Time
and the Terracotta Warriors 221-206BC
Themes.
1. The desire for immortality.
2. The concealment of the monumental over time.
3. The reconstruction of monuments through archaelogy.
Chronology.
1027-771BC the Western Zhou dynasty
771 BC the Western capital of Hao sacked
771-475 BC Eastern Zhou dynasty ; Spring Annals then Autumn Annals.
551 - 479 BC the life of Confucious.
475-221 BC the Warring States Period
361 BC the ascendancy of Lord Shang Yang in Qin; he died 330 BC.
318 BC - 312 BC the years of Qin conquest of minor states.
259 BC birth of Qin Shihuang, came to the throne in 246 BC at the age
of 13 as King Chen of Qin.
221 - 206BC the Qin dynasty.
206BC - 8AD, the Western Han Dynasty
25 -220 AD the Eastern Han Dynasty
" The king of Qin has a waspish nose, eyes like slits, a chicken
breast and a voice like a jackal. He is merciless with a heart of a
tiger or wolf. When in difficulties he willingly humbles himself, when
successful he swallows men up without scruple.... shopuld he succeed
in conquering the empire, we sdhall all become his captives." Advisor
to the king of Weei 221 BC.
"He gave orders for two hundred and seventy palaces and pavilions
within 200 li of Xianyang to be connected by causeways and covered walks
and furnished with hangings, bells, drums and beautiful ladies each
in the appointed place. Disclosure of his whereabouits became punishable
by death."
"No fewer than three hundred astrologers are watching the stars
but these good men for fear of giving offence, merely flatter the emperor
and dare not speak of his faults. It is he who decided all affairs of
state great or small. He even has the documents weighed every morning
and night, and will not rest until a certain weight has passed through
his hands. How can we find the herbs of mortality for such a tyrant.
And so they ran away.... Four hundred scholars were tried and found
guilty of breaking the law. They were buried alive in Xianying as a
warning to the whole empire. "
BOOKLIST
K.S.Gilbert (editor) Treasures from the Bronze Age of China
, an exhibition from the People's Republic of China, Metropolitan
Museum of Aret New York, 1980.
Edmund Capon, Qin Shihuang; Terracotta Warriors and Horses
, exhib.catal. Australia, 1983.
Dien, Thorp, Andrews and Kuwayama, The Quest for Eternity,
Chinese Ceramic Sculptures from the People's Republic of China
, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Thames & Hudson, 1987
Robert L. Thorp, Son of Heaven Imperial Arts of China,
Seattle and Columbus exhibition catalogue 1988/9.
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The Burial
Pits site (Pits 1, 2 and 3), Lintong, 1.2 k from the Mausoleum of Qin
Shihuang, the First Emperor of Qin, in Shaanxi Province.
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