Fall Fallowturn Moon
Today begins the journey to Shaanxi, the province of the Qin state as it emerged during the Eastern Zhou dynasty, a peripheral state on the frontier. In the lecture today I learned that there is some debate on the origin of the Qin state. Did it emerge from the barbarians to the west? Or, did it have, at least in its ruling family, linkage with the east coast?
Yang Liu, Curator of Chinese Art and Head of Asian Art Department, acknowledged this debate, then said, “Why is it important?” The problem is this. The Qin unified China and Qin Shi Huang Di is a national hero. Dynastic China as we come to know it after the Qin has its roots in many of the reforms of Qin Shi Huang Di. What would it mean if that founding state was not, after all, Chinese?
This show is going to be a big deal, a very big deal. Schools have already booked nearly all the available slots between now and the show’s end. The museum has asked docents to sign up for additional tours.
What Yang Liu wants to do is place the tomb, its guardians and other wonderful burial objects like life size water birds and half-size bronze chariots, in the context of the rise of the Qin state during the Eastern Zhou in the Spring and Autumn period, then its emergence as a powerful state during the Warring States Period. Only then can this massive tomb complex, of which the warriors are, after all, only a small part, be understood in its full historical significance.
Over the next few days I’ll post research I’ve located and things I learn at the Qin dynasty symposium over the weekend.
