Bronze chariots and horses of the Qin Mausoleum

Bronze chariots and horses of the Qin Mausoleum

In June 1978, two bronze chariots and horses were unearthed in the area about 20 meters to the west of the Fengtu site of the Qin Shihuang mausoleum. They vividly represent the complete picture of the imperial chariot of the Qin Shihuang emperor, and reflect the superb casting technology of the craftsmen of the Qin Dynasty. They are of epoch-making significance for the study of ancient Chinese chariot and horse culture, and are known as the "crown of bronze".

essential information

[name]: bronze chariots and horses of the Qin Mausoleum

[quantity]: 2

Category: bronze ware

The Qin Dynasty

[origin of cultural relics]: burial objects of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum

[cultural relic excavation]: it was unearthed in 1980 at the corridor leading to the underground palace on the west side of Qin Shihuang mausoleum in Lintong, Shaanxi Province.

[current situation of cultural relics]: it is now in the Museum of Emperor Qinshihuang's mausoleum

[level of cultural relics]: the first batch of cultural relics prohibited from going abroad for exhibition

Cultural relics unearthed

In June 1978, in order to have a more comprehensive understanding of the layout of the mausoleum of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty and the burial of underground cultural relics, the archaeological team of Shaanxi province carried out the daily exploration work in a place about 20 meters to the west of the enclosure of the mausoleum of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. All of a sudden, a team member found a glittering object in the soil brought out by the shovel, carefully cleaned up the soil above, and a small gold ornament appeared in front of him. Then a silver bubble and a fragment of gold were found in the soil. In October 1980, with the approval of the State Administration of cultural relics, the excavation and cleaning of the chariot and horse pits buried with the deceased officially began. From November to the end of December 1980, archaeologists found two large painted bronze chariots and horses in an ear chamber at the northernmost side of the bronze chariot and horse burial pit. Due to the collapse and compression of the strata, the two copper chariots and horses were broken into more than 3000 pieces. However, the broken bronze chariots and horses are complete in parts, and there is no large displacement. The whole set of saddles and bridles are complete. The silver ornaments are still bright in color, and the gold utensils are shining. The superb manufacturing technology is amazing.

Careful repair

At the time of excavation, more than 1360 pieces of No. 1 and 1650 pieces of No. 2 bronze chariots and horses were broken, most of which were deformed to varying degrees, all the joints and pin locks were rusted to death and could not move, and some small parts were seriously corroded.

Experts from the planning of repair technology, the protection of painting, the choice of adhesive, the determination of welding materials, the selection of welding tools, the formulation of orthopedic methods, the design of orthopedic tools and other key issues, carried out a full study and nearly a thousand times of testing, experiment and verification. Until April 1982, the restoration plan and implementation rules of bronze chariots and horses were finally proved by experts and approved by the State Administration of cultural relics. The restoration work officially began.

Repair experts use different repair techniques according to the size of the parts, the location, the degree of damage, whether there is color painting and other different situations. The main repair method is bonding, supplemented by low and medium temperature welding. Where it can not be welded, the method of pin plus bonding or drilling with screw connection plus bonding curing is used to repair.

In the process of restoration, the biggest problem is the correction of bronze fragments. Because of years of soil extrusion, many parts have been deformed, so it is necessary to carry out orthopedic "bone setting" operation to restore the original shape before repair. Bronze is fragile. After more than 2000 years of history, the bronze fragments buried underground are more fragile. For this reason, the restoration personnel specially designed and made a special machine tool for orthopedics, first made a mold, and then put the bronze fragments between the two layers of mold, and used the machine tool to carry out the orthopedics bit by bit. It often took four or five hours for a piece of fragments to complete the orthopedics.

In June 1983, the restoration of No. 2 bronze chariot and horse was completed. In April 1988, the restoration of No. 1 bronze chariot and horse was completed. After eight years of hard work, Liangcheng bronze chariots and horses reappear in the world with a magnificent and glorious image. Its complex manufacturing process is amazing to the world, and is praised as "the crown of bronze" by the academic circles.

General situation of chariots and horses

Car one

No.1 "vertical car" is 2.25 meters long, 1.52 meters high and 1061 kg in weight. Each horse weighs 230 kg and has 3064 accessories. Yu is a horizontal rectangle with a depth of 48.5 cm and a width of 74 cm. In the middle of Yu is a single pole round umbrella cover with a diameter of 1.22 meters. It can not only shade from the rain, but also make passengers look far and wide. The top of the umbrella is round, and the carriage is horizontal rectangular, which is related to the ancient idea that the sky is round and the place is round. Each wheel has 30 spokes. At that time, 30 days was taken as a month, and the wheel rolling symbolized the rotation of the sun and the moon. A car skillfully contains the ancients' cosmological concept of "the sky is round and the place is round" and the reincarnation of the sun and the moon.

