<A>Qin Shihuang's Bronze Chariots,The Replicas

On our way to the Terra Cotta Soldiers' Museum, we passed Mount Li or Lishan to the local Chinese (with the chinese word "shan" meaning mountain in english) where atop, the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang Di, the First Emperor in the Chinese History, was built some 23.5 km east of the Railway station and 33.5 km east of the city center.

We reached the site in a car provided by the Panda Tours for private tours. From the allotted parking area at the entrance gate of the complex, we took the blue and white trolley cars that could take about 16 passengers on board (excluding driver) from the parking lot to the museums. These blue and white trolley cars are the only transports allowed to ferry the tourists in and out of the Museum complex. Just upon entering the gates to the parked trolleys, one can find seated under a temporary canopy, some blue uniformed guides. Those who try to venture on their own to the site, may try the services of these in-house guides to have some meaningful and well-informed explanations about the terra cotta warriors and relics. I haven’t asked though how many among them conduct tours in English.

We were among the early birds and enjoyed the advantage of freely moving ahead of the expected daily onrush of thousand of tourists, foreigners and locals alike. Later in the morning, that was what exactly happened, guests from all over were streaming in to see the site.

We first went to the Exhibition Hall where the two miniaturized bronze replicas (about half the size) of the claimed original chariots of the Emperor Qin Shihuang were on display. These bronze chariots would be the first subjects I would like to discuss before going to the Terra Cotta Soldiers... which I believe remain to be the main stars of Xi'an.

In December 1980, some 6 years after the terra cotta soldiers were uncovered in October 1974, the relics of the bronze chariots, drivers and horses were discovered in the Mausoleum complex of Qin Shihuang at Mount Li, just 20 meters away from the tomb, before their transfer sometime in 1988 to the present display site.

The relics were discovered in a very deep rectangular pit some 20m west of the Tomb mound. The chariots were found smashed to the grounds in thousands of pieces. Nature has taken its toll over time and made the wooden case, that looked more like a big crate that many claim had served like a coffin for the replicas, rot and succumb to the natural deomposition of the elements. Time has turned the wood and straw mats back to their previous origin, from earthly dust. With the wood and mats that used to support already pulverized, the covering layers of earth gave way and eventually collapsed, thereby destroying the artifacts underneath that they once protected.

Four bronze horses were pulling each chariot. The horses were also damaged, but not as badly as the chariots that splintered into tiny bits. Luckily, throughout the years, the pit remained undisturbed, that not one object or broken piece was stolen nor missing when the chariots were eventually unearthed. While the component parts were all in smithereens, they were all found in one place making the reconstruction work a little easier, even if it took a long time matching them piece by piece. It took some eight years of dedicated restoration from the time the chariots and horses were discovered, up to the time they were finally put up on display. They have since then been relocated from the original site to their own rightful museum some 1.5 km away, inside the Exhibition Hall constructed within the Terra Cotta Warriors Museum Complex which is some 35km from the Xi’an city center.

The carriages found were said to be like some deluxe sedans modeled in perfect proportion after the actual carriages, drivers and horses used by the emperor in his lifetime during his inspection tours but built only on a half scale. It is said that Qin Shihuang needed same carriages for his inspection tours in the next life, and therefore had some replicas made to satisfy his afterlife requirements.

The lead chariot was supposed to represent that of the emperor’s guard and was referred to alternatively as the High Chariot or Battle/Inspection Carriage. As shown by the relics, the driver of the first chariot was on a standing position. Naturally expected of a guard, the man carried a sword in a scabbard on his waist, and maintained a bronze shield by his side and had some bow and arrows on the ready in front of him. The carriage canopy was an umbrella-like structure with a very heavy bronze handle that was anchored to the chariot but can also be dismantled and carried down to protect the emperor from sun or rain while walking. It could also be installed on the ground if the Emperor wanted to take a rest anywhere. The mechanism that attached the umbrella to the chariot and to the ground was amazing! And to think they already had it as early as some 2200 years ago! A bronze replica of the handle contraption of the umbrella is made available in its original size inside the hall for demonstration purpose, used by the tour guides in explaining how the handle works. One of the guides happened to be explaining about the mechanism of the umbrella handle just when Nina and I were approaching the object on display, thereby saving us time from a repeated explanation.

The second chariot was the one supposed to reflect that one ridden by the Emperor himself and was called the comfortable chariot by the Archaeologists. The carriage is longer than the first, divided into two sections, comprising the front and back chambers. The canopy was oblong and was designed and shaped like that of a turtle’s shell-house. In the Chinese culture, turtles or tortoises are among the most venerated animals in rank with cranes (birds) and pines (trees) as they symbolise longevity, and having a tortoise shell for a cover, the emperor could hope for a very long life. Pictures of the chariots’ interiors are displayed inside glass casements on the walls and the wall designs were replicated in larger scales by the paintings on some parts of the museum walls. There was a window on each side of the Emperor’s chariot and another one at the back, through which the Emperor could view what was going on outside without his being seen inside. The window panels in the back chamber were dotted with small diamond shaped holes in flower form that must have provided ventilation as well as viewing holes for the occupant of the carriage while the windows were closed. The driver of the Emperor’s chariot was found purportedly in a sitting position, though while looking at it, the figure seemed to me to be like on a kneeling position more than sitting. Well, that is just my opinion. Who am I to contest the knowledge of known archaelogists and authorities on these relics ?

The four-horse teams of the chariots were controlled by some fascinating harness mechanisms. The belly drive of the two central horses, positioned just above the horses’ ribcage, have protruding spikes on the sides angled outwardly towards the two outer/side horses meant to poke at their sides should they come too close for comfort of the central horse. Or should they go astray by intent or accident, the straps around the necks would tighten, that would make them return to their original position to ease the stranglehold. Very logical!

When the pits were uncovered, the original reins of the horses were found on the ground right beside the chariots. The headstraps and the necklaces worn by the horses as well as some other head ornaments were made of gold and silver alternately melded together. Nina commented that it was surprising how they were able to bond those two metals together to survive nature for such a length of time when each of the metals have by nature, different melting points, besides being in contact with another element, bronze of which the horses were made. The lead horses of both chariots had blue or gray colored fiber tassels on their heads to show their supremacy over the other three in their teams.

The design, the material and survival of these relics after thousands of years show the advance craftsmanship and technological savoir-faire of the Chinese people on metallurgy. A theory has been forwarded that the thick coats of painting on the inside and outside of the bronze chariots while maybe initially intended for aesthetics have delayed the oxidation process and hence protected the bronze materials from corrosion for thousands of years. Or perhaps, they indeed knew even then that the paint mixes would protect the bronze materials from early corrosion. The Chinese have, if only in this context, proven their rightful claim of having one of the oldest civilization in the world.