China's Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor's Legacy

The First Emperor leaves behind a controversial legacy — he was a leader willing to kill in the name of unification.

He is also known for stunning innovations that consolidated his rule through modernization. During his reign, he introduced the standardization of currency, writing, measurements, and more. He connected cities and states with advanced systems of roads and canals. He is also credited with continuing the construction of the Great Wall, which is perhaps the most widely known symbol associated with China to this day.

He is regarded as a military genius, and while his methods included massacre and destruction, some claim that his ultimate success at bringing the states together justifies the violence, a necessary cost of nation-building. We will also see, under the archaeology theme, incredible advancements that represent the first assembly-line style production in the creation of his terracotta warriors, horses, and chariots.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the burial complex is what it suggests about the young Emperor’s obsession with immortality.

Driven to conquer death itself, the eventual First Emperor ascended to the throne of the Qin state at age of 13 and immediately began to plan his burial, and more importantly, his underground palace, a mausoleum attended by an army including over 7,000 terracotta warriors horses, chariots, and weaponry intended to protect him in the afterlife. The First Emperor envisioned a subterranean domain that would parallel his worldly existence after corporal death.

According to Han-dynasty historian Sima Qian, the First Emperor lined his burial complex with a treasury of riches and piles of precious gemstones said to represent the stars, sun and moon. He was deeply concerned with the universe and looked to the cosmos as a guide for crossing over to an immortal existence.

Excavation also revealed other mysterious findings, like strangely high levels of mercury and evidence that the poisonous substance coursed through an intricate system of underground troughs, replicating the topography of the actual rivers and seas carving the surrounding landscape. Some suggest that the emperor believed mercury had life-giving power and so surrounded himself with the toxic element, believing it was yet another way he might live forever. While the initial excavations tell us much about this fascinating character, such mysteries surrounding his true beliefs and intentions abound.

Of all the accomplishments from this extraordinary period, the unification of China is, without question, the greatest symbol of the Qin dynasty’s power and influence.

Born in a time of turmoil in China’s history, known as the Warring States period (475-221 BCE), The First Emperor founded the short-lived Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE). By 221 BCE, he merged the seven warring states into one nation and took the name Qin Shihuang, which means First Emperor. He left a legacy of a centralized and bureaucratic state that would be carried onto successive dynasties over the next two millennia.

Prior to his taking the throne, the Qin state had been in existence for over half a century — under the single clan Ying though never under the despotic rule of one individual. The rulers of the State of Qin had gradually expanded their domain of neighboring states over the centuries, but the slow effort culminated in ultimate victory when The First Emperor succeeded — through any means necessary — in uniting the once-divided empire. Many of the objects featured in the exhibition, like bronze ritual and jade artifacts, gold and silver ornaments, and palatial architectural components, illustrate and celebrate the emergence of the Qin State.

When the burial complex was first discovered by farmers in 1974, archaeologists set to work on one of the most astonishing ancient sites on record.

The excavation uncovered a sprawling citadel with thousands of warriors, each designed with a unique face and clothing. In addition to the warriors themselves, the dig uncovered horses, chariots, bronze ritual vessels, jade jewelry, and gold and silver ornaments. According to historian Sima Qian, the emperor so feared that his artisans “might disclose all the treasure that was in the tomb . . . [that] after the burial and sealing up of the treasures, the middle gate was shut and the outer gate closed to imprison all the artisans and laborers, so that no one came out.”

The story of the burial complex is also fascinating because it was conceived by such a very young individual. Court records reveal that, despite taking the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BCE), the eventual emperor ordered construction to begin almost immediately. Enormous numbers of laborers worked on the project, which was halted as the dynasty neared collapse. To date, four pits have been partially excavated. Three contain terracotta soldiers, horse-drawn chariots and weapons. The fourth pit was found empty, a testament to the original unfinished construction.

One of the most extraordinary features of the terracotta warriors is that each appears to have distinct features — an incredible feat of craftsmanship and production. Despite the custom construction of these figures, studies of their proportions reveal that their frames were created using an assembly production system that paved the way for advances in mass production and commerce.

This archer figure retains traces of the original pigment. The nature of these pigments is one of the recent discoveries made during ongoing excavation of the burial complex.

Archaeologists estimate that the objects, including figures, horses, and weapons, number in the thousands, though the true total may never be known.

2/20/13 – Lost Warrior Found
2/13/13 – Sergio Romo and Martin Yan Join Search for Museum’s Lost Warrior
2/8/13 – KTSF spots the Lost Warrior in Mountain View
2/7/13 – News coverage from KNTV
1/25/13 – Media Alert: First Sighting of the Lost Warrior
1/25/13 – SF Ballet’s Yuan Yuan Tan asks for your help.
1/24/13 – Director Jay Xu makes a personal plea for your help.
1/23/13 – The Asian Art Museum issued an urgent alert today for residents and visitors to be on the lookout for a Chinese Terracotta Warrior wandering the Bay Area.

Figure rejoins troop in time for big exhibition.

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 20, 2013—The Asian Art Museum today announced that its “lost” Chinese terracotta warrior, reported missing and wandering the Bay Area, has been found. Moses Carbins, an erstwhile San Francisco homeless man, discovered the roaming warrior at United Nations Plaza’s Heart of the City Farmers Market on Wednesday, Feb. 20, and personally led the warrior through the museum’s front doors at 200 Larkin Street.

On Jan. 23, the museum announced that the terracotta figure had become separated from his cohorts en route to San Francisco. He and his seven fellow warriors, along with two life-size horses and more than 100 other ancient artifacts, are scheduled to appear in the museum’s special exhibition, China’s Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor’s Legacy. (Feb. 22–May 27). Museum officials sought the public’s help locating and directing the lost warrior to the museum before the exhibition opens this Friday.

“I know our city well, and it’s not every day that you see a 2,112-year-old, mud-colored figure roaming the streets,” said Carbins. “In fact, until recently, I lived on the streets—actually not far from the museum. I had no real home for more than twenty years. So I know a little something about helping people find their way off the streets.”

Carbins is the subject of Moses, a documentary film currently in production by Fran Guijarro Hernandez, a San Francisco filmmaker and instructor at Academy of Art University. The film tells the fascinating story of one man’s on-again, off-again, on again recovery from living on the streets of San Francisco. More information about the film can be found at Mosesthemovie.org.

“On behalf of the Asian Art Museum and the entire city, I thank Moses Carbins for escorting our lost warrior to the museum this morning,” said Jay Xu, director of the Asian Art Museum. “Like his biblical namesake, Moses has delivered our warrior, allowing him to rejoin his troop on view here in our galleries—just in time to welcome our first visitors. Nearly 23,000 people, including more than 14,000 school children, have already reserved their tickets to see the exhibition.”

To help with the search for the warrior, the museum created a special interactive website, www.asianart.org/lostwarrior, to track his movements. Over the past few days tipsters uploaded photos of warrior sightings at the de Young Museum, California Academy of Sciences, Pier 39, Contemporary Jewish Museum, SFMOMA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, M.Y. China at Westfield Centre, Hotel Rex, Hotel Carlton, and San Francisco Symphony, among other locations. He was also photographed at Union Square with a gaggle of Cathay Pacific flight attendants, and strolling Dolores Park in the Mission District.