Tag: Terracotta warriors

Chief Archaeologist: New discoveries show First Emperor’s Mausoleum influenced by foreign ideas

Acrobats from Burma, workers from Central or West Asia, and a mausoleum design inspired by work in the Middle East the Mauseoleum of Chinas First Emperor was a cosmopolitan place says Dr. Duan Qingbo, the man in charge of excavating it.

The mausoleum was created about 2,200 year ago and served as a tomb for Qin Shi Huang the first emperor of China. While the emperors tomb is largely unexcavated, archaeologists have found thousands of life-size terracotta figures nearby. Its believed that this army was created to serve the emperor in the afterlife.

Dr. Duan (Duan is his family name) discussed this idea at a lecture last Thursday at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto Canada. The museum is hosting a Terracotta Warriors exhibit until January 2, 2011. He doesnt speak English so his words were translated by Dr. Chen Shen, a museum curator and Chinese archaeology expert.

East meets West

Traditionally scholars have marked the 2nd century BC as the starting point of Chinas relationship with the west. The Silk Road was opened for trade at that time,opening upwhat would become a booming trade.

Now the evidence shows that the cultural exchange or influence from the western world begins as early as the time of the First Emperor, said Dr. Duan. In fact the emperors burial structure is probably inferenced from west.

The First Emperors Mausoleum uses a step up structure that allows the soul to escalate to the top. Duan pointed out that the Mausoleumat Halicarnassus in Turkey is quite similar, gradually rising up in levels and was built only 100 years before the First Emperors life.

The structure of this tomb mound is very similar to what we find inside the First Emperors tomb mound, said Duan. Also, on top of this structure (at Halicarnassus) theres a chariot driven by four horses, we all know that (at) the First Emperors tomb complex there also is a chariot with four horses, he said.

DNA Evidence and foreign bricks designs

A few years ago Dr. Duans team unearthed 120 skeletons of workers who were buried near the Mausoleum. Among the finds were three skulls that were definitely not Chinese. Theres three skulls that are different from the rest of them which represents the Mongolian type of people, he said through a translator. The nose protrude (is) very extensive.

The first time DNA tests were performed they indicated that the individuals were from west Eurasia probably like a white people, however the second DNA test showed they were more similar to Mongolian.

Duan has an idea as what these workers might have been used for. His team discovered that the Terracotta Warriors pits used an interlocking rectangular brick pattern that had not been used in China before the time of the First Emperor. This kind of bricks has never been found in China, it was the first time used in the Terracotta Warrior pits, he said. The style used in the Terracotta Army pits of these rectangular brick (is) probably also inference from West Asia.

This means that these foreigners may have served as skilled labour bringing knowledge of this technology from Central or West Asia allowing the First Emperors officials to implement it.

Acrobats & Terracotta Entertainers

Another discovery that adds weight to Dr. Duans theory is a pit of terracotta entertainers, including strongmen, wrestlers and acrobats.

The acrobats were created in a lifelike way with their carving conveying a sense of movement. One example, that is now on display in Toronto, has an index finger pointing up, indicating that the figure is trying to perform a balancing act.

Dr. Duan believes that the acrobats the terracotta figures are modelled on,were probably not from China. According to the way they perform we speculate they are not indigenous to central China, but probably come from the south probably Burma area. This is an idea that if proven true will add another ethnic layer to what appears to have already been an ancient cosmopolitan project.

Terracotta Warriors tour curtailed – won’t be stopping in Victoria and Calgary

Bad news today for ancient history fans in Western Canada.

The Terracotta Warriors show now on at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) will not be coming to Victoria and Calgary. It had previously been announced that the Terracotta Warriors would visit the RoyalBC and Glenbow Museums, respectively,in 2011/2012. The ROM is the lead partner in organizing the exhibit.

A release says that out-of-country loan of Terracotta artefacts from China is unable to be extended beyond one year to Canada. As a result, the museums that planned to exhibit the artifacts during the second year of the tour, Calgary’s Glenbow Museum and the Royal BC Museum will be unable to do so. The exhibition will travel as planned to Montreals Museum of Fine Arts to a highly-anticipated opening in February 2011, as this scheduled stop is within the one-year time frame.

Concerns aboutartefact preservationwere given asthe main reason.

The Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre, Peoples Republic of China, however has confirmed a one-year limit on the travel of these artifacts to all future exhibitions around the world due to an increased focus on their long term preservation, said the release.

Thisbrings upthe question – whyweren’t the organizers aware of these concerns before the tour was launched?The release doesn’t say but no doubt theanswers will come outover the next week.

Accessing the Terracotta Warriors by Touch – ROM Creates Braille Replica Warriors

The Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto Canada, has brought ina number offeatures to make theirTerracotta Warriors show more accessible.

