Tuesday, October 4, 2016

My Favorite Sculptures at Han Yangling (Han Dynasty Yang Tomb) in Xianyang, Shaanxi, China

The most famous burial ground in China, must be that of the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty, who employed a gigantic terracotta army to guard him in the afterlife.

Han Yangling (Han Dynasty Yang Tomb) in Xianyang, China _ IMG_4477

IMG_6015 - Emperor Jing's Tomb, Han Dynasty, Xianyang, China, 2007

IMG_6010 - Emperor Jing's Tomb, Han Dynasty, Xianyang, China, 2007

In the ensuing Han Dynasty, one of the emperors employed an army of smaller scale and smaller statue. Instead of human-sized terracotta warriors, this so-called Jing Emperor could only afford to have earthen ware torso armies, with wooden arms, which by now have completely rotten away, thus this army of cripples of one-third of human size.  A pitiful and creepy looking army.

IMG_5919_m - Earthenware ''sacrifices'' in Emperor Jing's Tomb, Han Dynasty, Xianyang, China, 2007

Han Yangling (Han Dynasty Yang Tomb) in Xianyang, China _ IMG_5922_mod

Han Yangling (Han Dynasty Yang Tomb) in Xianyang, China _ IMG_4437_mod

Han Yangling (Han Dynasty Yang Tomb) in Xianyang, China _ IMG_4441_mod

The most memorable figures are those riders sans horses, whose arched bow-shaped legs and the perpendicular torso formed a strange looking arrow, and the "arrow-point", the round head with a grinning face, completed this strange spectacle, small in stature, but large in impact.

Earthenware ''sacrifices'' in Emperor Jing's Tomb, Han Dynasty, Xianyang, China, 2007 _ IMG_6064

Han Yangling (Han Dynasty Yang Tomb) in Xianyang, China _ IMG_6158

The second amazing artifact was a hollow brick with a white tiger relief.  The fluid and delicate beauty of the noble beast was incredible and the accomplishment of the artist/artisan was of the highest order.

White Tiger Hollow Brick, Han Yangling (Han Dynasty Yang Tomb) in Xianyang, China _ IMG_6023


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
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List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Last Chance to See Terracotta Warriors in San Francisco Asian Art Museum
- Ruins in Sanxingdui (Three-Star Mound) and Jinsha (Gold Sands), Sichuan, China
- Treasure in Liaoning Museum, Shenyang, China
- Art Gallery of Luxun Art Academy in Shenyang, China
- Visiting Four Universities in Austria and Italy
- Sunflower Seeds by Ai Weiwei at Tate Modern, London
- My Favorite Sculptures at Institut für Klassische Archäologie, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
- My Favorite Sculptures at Musei Civici degli Eremitani, Padova (Padua)

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