Standing on the right under the umbrella, the emperor's Figurine holds six bridles and wears a long sword. In addition, there is a bow supporting device for holding the crossbow on the left front plate of cheyu. At the same time, there is a painted copper arrow sheath on the inside of the left front plate of cheyu. There are still 50 triangular feathered copper arrowheads and 4 flat feathered copper arrowheads in the sheath. There is a copper shield on the inside of the side carriage. All these are in response to accidents on the way.

Car two

No.2 car "anche" is 3.17 meters long and 1.06 meters high. The total weight of the chariots and horses is 1241 kg, of which the weight of the horses is about 230 kg, and the weight of the royal official figurines is 51.95 kg. The car consists of 3462 parts, including 1742 bronze parts, 737 gold parts and 983 silver parts. The front room is small, 35 cm wide and 36.2 cm deep. It is only for the emperor to ride. The rear room is 78 cm wide and 88 cm deep. It is covered with a dome type canopy, 178 cm long and 129.5 cm wide, which looks like tortoise shell. The front and rear rooms are covered under the canopy, which has the effect of wind, rain, dust and sun protection. The carriage is convex, divided into two parts: the front room and the rear room. The front room is narrow and small, so it's for the emperor; the rear room is spacious, so it's for the car owner.

Sitting in the front room is a half meter high bronze figurine of the imperial official, wearing a crown, a long robe, a bridle in hand, and a "green front short sword" with a plump face and a respectful and vivid look. The back room has a canopy and is tight all around. There is a tail door at the back of the car. There are two windows in front of and on both sides of the back room of cheyu. The front window is a hollow fixed window with diamond pattern. The left and right windows are symmetrical with each other. The windows can be opened and closed, which is not only conducive to ventilation and lighting, but also conducive to close protection. Another important function is to adjust the indoor temperature. "When it is opened, it is cool; when it is closed, it is warm." At that time, this kind of car was called fufuche, which embodies the characteristics of luxury and comfort. It is said that it was this kind of car that Emperor Qinshihuang took when he traveled around the world. In ancient times, only emperors, queens and princes could ride this kind of noble carriage. Four horses pull the cart. It's light and steady, so it's called sima'an cart.

manufacturing process

Simulation skills

The painted bronze chariots and horses in the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty are highly simulated. Although they are made of very hard copper, they are made of different materials, such as human eyebrows and beards, horse manes, human clothes and so on. Even the carpets under the carriages are lifelike imitations of the real materials.

For example, the umbrella cover of car No.1 is made of silk in reality, with leather belt on the top and tangles in the middle. The copper umbrella cover of car No.1 has knots in some places and dead knots in some places. There are 9 kinds of knots and 13 kinds of dead knots. It's not careless at all. It's very specific to show whether a knot in life is a dead knot or a live knot.

smelting technology

The ingredient method of each part of copper car is very scientific. According to the different properties of each part, different alloy proportions are used. For example, the parts with high hardness requirements, such as single shaft, car support and car brake, have higher tin content, which is more than 13%; while the parts with strong ductility requirements, such as bridle rope and rope, have lower tin content, which is only about 6%.

welding technique

In order to use copper to show the flexibility of leather, collars and other accessories were made into innumerable sections by craftsmen in the Qin Dynasty, with thousands of joints between each section. There are as many as 3780 structures on the top of No.2 copper chariot and horse. Some joints are active, with 3171 joints; some joints are dead, with 609 joints; some joints are threaded, with 182 joints. The welding between the gold tube and silver tube of the copper horse gold and silver collar, with a 24 times magnifying glass, could not find the welding seam. It can be seen that the welding technology was superb at that time.

The connection of metal parts of copper chariots and horses can be divided into detachable and non detachable. Detachable connection includes key connection, hinge connection, etc. these technologies are divided into five categories, and each category can be subdivided into at least seven. Mechanical connection is also divided into detachable and non detachable, non detachable machinery is divided into four categories, each of which is subdivided into seven; technology is extremely complex, difficult to count, many of which are still unable to crack, to be studied.

Mortise and Tenon Technology

Although it took more than two thousand years, it is still flexible and flexible. The melting points of gold and silver are very different, so it is impossible to melt them together. Ancient craftsmen used the mortise and tenon to connect them, which is very flexible.

There is a gold and silver tassel ring on the neck of the horse. If you make a section, it is neither round nor square, but an ellipse, which is somewhat similar to the shape of an egg

Chinese PinYin : Qin Ling Tong Che Ma