#204 Legacies of Qin Shihuangdi: “Rising to Life”

Student presentation (Justin Ghaeli)

Background:

• Today, we are turning our focus to sources. As we asked last year or the year before in Humanities: How is it we know what we know?
• For much of early Chinese history, the answer is two-fold:
  • Written sources (which have traditionally been the most important for historians of China, and which we will explore with Sima Qian later this week).
  • Archeological sources (which are at the cutting edge of research and what we will discuss today).
• What is archeology?
  • Digging up debris from the past left gradually over time or suddenly due to specific events (such as a burial or a volcanic eruption).
  • Archeologists dig underground for material remnants from the past, examine those remnants, and interpret their meaning as best as they can.
• How did we discover the Terracotta Warriors?
  • In 1974, during the late stages of the Cultural Revolution, a group of farmers were digging a well only to discover a head of clay. The men reacted in horror, believing they had found “a ghost who drank all the water meant for the crops,” said Yang Jungeng, one of the farmers.
  • They had accidently discovered what some refer to as the “greatest archeological find of our time”: the burial complex of Qin Shihuangdi.
  • Hessler describes in detail what is the largest burial site we know of in world history.

Archaeological finds

• All examples below are from Patricia Buckley Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Activity 1: Archaeological evidence from the late 20th century:

• Imagine you are an archaeologist from the 40th century. Walk through the process of understanding the object you have just uncovered:
  • What possible functions might this object have? What features might provide a clue about which is most plausible?
  • What possible meanings might the inscriptions on this object signify? How might you identify the most—and least likely—scenarios?
  • Reflect for a moment on how likely you think your 40th century successors would be in accurately understanding the full context of this object.

Activity 2: Archaeological evidence from the 3rd century BCE:

• Groups (3 students each):
  • Figure A
  • Figure B
    
  • Figure C
    
• ​Examine the 3D image and answer the following questions:
  • What are some of the key attributes you observe? In particular, how is the figure positioned?
  • What can you tell us about the possible role of this figure in the terracotta army?
  • What do you think we can learn from this artifact?

Debrief/discussion

Homework: Assignment #205