Hou-mei Sung, curator of Asian art at the Cincinnati Art Museum, knows what the big draw is for the next four months: Ten legendary earthenware warriors from ancient China are on display in our city for the first time.
The life-size figures are the undeniable stars of Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China, a 120-piece exhibition at the CAM. Yet Sung is also hoping that visitors winding their way through the galleries will appreciate that roughly 2,200 years ago, the leader known as Qin Shihuang established the foundation of the modern Far East powerhouse that we recognize today. That is his most important legacy.
In 246 BC, the future emperor was known as Ying Zheng, then the 13-year-old king of Qin, one of the seven Warring States. Already thinking of the afterlife, he immediately ordered the creation of an 8,000-figure Terracotta Army of men and horses to guard the expansive, 38-square-mile mausoleum complex where his tomb would be. But this lasting contribution to world culture was just beginning.
Once the Qin defeated all the other states by 221 BC, Ying Zheng declared himself emperor of a new, unified China and set about standardizing systems of government, writing, currency and measurement. Before he died in 210 BC, he had also ordered construction of a nationwide network of roads and work on what would become the Great Wall.
In the Terracotta Army, two sections of art and artifacts — coins, decorative household items, roof tiles, bells and other ritual objects of the courts — from other tombs and excavation sites illustrate the ingenuity and diversity that existed throughout China before the establishment of the Qin state in 770 BC, as well as during the rise of the emperor. Before sizing up the self-assured countenance of the exhibit’s Terracotta Army general, Sung wants you to feel the spirit of an entire people. The curator uses the word “presence” when talking about the realistic facial features and poses of the 6-foot-tall human statues. But she also applies the term to smaller works in the exhibition, such as a gold tiger ornament barely 2-inches wide with an impressive set of bared teeth. The message seems to be that this animal native to China will fight to the death to defend it. Sung also marvels over the detail — the segmented body, the half-closed eyes, the raised head, the tail horn — on a similarly sized bronze silkworm, which has long been an important creature in the nation’s economy.
He was a ruthless leader, but in his quest for power and immortality, Qin Shihuang also took the best that a fragmented China had to offer and made it even better. “His unification efforts continued to shape the following 2,000 years,” Sung says.
Yet his burial site was basically forgotten for nearly two millennia. In 1974, the accidental discovery of the necropolis by villagers digging a well near Xi’an in Shaanxi Province would be hailed as the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century. Historians estimate that 720,000 workers spent nearly 40 years creating the underground city for Qin Shihuang. In addition to the warriors, it houses statues of entertainers for the afterlife, plus a replica of a garden pond with birds.
As excavation continues at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, where conservationists piece together a huge puzzle of terracotta shards, China allows no more than 10 of the warriors and horses to travel outside the country in any single exhibition for longer than a year. In our region, Columbus, Dayton and Indianapolis have hosted statues previously. The Cincinnati Art Museum arranged its display with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. Representatives there say more than 204,000 people toured the exhibit from mid-November 2017 to mid-March.
Word of mouth is sure to also draw Cincinnatians in what could be record-setting droves. CAM spokeswoman Jill Dunne, who accompanied Sung and others from Cincinnati and Richmond to China earlier this year, said seeing the rows and rows of soldiers lined up in trenches at the vast mausoleum site gave her chills and a sense of scale. But, a museum exhibit offers intimacy, especially the chance to see the detail on the warriors’ faces. No two are alike.
(To see more photos from the Terracotta Army exhibit, click here.)
Sung attributes the unique features of each soldier to Chinese cosmology, or the study of the ying and the yang and the belief in an inherent system of complementary and competing virtues. Depicting a person realistically is more than just trying to reproduce exactly how he looks on the surface. It’s a matter of capturing a personality.
“Overall, this person has to match his role, his biography,” Sung says. “You have to have some dignity. You have to have that presence.”
The terracotta general — one of only nine found so far — stands before visitors with cool confidence. His hands once rested before him upon a sword. Though he’s now missing his weapon, his outstretched index finger is enough to signal that he’s in charge. Next to him, a mid-ranking officer wears a hint of an assured smile. A pair of archers — one kneeling, the other standing — are portraits in the art of being focused.
A cavalry horse is also deserving of fine detail. Its face is as expressive as a human’s. Its brow is furrowed as if in deep thought. Its ears are alert; nostrils flared. Both its tail and mane appear to be immaculately braided.
“I’m so glad we got a horse,” Sung says with smile. It’s one of the standouts in an exhibit that was assured of being a hit the moment it was announced.
With this blockbuster show, Sung knows that the Cincinnati Art Museum just added to its own legacy.
Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China is on view through Aug. 12 at the Cincinnati Art Museum (935 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams). Timed tickets required: $8-$16; free for members; free to all 5-8 p.m. Thursdays and 5-9 p.m. Final Fridays. Info: cincinnatiartmuseum.org
This article appears in Apr 18-25, 2018.