Chen Jingyuan
1. The Wikipedia entry "Terracotta Army" started off with these two sentences:
"The Terracotta Army or the 'Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses', is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife, and to make sure that he had people to rule over."
But what if this claim is false?
What if the Terracotta Army is not depicting an army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China?
What if the Terracotta Army is funerary art belonging to one of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's ancestor?
Until I read the book The Truth about the Qin's Terracotta ("秦俑真相") by Chen Jingyuan, I was not aware that there is a minority opinion among Chinese scholars that the Terracotta Army does not belong to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
2. While Chen Jingyuan is a Chinese architect working in mainland China, The Truth about the Qin's Terracotta was first published in 2008 by a small publisher in Hong Kong.
Given the controversial nature of his claims, was Chen Jingyuan having difficulties finding a publisher in China?
It was only after his book was published in Hong Kong was an edition come out in China.
3. This book is consisted of 65 chapters giving 65 reasons why Chen Jingyuan thinks the Terracotta Army might not belong to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
(The Table of Content of the book is available here:
But what if this claim is false?
What if the Terracotta Army is not depicting an army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China?
What if the Terracotta Army is funerary art belonging to one of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's ancestor?
Until I read the book The Truth about the Qin's Terracotta ("秦俑真相") by Chen Jingyuan, I was not aware that there is a minority opinion among Chinese scholars that the Terracotta Army does not belong to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
2. While Chen Jingyuan is a Chinese architect working in mainland China, The Truth about the Qin's Terracotta was first published in 2008 by a small publisher in Hong Kong.
Given the controversial nature of his claims, was Chen Jingyuan having difficulties finding a publisher in China?
It was only after his book was published in Hong Kong was an edition come out in China.
3. This book is consisted of 65 chapters giving 65 reasons why Chen Jingyuan thinks the Terracotta Army might not belong to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
(The Table of Content of the book is available here:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_49f20db70100anea.html )
As the 65 reasons are not unrelated, they might better be grouped under 8 to 10 chapters.
And the reasons given by Chen Jingyuan are quite easy to follow.
That Chen Jingyuan gave simple and easy to follow reasons for his views contributed to the persuasiveness of his arguments.
One does not have to be an expert in Chinese history or archeology to follow Chen Jingyuan arguments.
And although Chen Jingyuan quoted from some rather obscure Chinese historical sources a few times, most of his quotations are common enough that one can look it up if one so desires; and that contributes to the persuasiveness of his arguments too.
4. Not wanting to be too much of a spoiler, the following are only three of the evidences adduced by Chen Jingyuan for his views:
(a) Has anyone noticed that the hairdo of the terra-cotta warriors were not centered, but were towards one side?
As the 65 reasons are not unrelated, they might better be grouped under 8 to 10 chapters.
And the reasons given by Chen Jingyuan are quite easy to follow.
That Chen Jingyuan gave simple and easy to follow reasons for his views contributed to the persuasiveness of his arguments.
One does not have to be an expert in Chinese history or archeology to follow Chen Jingyuan arguments.
And although Chen Jingyuan quoted from some rather obscure Chinese historical sources a few times, most of his quotations are common enough that one can look it up if one so desires; and that contributes to the persuasiveness of his arguments too.
4. Not wanting to be too much of a spoiler, the following are only three of the evidences adduced by Chen Jingyuan for his views:
(a) Has anyone noticed that the hairdo of the terra-cotta warriors were not centered, but were towards one side?
According to Chen Jingyuan, whom quoted Chinese historical sources, this kind of hairdo was unique to the state Chu ("楚") and was not in vogue in the state Qin ("秦").
(Chu and Qin are members of the Seven Warring States:
(Chu and Qin are members of the Seven Warring States:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Warring_States )
(b) After unifying China, Emperor Qin Shi Huang embarked on a series of standardization as were necessary for the administration of a vast empire.
Besides standardizing weights and measures, Qin also standardized on the color black.
The Qin army wore black uniforms after Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified China.
Yet the uniforms of the Terracotta Army were multi-colored - typical of the army uniforms of the state Chu ("楚").
Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified China in 221 BCE and he reigned as Emperor for 11 years until his death in 210 BCE.
If the Terracotta Army was funerary art buried with the emperor, then their uniforms should have been black.
(c) Do you know that the Terracotta Army was discovered in pits that were 2 kilometers from the funeral mount of Emperor Qin Shi Huang and 1.5 kilometers outside the eastern outer wall of the funerary complex?
If the Terracotta Army was funerary art buried with the emperor, then why were they located outside the outer wall of the funerary complex?
Additional information: the plain on which the funerary complex of Emperor Qin Shi Huang is located is littered with burial sites of royalties and nobilities from China's Qin and Han Dynasties.
Upwards of 600 such burial sites have so far been identified on that plain.
5. If the Terracotta Army was not funerary art for Emperor Qin Shi Huang, then what were they?
Chen Jingyuan has built a preliminary and interesting case that the Terracotta Army belonged to Empress Xuan of Qin.
Empress Xuan ("秦宣太后") was the mother of the great-grandfather of Emperor Qin Shi Huang ("秦始皇").
秦宣太后 (mother-of) ==> 秦昭襄王 (father-of) ==> 秦孝文王 (father-of)==> 秦莊襄王 (father-of) ==> 秦始皇.
