The Western Han dynasty of
China forged the first stable empire across the whole of China during
the last two centuries BC and presided over a golden age that shaped
much of subsequent Chinese art and culture. From family values to the
structure of the civil service, Han thinking and philosophy continue to
pervade Chinese society up to the present day – indeed, the majority of
Chinese people consider themselves ‘Han Chinese’.
Excavation – Nanyue 3, The King’s Coffin Chamber. Site excavated in 1983. (Photo courtesy of The Museum of the King of Nanyue)
An immortal legacy
In their search for immortality, the Han imperial family left an
artistic legacy of spectacular beauty and power. The finest of these
treasures to have survived – including exquisite jades, silver and gold
work, bronzes and ceramics – have been found in the tombs of the Han
imperial family and of a rival ‘emperor’ of Nanyue and are brought
together for the first time in a landmark exhibition at The Fitzwilliam
Museum, Cambridge.
Gold Belt Plaque, 2nd century BC, Western Han Dynasty. Excavated from Shizishan, Xuzhou. (Xuzhou Museum, Jiangsu Province)
The Han Dynasty established the basis for unified rule of China up to
the present day. To maintain this hard-won empire the Han emperors had
to engage in a constant struggle for power and legitimacy, with
contests that took place on symbolic battlefields as much as on real
ones. While written accounts provide an outline of these events, it is
through the stunning archaeological discoveries of recent decades that
the full drama and spectacle of this critical episode in Chinese
history has been brought to life.
Terracotta warrior pits from Shizishan. (Photo courtesy of Xuzhou Museum)
Dr Timothy Potts, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, commented:
“It
is impossible to overstate the importance of the Han Dynasty in the
formation of a Chinese national culture and identity. At the time of
the ancient Romans, the Han emperors were the first to unify a large
part of the regions we now know as China under a sustained empire, which
they ruled virtually unchallenged for 400 years.”
Bitter rivals, brought together for the first time
This exhibition compares the spectacular tombs of two rival power
factions: the Han imperial family in the northern ‘cradle’ of Chinese
history, and the Kingdom of Nanyue in the south, whose capital in
modern-day Guangzhou formed the gateway to the rich trade routes of the
China Sea and Indian Ocean.
Archaeology can often unlock what has happened in human history, even
when it has not been recorded in writing. Research conducted by Dr
James Lin, the exhibition’s curator, and his colleagues at the
Fitzwilliam Museum, the University of Cambridge, has provided a much
clearer picture of the emperors, kings and shameless pretenders,
battling both militarily and symbolically for legitimate power during
the Han Dynasty in China two millennia ago.
In the opponents’ minds, these power struggles were destined to last
for eternity. The tomb treasures from the north and south of the empire
that were created to propagate this conflict are remarkable – they
comprise some of the most fragile glories in history.
Jade
ornament with an animal mask, 2nd century BC, Western Han Dynasty.
Unearthed at Xianggangshan 1983. (Nanyue Wang Museum, Guangdong
Province)
Objects from these tombs have never previously been displayed
together as a single exhibition and the story is revealed how, in both
life and in death, Empire and Kingdom played a diplomatic game of cat
and mouse, one to assert its supremacy, the other to preserve its
autonomy.
Curator of the exhibition, Dr James Lin, commented:
“It is
immensely exciting that we are able to compare these unique discoveries
from two rival kingdoms for the first time in Cambridge, as the
archaeology allows us to tell a story that textual evidence simply does
not reveal.”
Rise of the Han
Founded in 206 BC, the Han Dynasty followed the collapse and
disintegration of the Qin Empire, which had been established only
fifteen years earlier by China’s First Emperor,
Qinshihuangdi.
Except for a brief interruption in 9-25 AD, the Han emperors were to
rule much of China for the next 400 years until 220 AD.
Contemporary with the late Republican and early Roman Empire, the
Han Dynasty is considered the ‘classical’ period of Chinese history and
between 25 -1BCE had a larger population than the Roman Empire. It saw
the emergence of cultural values, ideologies and institutions which
have remained central to Chinese identity ever since. During this
period Confucianism, with its emphasis on loyalty to family and to the
Emperor, was first adopted as the official ideology.
