Subject: cavalryman
Culture: Chinese
Setting: Qin-Western Han dynasties, Chinese empire late 3rd-1stc BC
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Royal Armouries Museum > Oriental Gallery
"The 'terracotta warriors' buried as part of the tomb complex of the First Emperor of Qin are one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of recent years. The 3,000 figures also give us a great insight into the military equipment in China at a time when it was adapting from a long period of internal wars to one in which it was engaged against the cavalry armies of the eastern steppe, principally those of the Xiongnu or Huns. In contrast to the nomad cavalry, these very early Chinese cavalry were armed with crossbows, an attempt by using powerful long range weapons to combat the composite bows of the Huns. They also wore armour of lace plate, probably of bronze."
Sword
* Bennett 2018 p67-68
"Although the introduction of iron and steel began to have an impact on the craft of arms manufacture in China from the Warring States period, military equipment excavated from the tomb of the First Emperor has shown that bronze swords remained worthy weapons during the Qin dynasty. The shorter type of jian was still in use, but another version discovered in the pits with the famous terracotta warriors is more slender in proportion and almost a metre long, including the tang, with a flattened octagonal cross-section. These swords seem to have been treated with oxidised chrome to preserve the sharpness of the blades.
"The rivals and successors to the Qin dynasty developed expertise in working iron and steel and produced more efficient weapons on a bigger scale. Under the Western and Eastern Han Empires, the steel jian supplanted its bronze predecessor. Blades became longer, slimmer and more refined."
* Kimbell Art Museum > Passport to Asia
"The creation of separate accessories in jade during the Han period allowed the carvers more creative freedom so that these ornaments, still retaining their practical function, became increasingly ornamental. The most prevalent motifs are dragons that resemble felines, with twirling, s-shaped bodies recalling the sinuous movements of steppe animal art. They are often represented in a pair, with only one displaying a long crest and the other a hornless type of dragon commonly known as chi."
Armor
*
"
Ornaments
* Sackler Gallery
"Toward the end of the Eastern Zhou period (770-221 B.C.) and early in the Han period (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) the demand for luxury goods in affluent and powerful household goods in affluent and powerful households produced a wealth of new materials. Most were ornately inlaid vessels made for grand festivities, and jewel-like accessories for personal consumption, products that had little relation to the somber rituals adn rites of earlier dynasties. Luxury items, rather than the traditional ritual vessels, were the crowning artistic achievements of the time.
"During the last centuries B.C. a heightened interest in humanity and nature expressed itself in a proliferation of human and natural subjects in art. Attachment to worldly pleasures was accompanied by the search for immortality, which became a popular social obsession, for which Daoist teachings of the late Eastern Zhou provided the ideal foundation. Daoism thus became another major source of artistic inspiration throughout the period.
"At the same time, awareness of territorial and cultural attractions beyond China's borders led to increased trade and expeditions westward and the eventual opening of the Silk Road into Central Asia. Non-Chinese goods and ornamental motifs and techniques increased in prominence. Entire religions were eventually imported, with Buddhism being the most influential and lasting of all."
Cup
* Kimbell Art Museum > Passport to Asia
"Han princely burials have yielded numerous cups, worked in different fashions, which might have been used in the preparation and consumption of the various concoctions meant to achieve immortality. These cups may be made of jade, bronze, and crystal; they may be cylindrical in shape and stand on a small foot, like beakers; or shaped like exotic vessels, such as rhytons, derived from the nomads and from the West; or oblong with two flat handles on the side, in the shape of so-called ear cups, commonly made in lacquer."
