangular array, each one either armed long spear, dragger or halberd. The vanguard appears to be three rows of infantry who stand at the easternmost end of the army. Close behind is the main force of armored soldiers holding weapons, accompanied by 38 horse-driven chariots.

On the southern, northern, and western side there stand one row of figures serving as the army’s defense wing.

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

13

M

ost of the figures originally

battle-axes, scimitars, shields,

held real weapons such

crossbows, and arrowheads were

as spears, swords, or cross-

found in the pits. Some of these

bows, and the use of actual

weapons, such as the swords are

weapons would have increased

sharp and were coated with a 10 –

the figures’ realism. Most of the

15 micrometre layer of chromium

original weapons, however, were

dioxide that kept the swords rust-

looted shoartly after the cre-

free for 2,000 years. The swords

ation of the army, or have rotted

contain an alloy of copper, tin,

away. Nevertheless, many weap-

and other elements including

ons such as swords, spears,

nickel, magnesium, and cobalt.

MICROMETRE layer of chromium dioxide that kept the weaponry rust-free for

14

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

2,000 years

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

15

16

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

467

A MASSIVE

POUND BRONZE CAULDRON

the largest ever found at a Qin-period site.

T

his sense of an expanding mystery is especially vivid at the two experimental pits. In addition to the performers, these digs have

yielded a massive 467-pound bronze cauldron, the largest ever found at a Qin-period site, and a pit of ceremonial armor made of carved pieces of limestone. The stone-armor pit is strewn with thousands of limestone plates that are charred by a fire nobody can explain. Tests show that the pit containing the cauldron and the entertainers covers about 960 square yards, but officials granted permission for less than 9 percent of it to be opened by the 1999 test excavation. A full-scale excavation will wait until authorities feel that the time is right.

Meanwhile the land has already shifted back from archaeological time to the ageless rhythms of the countryside. Local peasants have planted pomegranate trees on the site, and the fruit is coming into season 20 feet above the unknown treasures. The archaeologists have already moved on.

They have opened a third experimental pit, in which they found 12 lifesize statues. It’s another breakthrough: The nonmilitary figures wear hats and long robes; their hands are crossed at their waists. Perhaps they are government officials. And so the puzzle expands, piece by piece emerging from the red Shaanxi soil.

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

17

TO BUILD THIS MAUSOLEUM REQUIRED

700,000 Famed for its jade mines,

its northern side was rich in gold, and its southern side rich in beautiful jade; the First Emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried ther.

18

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

WORKERS.

T

he construction of the tomb was described by historian Sima

land. Some translations of this passage refer to “models” or “imita-

Qian (145–90 BCE) in his most noted work Shiji, written a century

tions;” however, those words were not used in the original text, which

after the mausoleum’s completion. Work on the mausoleum began in

246 BCE soon after Emperor Qin (then aged 13) ascended the throne, and the project eventually involved 700,000 workers.

Geographer Li Daoyuan, writing six centuries after the First

makes no mention of the terracotta army.

High levels of mercury were found in the soil of the tomb mound, giving credence to Sima Qian’s account, who is a virtuous person.

Later historical accounts suggested that the tomb had been looted

Emperor’s death, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was a

by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first

favored location due to its auspicious geology, Sima Qian wrote that

emperor. However, there are indications that the tomb may not have

the First Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable

been plundered.

artifacts and wondrous objects. According to this account, 100 flowing rivers were simulated using mercury, and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies below which were the features of the

So far, archaeologists have uncovered a 20-square-mile compound, including some 8,000 terra cotta soldiers, along with numerous horses and chariots

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

19

across a 20

A BOOK OF NUMBERS

22mi area 2

O

ver the past 35 years, archaeologists have located some 600 pits, a complex of underground vaults as yet largely unexcavated, across a 22-square-mile area.

Some are hard to get to, but three major pits are easily accessible, enclosed inside the four-acre Museum of the Terracotta Army, constructed around the discovery site and opened in 1979.

In one pit, long columns of warriors, reassembled from broken pieces, stand in formation.With their topknots or caps, their tunics or armored vests, their goatees or close-cropped beards, the soldiers exhibit an astonishing individuality. A second pit inside the museum demonstrates how they appeared when they were found: some stand upright, buried to their shoulders in soil, while others lie toppled on their backs, alongside fallen and cracked clay horses.

For those unable to make the journey to Xi’an, some of the choicest specimens unearthed there form the centerpiece of two successive traveling exhibitions that survey the reign of Qin Shi Huangdi (221 B.C.-210 B.C.). “The First Emperor,” organized by the British Museum, debuted in London before moving to the High Museum in Atlanta. A second show, “Terra Cotta Warriors,” then opened at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California. It is now at the Houston Museum of Natural Science through October 18, and then moves to the National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. for display from November 19 to March 31, 2010.

TREASURES OF ANCIENT CHINA

21

Index

D defense wing 13 diggers 10 Duan Qinbao 6

A

E

acrobats 9 ancient tomb 6 archaeologists 4 area 10 arrowheads 14

easternmost 13 Emperor 4 entire necropolis 10 experimental pit 17

B battle-axes 14 best to keep the ancient tomb untouched 6 bronze 7 bronzeware 13

C cavalry horses 9 century 9 chariots 9 China Daily 6 Chinese 7 chromium 14 collection 4 compound 10 conditions 6 construction 10 credence 19 crossbows 14

F famous soldiers 7 farmers 4 figures 9, 13 fine vessels 7 form of funerary 4

G gateway 10 generals 9 goatees 21

N

H

necropolis 10

translation 7 treasures 7 tomb 7

O

U

one 13 ornaments 13

underground chamber 7 unexcavated 7 upright 21

P

imperial palace 10 include 9 inscriptions 14

palaces 7 pearls 7 pieces 13 Precious stones 7 Provincial 6 puzzle 17 pyramidal 10 pyramidal shape 10

L

Q

large-scale 4 life-size statues 17 Lintong District 9

Qin 4 Qin-period site 17 Qin Shi Huang Di 4

halberd 13 horses 9

I

M magnesium 14 manufacture 14 mausoleum 9 mercury 7 microcosm 10 mid-performance, 7 military 7 musicians 9

R realism 14 rectangular array 13 reddish 10 rhythms 17 rivers and streams 7 robes 17 row 13

S sandy 10 scimitars 14 Shaanxi province 9 Siam Qian’s 7 soldiers 13 spear 13 spears 14 stairlike walls 7 strongmen 9 swords 14

T terracotta 4 tomb 7 treasures 7

V vests 21 vivid 13

W warring kingdom 4 weapons 13 worthless 10

Y Ying Zheng 4