For archaeologists, Xi’an is the gift that keeps giving. Since its 1974 discovery by a group of farmers digging a well, some 8,000 statues have been excavated from the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang—mostly life-sized soldiers made from terracotta. But the tomb’s treasures also include sundry items and relics carved from gold and jade.
“This show explores the period before the Qin Dynasty, and how these archaeological discoveries help us to understand the unification of China,” Bowers Museum curator Dr. Tianlong Jiao tells Observer about the new exhibition, “World of the Terracotta Warriors: New Archaeological Discoveries in Shaanxi in the 21st Century,” on view through October 19. Tracing the cultural and political developments that led to Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s rise and the unification of dynastic China, the show features more than 110 newly uncovered treasures: jade and gold ornaments, chariot regalia and bronze vessels, along with five terracotta warriors and acrobats making their North American debut. The centerpiece of “World of the Terracotta Warriors,” however, is a pair of terracotta chariots, each pulled by four horses.
“It’s one of the oldest chariots found in China,” says Jiao of the replica presented in the show, the real one being too delicate to travel. Discovered in 1980, it took archaeologists eight years to reconstruct from 70,000 shards dating back 3,000 years. “It provides a lot of material on how these relics played a role not only for military but for rituals—how the chariots were decorated and how they were used. The wheel has a bronze edge, and a strange bronze mask decorates the side. All of this bronze with turquoise images makes it the most elaborately decorated chariot at that time. Most scholars believe that it represents the pinnacle of Chinese bronze custom. In the past, we had horses and a chariot, but we had no idea of how the horses were working together. But because of this discovery, we have all the details.”
Although terracotta warriors have visited the Bowers before (once in 2008 and again in 2011), the new show features freshly unearthed finds never seen in North America. Among them is a bronze likeness of a waterfowl found adjacent to the northeastern quadrant of the mausoleum complex. Also on view are a terracotta commander and an entirely new figure—the aforementioned acrobat. “This is a new variety of terracotta figure, an entertainer,” explains Jiao. “There are more than thirty types of figures, all doing different things. In its finger was a stick for balancing a plate, most scholars think. Today, Chinese acrobats still do that.”
More common soldier varieties include infantry, kneeling and standing archers and charioteers, making the statue of a high-ranking commander an outlier. The first of its kind found since 1994, it is one of only ten among the thousands of statues discovered. “It’s probably a general, the highest rank among the terracotta warriors,” offers Jiao, pointing out another replica: a smaller kneeling sculpture that fits among neither warriors nor entertainers. “It’s the attendant for the emperor’s horses, and his expression is also different.”
A 2005 discovery from the Zhou Dynasty (1000-250 BCE), in the ancient “Lost State of Rui” in Hancheng City in Shaanxi, unearthed a large cemetery. In it, they found artifacts of gold, including a ring and a decorative element for a belt, as well as a jade and agate necklace. Also included here is a jade piece that predates the site by 1,000 years, indicating antiquity collecting at the time.
A bronze wine vessel from the same era is in the shape of an unusual animal with a rabbit’s face, the body of a mule and the talons of a falcon. Also included is one of twenty-seven bronze vessels discovered by farmers in 2003. Inscribed with 381 Chinese characters, it bears a local family’s genealogical record. “We also have bronze, jade and a gold earring, the earliest in China, from 3,200 years ago,” offers Jiao, pointing to a small piece of jewelry from Shimao, the stone-walled city site that is the region’s oldest. “It was hammered from one piece of gold, and turquoise is part of the decoration. It’s one of the national treasures.”
What hasn’t been excavated is Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s actual burial mound, which dates to 210 BCE. Sima Qian, a historian who lived around a hundred years after the emperor, described the mausoleum thusly:
“Palaces and scenic towers for a hundred officials were constructed, and the tomb was filled with rare artifacts and wonderful treasures. Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows primed to shoot at anyone who entered the tomb. Mercury was used to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze and Yellow River and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically. Above were representations of the heavenly constellations; below, the features of the land. Candles were made from the fat of ‘man-fish,’ which is calculated to burn and not extinguish for a long time.”
It remains unexcavated for fear of irreparably damaging the structure. “The technology is not there,” says Jiao, reluctant to uncover the tomb. “We don’t want to touch it. The mercury is still there. It’s a huge quantity of objects. It covers about three or four New York City blocks. I don’t want to open it—even if the technology is there, why do you have to?”
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