They have installed four replica artefacts, along with Braille markings, that peoplecan touch. These include a ding ritual vessel, a kneeling archer, a cavalry soldier and horse, and a dancer.

The kneeling archer is of particular interest. The example on display at the ROM has some surviving color – information that will presumably be included in Braille. His armor is also quite detailed as seen in this close-up shot.

Each of the warriors has a unique look (scholars believe they were modeled on real Qin Dynasty soldiers). Being able to touch the face of the replicas will give viewers a chance to better take in the details.

These touchable replicas are not the only accessibility features being used in this exhibit.

For those who are blind or with vision loss, tactile booklets are available for loan at no charge at the admission desk, as are large-print exhibition booklets. These publications feature Braille and large print, a tactile exhibition map and tactile graphics of numerous highlighted exhibition objects. Many graphics in the exhibition feature prominent, large font, the museum said in a press release.

For those who are deaf, hard of hearing and deafened, the exhibitions two mini-theatres are equipped with Acoustical containment. Neck loops are available for special paid-tours upon request. Further, the exhibitions numerous videos that include narration are captioned in both English and French.

Also, Podcasts pertaining to the exhibition or its series of lectures can be found on the ROMs website and are captioned in English.

The exhibition area itself is wheelchair accessible, with elevators, automatic doors and two accessible restrooms. Wheelchairs are also available for borrowing at the coast check on a first come first serve basis.The Terracotta Warriorshow at the Royal Ontario Museumuntil January 2, 2011.

Chinese Legion of Guizai Stone Statues outnumbers Terracotta Army

Though not quite as pretty and detailed as the famous Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, a new discovery of statues in Guizai Mountain, Hunan, China outnumbers the Qin Emperor’s army of stone soldiers, and date back over 5,000 years -over 2,500 years earlier than Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Army.

Located on what is an ancient worship site, the discovery of over 5,000 statues arespread over 15 square kilometres and the vast majority are believed to have been carved before the Qin dynasty era.

The anthropoid stone statues range from 30cm to 100cm in height, and take the form of several ranks of soldiers and military officiers, as well as civilian officials and pregnant women. Some are believed to be buried up to two metres below the ground.

Guizai Mountain, part of the Nanling Mountain range, is believed to have been chosen as an altar by a prehistoric civilisation in the region and adorned the site with sculptured stone statues for ritualistic and commemorative purposes.

Tang Zhongyong, director of the Dao County Administrative Office, described the statues to China’s People’s Daily as being “another wonder of the world”. The mountain’s name is derived from locals’ name for the statues – “Guizaizai”.

The announcement comes during the Xiang Gan Yue Gui Archaeology Summit Forum held in Yongzhou, Hunan Province and the find represents some of the oldest stone statues to have been found in China with a third of the stone sculptures dating back over 5,000 years. The remainder are believed to have been produced between 2,000 to 5,000 years ago during the Qin, Han, Wei and Jan dynastic eras.

The discovery comes just a few months after 114 Terracotta Warriors were discovered in the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang after excavations were carried out in Pit 1 (Watch the Video) in Xi’an. The latest finds in Guizai Mountain represent the latest in a series of archaeological discoveries in a country which continues to uncover it’s ancient past.

You can read more about the famous Terracotta Warriors on Heritage Key, including the Top 10 Interesting Facts and watch Ann’s pick of Terracotta Army videos from Youtube. Not enough for you?Then see the Terracotta Warriors in 3D detail in Heritage Key Virtual – register here for free!

Chocolate Terracotta Warriors to Tour Taiwan

Taiwan will get a taste of China’s Terracotta Warriors this Saturday, as 400 chocolate miniatures make their way from a popular show in Beijing. ‘World Chocolate Wonderland’, at Taipei’s National Taiwan Science Education Center, also features a chocolate-hewn Great Wall of China. It attracted over 400,000 visitors in the Chinese capital, not least for the pint-sized ancient warriors, who measure just 35cm each.

Each exhibit at the show must be kept in temperature-controlled rooms to avoid melting. Taiwan baker Lee Kyo-yi battled fine margins to create his chocolate Taipei 101, Taiwan’s, and at one point the planet’s, tallest skyscraper. “The biggest challenge is how to keep the chocolate in perfect condition,” he tellsFocus Taiwan. Chocolate melts at 20C while cracking at anything below 0C.

“Chocolate is not only edible – it can be used as a material in art.”

Artsource Corp, a Taipei-based art management firm, is supplying most of the exhibition’s artwork. Spokeswoman Sherry Wung tells AFP the show aims to change people’s minds about chocolate:”People visiting the exhibition will be able to feel that chocolate is not only edible, but also can be used as a material in art.” Among the show’s ancient exhibits are models of China’s mysterious Mogao Caves, a group of 2,400-year-old Buddhist temples near Dunhuang.