Empress Xuan was one of the most powerful woman in Chinese history and the de facto ruler of the state of Qin for 41 years.
Empress Xuan was from the state of Chu and her last name was Mi ("芈").
6. The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974.
Yet before all the archaeological details were in, Jiang Qing, the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong, decided that the Terracotta Army belonged to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Since that time, the Terracotta Army has become a major tourist attraction for China.
So there are both political and economic reasons not to rock the boat that the Terracotta Army belonged to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Yet as academics, the primary obligation of Chinese archeologists is to pursue the truth.
For any academic pursuing any theory, they have the obligation to:
(a) positively, give reasons for their theory; and
(b) negatively, rebut criticisms of their theory.
Although I am able to follow the arguments of Chen Jingyuan's book, I do not know enough about Chinese history and archeology to judge the merit of his arguments.
I look forward to someone from the Chinese archeological establishment rebutting Chen Jingyuan's criticisms of their theory that the Terracotta Army is part of the funerary art for Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
As it is, Chen Jingyuan has raised enough doubts in my mind that I am withholding judgment as to whom the Terracotta Army belonged.
7. Book details in Traditional Chinese:
書名：秦俑真相
(b) After unifying China, Emperor Qin Shi Huang embarked on a series of standardization as were necessary for the administration of a vast empire.
Besides standardizing weights and measures, Qin also standardized on the color black.
The Qin army wore black uniforms after Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified China.
Yet the uniforms of the Terracotta Army were multi-colored - typical of the army uniforms of the state Chu ("楚").
Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified China in 221 BCE and he reigned as Emperor for 11 years until his death in 210 BCE.
If the Terracotta Army was funerary art buried with the emperor, then their uniforms should have been black.
(c) Do you know that the Terracotta Army was discovered in pits that were 2 kilometers from the funeral mount of Emperor Qin Shi Huang and 1.5 kilometers outside the eastern outer wall of the funerary complex?
If the Terracotta Army was funerary art buried with the emperor, then why were they located outside the outer wall of the funerary complex?
Additional information: the plain on which the funerary complex of Emperor Qin Shi Huang is located is littered with burial sites of royalties and nobilities from China's Qin and Han Dynasties.
Upwards of 600 such burial sites have so far been identified on that plain.
5. If the Terracotta Army was not funerary art for Emperor Qin Shi Huang, then what were they?
Chen Jingyuan has built a preliminary and interesting case that the Terracotta Army belonged to Empress Xuan of Qin.
Empress Xuan ("秦宣太后") was the mother of the great-grandfather of Emperor Qin Shi Huang ("秦始皇").
秦宣太后 (mother-of) ==> 秦昭襄王 (father-of) ==> 秦孝文王 (father-of)==> 秦莊襄王 (father-of) ==> 秦始皇.
Empress Xuan was one of the most powerful woman in Chinese history and the de facto ruler of the state of Qin for 41 years.
Empress Xuan was from the state of Chu and her last name was Mi ("芈").
6. The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974.
Yet before all the archaeological details were in, Jiang Qing, the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong, decided that the Terracotta Army belonged to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Since that time, the Terracotta Army has become a major tourist attraction for China.
So there are both political and economic reasons not to rock the boat that the Terracotta Army belonged to Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Yet as academics, the primary obligation of Chinese archeologists is to pursue the truth.
For any academic pursuing any theory, they have the obligation to:
(a) positively, give reasons for their theory; and
(b) negatively, rebut criticisms of their theory.
Although I am able to follow the arguments of Chen Jingyuan's book, I do not know enough about Chinese history and archeology to judge the merit of his arguments.
I look forward to someone from the Chinese archeological establishment rebutting Chen Jingyuan's criticisms of their theory that the Terracotta Army is part of the funerary art for Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
As it is, Chen Jingyuan has raised enough doubts in my mind that I am withholding judgment as to whom the Terracotta Army belonged.
7. Book details in Traditional Chinese:
書名：秦俑真相
副標題：一個跨世紀的考古奇案
作者：陳景元
出版社：時代國際出版有限公司
出版年：2008
頁數：268
定價：HK$89.00
裝幀：平裝
ISBN：978-988-17265-3-7
8. Names, Words and Phrases:
Chen Jingyuan (Traditional Chinese: 陳景元; Simplified Chinese: 陈景元).
Jiang Qing (Traditional: 江青; Simplified: 江青).
Mao Zedong (Traditional: 毛澤東; Simplified: 毛泽东).
Qin Shi Huang (Traditional: 秦始皇; Simplified: 秦始皇).
Terracotta Army (Traditional: 兵馬俑; Simplified: 兵马俑).
References:
"Seven Warring States", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Warring_States
(accessed 2012-05-18).
"Terracotta Army", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army
(accessed 2012-05-18).
End.
8. Names, Words and Phrases:
Chen Jingyuan (Traditional Chinese: 陳景元; Simplified Chinese: 陈景元).
Jiang Qing (Traditional: 江青; Simplified: 江青).
Mao Zedong (Traditional: 毛澤東; Simplified: 毛泽东).
Qin Shi Huang (Traditional: 秦始皇; Simplified: 秦始皇).
Terracotta Army (Traditional: 兵馬俑; Simplified: 兵马俑).
References:
"Seven Warring States", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Warring_States
(accessed 2012-05-18).
"Terracotta Army", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army
(accessed 2012-05-18).
End.
