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Measuring container survives through ages
May 24, 2009, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THOUGH short-lived, the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) holds a special place in China's long history. Its founder, Qin Shihuang, was the first Chinese sovereign to proclaim himself "emperor" after his formidable army crushed six rival states and helped him unify the country.
The emperor, now reposed in his enormous tomb in Xi'an (Shaanxi Province), guarded by thousands of life-size terracotta troops, also unified the writing system, currency and measurements, and connected the defense walls of the conquered states into the Great Wall.
Qin Shihuang also ordered the burning of all history books of the annexed states and the execution of 460 dissident scholars by burying them alive.
Thus, he has been regarded as a tyrant by historians over generations. However, everyone acknowledges his great achievements as a unifier.
The Shanghai Museum has the Shangyang Fangsheng, a bronze measuring container dating from 221 BC with an inscription that reads, "the emperor has decreed for adoption of uniform measures. Use this to verify your volume."
The container, 18.67 centimeters long, 12.47 centimeters wide and 6.97 centimeters high, holds a Qin unit of one sheng, approximately one liter.
The museum acquired this rare object during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) in the late 1960s when radical youths looted the house of the wealthy Gong family in Shanghai.
Ma Chengyuan, the museum curator, knew the family quite well and was worried that the raiders might smash all the valuables as a revolutionary act, including this bronze measure.
So he sent a team beating drums and gongs to thank the youths for finding the antiquities for the museum. They were surprised and handed over their loot.
In the early 1980s, the museum decided to return everything confiscated during the Cultural Revolution to the rightful owners. But the Gong family decided to sell the Qin bronze to the government. As a result, it remains in Shanghai Museum care.
The emperor, now reposed in his enormous tomb in Xi'an (Shaanxi Province), guarded by thousands of life-size terracotta troops, also unified the writing system, currency and measurements, and connected the defense walls of the conquered states into the Great Wall.
Qin Shihuang also ordered the burning of all history books of the annexed states and the execution of 460 dissident scholars by burying them alive.
Thus, he has been regarded as a tyrant by historians over generations. However, everyone acknowledges his great achievements as a unifier.
The Shanghai Museum has the Shangyang Fangsheng, a bronze measuring container dating from 221 BC with an inscription that reads, "the emperor has decreed for adoption of uniform measures. Use this to verify your volume."
The container, 18.67 centimeters long, 12.47 centimeters wide and 6.97 centimeters high, holds a Qin unit of one sheng, approximately one liter.
The museum acquired this rare object during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) in the late 1960s when radical youths looted the house of the wealthy Gong family in Shanghai.
Ma Chengyuan, the museum curator, knew the family quite well and was worried that the raiders might smash all the valuables as a revolutionary act, including this bronze measure.
So he sent a team beating drums and gongs to thank the youths for finding the antiquities for the museum. They were surprised and handed over their loot.
In the early 1980s, the museum decided to return everything confiscated during the Cultural Revolution to the rightful owners. But the Gong family decided to sell the Qin bronze to the government. As a result, it remains in Shanghai Museum care.
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