Stone
Lion Weight, 2nd century BC, Western Han Dynasty. Height: 14.5 cm.
Unearthed at Shizishan site in 1994. (Xuzhou Museum, Jiangsu Province)
The Chinese people are the largest self-identified ethnic group in
the world; they also use the oldest continuous spoken language (which
they call ‘Han’ to this day), and writing system. However, the
continuity does not stop there: this Spring, Dr Lin will argue that
China’s ‘Golden Age’ started two millennia ago and has never really
ended. Imperial systems of bureaucracy – the strict hierarchal form,
the deliberate overlapping of roles and responsibilities maintaining a
strong administrative structure, the taking of challenging entrance
examinations for the civil service, and even marriage customs – were
all widely established during the Han Dynasty continueto this day.
In 196 BC Emperor Gaozu, founder of the Han Dynasty, sent an envoy
demanding that Nanyue founding king, Zhao Tuo, submit to his authority.
Zhao Tuo agreed and Nanyue was granted formal status as a vassal
state of the Han Empire.
Yet only a year later, having gained the allegiance of two
neighbouring states, Zhao Tuo declared himself Emperor. After two years
of conflict, Zhao Tuo once more ‘submitted’ to the Han ruler, though
both he and his successors continued to style themselves ‘Emperor’ at
home, using the lesser title of ‘King’ only in their dealings with the
Han court.
Palaces of the afterlife
Protected by clay guardians and surrounded by jade and gold, the
monarchs’ tombs were palaces fit for immortals. Each tomb a symbol of
power and majesty, designed to ensure that its owner continued to enjoy
the afterlife with the same comforts afforded to them in life.
The exhibition compares the tomb of Zhao Mo, Zhao Tuo’s grandson
and successor from the Southern Nanyue kingdom, with the astonishing
finds from three of the major northern Han tombs of the kings of Chu, a
branch of the imperial family that had been granted this kingdom by
the emperor.
The exhibition will reflect the layout of funerary goods within the
tombs, giving a sense of what it would have been like to walk through
one of these tombs for the first time: being met by tomb guardians,
progressing into the principal chambers with pottery servants, musical
instruments and other treasures, and finally coming upon the inner
sanctum with the burials of the kings themselves.
Pottery
Musician, 2nd century BC, Western Han Dynasty. Height: 33 cm Unearthed
from Tuolanshan King of Chu tomb 1989. (Xuzhou Museum, Jiangsu
Province)
Highlights include two jade burial armour suits belonging to the
rival rulers, painstakingly made from thousands of plaques of jade, sewn
together with gold or silk thread and spectacular objects in gold,
including imperial seals and exotically decorated belt buckles. There
is also collections of pottery soldiers, dancers, musicians and
servants as well as unusual artefacts including an early ginger grater.
The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China (website)
Conference:
Excavation – Nanyue 3, The King’s Coffin Chamber. Site excavated in 1983. (Photo courtesy of The Museum of the King of Nanyue)
Life and afterlife in Han China Tuesday 2 & Wednesday 3 October: 10.00 to 17.00 at Newnham College
This conference, organised in
conjunction with the exhibition, brings together over fifteen leading
sinologists and art historians from the UK, the US, continental Europe,
as well as mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Over the course of two
days, scholars will present and discuss papers under four themes: Daily
Life in Han Society; Contacts with the Outside World; Preparing for the
Afterlife; and Searching for Eternity.
Participants include: Dr Michael Loewe (editor/author of The
Cambridge History of Ancient China), Michèle Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens
(Professor Emerita of École pratique des hautes études, Paris) and
Professor Dame Jessica Rawson (Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art
and Culture).
For prices and to book please e-mail
fitzmuseumeducation@lists.cam.ac.uk
Tel. +44 (0)1223 332904
Source:
University of Cambridge
More information:
