Tag: Chen shen

Chinese president Hu Jintao may kick-off Terracotta Warriors show in Toronto

A Toronto newspaper is reporting that Chinese President Hu Jintao may kick-off the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, at the Royal Ontario Museum, on June 26.

It will be the largest Terracotta Warriors show ever displayed in North America featuring 250 artefacts in total including 16 human terracotta figures. It’s opening day coincides with the start of the G20 summit in Toronto, which the president will be attending.

The Toronto Starreports that the president and his wife Liu Yongqing have been formally invited by the museum. Were hoping, but we know there are lots of things on their agenda, exhibit curator Dr. Chen Shen, told the newspaper.

There is no reason in the world to close. Its perfectly safe up here for our public and our staff

In the same article museum officials defended their decision to open the exhibit while the summit is running. Other venues in Toronto have decided to shut down. These include the Art Gallery of Ontario, the CN Tower and the University of Torontos St. George campus (which practically surrounds the museum).

There is no reason in the world to close. Its perfectly safe up here for our public and our staff, the Toronto Star quotes Dr. Dan Rahimi as saying. He is the vice-president of gallery development. The city is going to be a ghost town, so let people come to the ROM.

When contacted by Heritage Key several weeks ago the museum declined to comment on what special security precautions they will be taking.

ROM Lecture Series to Accompany Terracotta Warriors Exhibition

On June 26the Terracotta Warriors will be coming to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.

Curated by the museums own Dr. Chen Shen,the showincludes 16 human terracotta figures, a terracotta horse and, yes, a terracotta dog (albeit from the Han period). In total there are about 250 artefacts -making it the largest warriors show ever to come to North America.

Accompanyingtheexhibitionwill be a lecture series, the details of which the museum has just announced.

Therewill be14 lectures in total, allof whichstart at7pm in the Eaton theatre, inside the museum itself.

The price for one lecture is $28, going down to $25 for members and students. Package deals are also available – $84 for four lectures (going down to $75 for members and students). You can even purchase tickets for all 14 lectures.If you want to see them all it costs $252 for non-members and $225 for members and students.

If you want to buy a package I would suggest getting a ROM membership first. An individual membership costs $90 a year and you get free admission, to the museum, year round. Also the museum has said that members can see the Terracotta Warriors show as often as they wish – for free!

Schedule

Lets look at some of the lecture highlights:

For nearly 20 years Dr. Duan Qingbo has been the chief archaeologist in charge of the First Emperors mausoleum leading the excavation work. His archaeological team has been responsible for the recent major archaeological discoveries at this site, including the stone armour pit, the civil official pit, the acrobat pit, and many others, said the museum in a release. On October 21 Dr. Qingbo will come to Torontoto talk abouthis work. The lecture is in Mandarin but an English translation will be provided.

One lecture Im particularly interested in will be given by Professor Robin Yates of McGill University, who has been studying the laws used in the time of the first emperor. In 1975 legal documents were found buried with a low-ranking Qin official.The museum said in their release thatthese fascinating legal documents are only known by specialists.

Dr. Roberto Ciarla will be talking about Chinese Philosopher Han Fei, who lived 280-233 BC. He lived in the first emperors lifetime but died before the unification of China in 221 BC. Dr. Ciarla will be discussing how his ideas influenced Qin Shi Huang.

The Warrior Emperor and China’s Terracotta Army Exhibition at the ROM – Full Details

News of this exhibit has been leaking out in bits and pieces for weeks. But today the official announcement of it was made and full details have been released.

The exhibit will be hitting the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto Canada starting in late June. The precise exhibition start/end dates are being arranged.

As reported earlier the exhibit will be stopping at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary and the Royal BC Museum in Victoria BC. A stop in Montreal was announced several months back.

Also, as hk previously reported, this will be the biggest Terracotta Warriors exhibition ever to hit North America. We now know that it will include about 250 artefacts in total.

Now for the new info:

There will be 16 human terracotta figures coming to Toronto.These will include two generals (one of which is pictured here), an acrobat, a cavalryman, a charioteer and a mix of armoured soldiers, archers and lower ranking officers.

Generals are, of course, very rare among the warriors and would have commanded the emperors army in the afterlife. Archaeologists are hoping to come across more generals and senior officers in the digs that have just resumed at the terracotta site.

This exhibit will also have some treats for animal lovers. There are going to be two terracotta horses coming to Toronto. Horses played an important role in the first emperors army, being used for cavalry and the all-important chariots.

There is also going to be wait for it a terracotta dog! Albeit one that dates to the Han Period, after the Emperor Qin Shi Huang andhis warriors were already buried.

The exhibit is going to go well beyond the tomb of the first emperor. Its going to start with the story of the rise of the Qin Empire. The first section will show how a family – that ruled a small bit of territory on the western frontier of China – came to control the entire country, unifying the land for the first time. Among the treasures that will illustrate this section is a jade pendent worn by the Duke of Qin. He used it 350 years before Emperor Qin came to power.

Among the artefacts in this display will be a war painting that exhibit curator Dr. Chen Shen says is the is the oldest Chinese war-painting discovered so far. It dates to the 3rd century BC. Unfortunately a picture of it isnt available for release. If this is the oldest war painting in China its pretty remarkable that it was created at such a late time.

War reliefs can be found at much earlier dates in Mesopotamia and Egypt. In fact one of the earliest art examples in Egypt shows King Narmer about to beat an enemy with a mace! Although I suppose that wouldnt qualify as a painting.

The exhibit is also going to show terracotta figurines from before and after the time of the famous warriors. Human figurines were not new when the Qin emperor came to power. What the Qin emperor did was blow them up to life size and mass produce them in a way that meant that no two look alike.

No one in China would ever attempt this again. After the emperors death terracotta figures reverted to smaller sizes.

The Han figurines (produced after the Qin emperors death) will show the aforementioned terracotta dog and other animals including pigs, chickens, sheep and goats. There will also be multi-coloured warriors and terracotta ladies.

It should be noted that the Han Dynasty is detached from the Qin. After Qin Shi Huangs death his empire disintegrated and man named Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu) came to power. He was born a peasant and there is a story that his revolt against the Qin started when his conscripted workers deserted him while heading to work on the first emperors tomb.