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Xi'an warriors, World Heritage Site and listed as the eighth wonder, were yet another part of the complex underground world that the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, ordered to build to continue living after death. Before, after and during there is a lot of history to discover and also to tell. Archaeologists and scientists are in charge of the former; of the second there is a lot in the exhibition The Qin and Han dynasties. The Warriors of Xianwhich opened this week at MARQ, where you can see until January 28, 2024.
An exhibition in which you can not only see more and appreciate 120 pieces from 9 Chinese museums, in addition to the 7 terracotta warriors and a horse, but also help reveal secrets of this civilization and its evolution. From culture, with the importance of music or calligraphy, to political power, currency, beliefs or the legacy of the Qin in future dynasties. Also, how and who built the famous warriorswith techniques that still persist.
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A 300 kilo horse
It is not very common for Xian horses to leave China. But here we see one of them, who came to weighs 300 kilos. The Qin were excellent horse breeders, thanks to the knowledge they learned from their nomadic neighbors in Central Asia. This is a typical example of a war horse: alert and strong eyes.
Bo Bell of Duke Wu of Qin
This is the largest of a group of bronze bells excavated from Taigong Temple and dated between 770 and 475 BC. The curious thing is that it has an inscription with a heavenly mandate that foretells that the Qin dynasty is destined to rule, as it was in the year 221.
Blanqing, a percussion instrument
Music was essential, which is why replicas of instruments were found in the graves. these parts are qingmade in the shape of an L. The set of qing, or bleaching, could have 32 of these pieces which were hung on a wooden frame and beaten with a hammer.
Qing Calligraphy
ten monoliths Similar ones were found during the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), with inscriptions and poems narrating social, political and cultural events. The importance of this stone (the one seen in the exhibition is a reproduction of the original) is that it constitutes one of the earliest known samples of Chinese calligraphy which was reformed during the Qin period and which is still used today.
Coin
These are some of the 219 gold bars found by chance near the Han capital. Each of them weighs about 250 grams, which corresponds to the weight unit jin. If you add 30 jin, you will have a June and if you add 4 jun, you have a shi, which is equivalent to approximately 30 kilos. If you divide one of these pieces into 16 pieces, each one will be a liang. Chinese cultures did not show an interest in gold until the period between 475 and 221 BC.
bronze carriage
Next to the emperor's tomb were found two bronze chariots, half-life size. Its excavation and restoration was a great challenge. is Tand weighs 1,200 kg and is made up of 3,000 parts. The lid, one meter in diameter, is just 4 mm thick. There are some 1,700 gold and silver items.
the other warriors
At the yangling mausoleum, From the Han dynasty, another terracotta army appeared, but much smaller. The arms were articulated in wood, and they put on armor of silk and leather, then they disappeared.
engraved ceramics
The bodies of the mausoleum builders and warrior artisans were thrown into mass graves. The names of 18 of them are known because someone wrote them on a piece of tile. The image inscription corresponds to Dongwu Luo, probably a prisoner of war.
armor
Found in Emperor Qin's tomb, each armor was composed of about 600 small pieces of limestone sewn with copper wires. Archaeologists have discovered five million of these plates less than a centimeter thick. In real life, the pieces were made of leather covered in lacquer.