More Terracotta Warriors are excavated each year at the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, unified China’s first emperor. Just a few weeks ago 114 more were added to the many thousands on show in China and across the world.

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.

Toronto G20 Summit: Terracotta Warriors to Guard ROM

Its confirmed the Terracotta Warriors show will be opening on June 26at the RoyalOntario Museum, inToronto rightat the startof a G20 summit.

It will be the largest Terracotta Warriors show ever to hit North America. Featuring 250 artefacts, including 16 human terracotta figures.

While the Terracotta Warriors show will be opening many other venues will be closing.

The CN Tower will be closed, the University of Toronto campus (which surrounds the museum) will be shut down and even the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team have moved their weekend home games to Philadelphia. A security cordon will also be in place around the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, preventing visitors from accessing much of the downtown area.

Making matters more interesting is that the official protest site, for the G20, will be at Queens Park, about 100 meters south of the museum. Protest groups say they will not remain in that zone.

But, nevertheless, the museum just released a statement saying that the show shall go on.

The ROM will be open for business as usual during this period and is looking forward to a successful exhibition launch,” the statement reads. The museumdeclined to comment on what extra security precautions willbe inplace.

Terracotta Army Stays Until 2011

One other piece of news regarding the warriors – and one which is definitely in the good news category – is that the warriors will be staying in Toronto until the New Year. January 2, 2011 is now confirmed as the exhibition’s closing date, said senior publicist Marilynne Friedman in an email. I’m so pleased that we have it through the holiday season!

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.

Terracotta Army Will Visit Stockholm in August

Terracotta Warriors will go on display in a cave under the Ostasiastiska Museet At the end of August the Terracotta Army will visit Sweden, and the soldiers will bring with them the story of China’s birth. In a unique location,the Terracotta Warriors and a collection of never-seen-before objects from simular gravesites will tell the story of how the vast Chinese empire was built on the idea of eternal power. This idea – stretching both space and time – was given shape through momumental burial sites and buildings, and the unification of China. The sophisticated empire that was established would last over two thousand years.

A selection of Terracotta Army statues and recent archaeological finds from five imperial burial sites will be exhibited in the rock shelter of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, a unique setting deep in the earth and a formalbase of the Swedish Navy. The Rock Galleries are usually not open to the public.

“As a visitor one will get that sense of the first magical moment encountering the army face to face in the excavation situation”, says museum director Sanne Houby-Nielsen.

Considered one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, the army is already world-famous. When on display in London the British Museum had to turn visitors away, despite staying open until midnight – but now the entire excavation team has got its much-deserved recognition too. This year’s ‘Prince of Asturias Prize for Social Sciences‘ has been awarded to the archaeological team which first discovered the Terracotta Warriors 36 years ago, and is still excavating at Xi’an today.

Promo video for the arrival of the Terracotta Army at Stockholm, showing the underground area in which they will be displayed.

The team was praised for devoloping a ‘multi-disciplined research project which allows the study of an important time in the development of the Chinese Empire’, considered by the jury to be a fundamental chapter in the history of civilisation.

Director of the archaeological team Xu Wiehong thanked the foundation and the members of his team, stating the prize belongs to each of them, but pointed out there are still difficulties- such as colour protection of the excavated warriors – and still a lot of excavating and research years to go.

The most recent dig started June last year and is ongoing, with the discovery 114 more terracotta warriors – it is thought there are up to8,000warriors and about 600horses- announced last week. The archaeologists also found 12 clay horses and a number of other artefacts, such as bronze weapons, wooden chariots and drums.

The ‘Terrakottaarm’ exhibition focusses on the period from 200BCand contains over 320 objects, on loan from eleven different museums and, of course, Terracotta Warriors. It runs from August 28, 2010 to January 16, 2011 at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm.

Terracotta Warriors coming to Calgary’s Glenbow Museum

Fresh from shows in Washington D.C.and Toronto, 18 Terracotta Warriors will make their debut at Calgary’s Glenbow Museum next summer. The 18 statues, the afterlife bodyguards of China’s First Qin Emperor – of which 8,000 have been excavated so far – will be joined by some brand new archaeological relics from the emperor’s giant tomb including two horses and a painting, as well and hundreds of other artefacts associated with the warriors.

It’s a big coup for the museum, who will expect blockbuster attendances akin to those seen at D.C.’s National Geographic Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum. The First Qin Emperor’s mausoleum is one of ancient history’s enduring enigmas, and is still being excavated 36 years after its discovery by farmers in 1974. Just last week another 114 warriors were discovered, hitting headlines worldwide.

Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor to successfully unite China 2,200 years ago. His monumental mausoleum, near the ancient capital city of Xi’an, took 700,000 conscripts around 36 years to complete, just in time for his death.

Further reading:

Top 10 Terracotta Warriors facts

Beardless warriors evident of teenage conscripts?

Video of the Qin Mausoleum excavations