DAY 3 – SHAANXI HISTORY MUSEUM (陝西歷史博物館), Xian, China

Back from the Han Yang Ling Mausoleum, we continued our historical journey at the provincial history museum of Shaanxi. There was a long queue at the gate for people to collect the free admission tickets (4000 daily). We skipped the wait by buying a ticket to the special exhibition of “Treasures of Great Tang Dynasty”, which we wouldn’t want to miss anyway. We entered the museum building which was designed to mimic the traditional architecture of the Tang Dynasty.

We started our visit with the special exhibition of Tang treasures unearthed from Hejia Village (何家村) of Xian. Known as the Hejia Village Hoard (何家村唐代窖藏), the 1000+ treasures ranged from gold and silver wares, coins, jade items, agate wares, crystals, etc. These treasures were carefully stored in clay pots roughly 65cm tall, hidden underground sometime after AD 732 during the An–Shi Rebellion (安史之亂) when Tang China was engulfed in a nasty civil war. As the east terminus of the Silk Road, the treasures of Changan (now Xian) revealed the degree of cultural exchanges in the Chinese capital during Tang, when goldsmiths and silversmiths from Central Asia such as the Sassanian Empire (now Iraq and Iran) came to Changan and brought with them the world’s most advanced metal crafting skills. The treasures from the hoard were mainly made domestically with a mixture of techniques and styles from both within China and other places along the Silk Road. It was an impressive collection and indeed, a very fortunate case for Chinese archaeology that these items could survive the Cultural Revolution when the collection was first unearthed.

We then moved on to the museum’s permanent collections. We quickly walked through the prehistoric exhibits, and focused on the bronze items from the Shang Dynasty 商朝 (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou Dynasty 周朝 (1046-256 BC), Terracotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty 秦朝 (221-206 BC), treasures of the Han Dynasty 漢朝 (206 BC- AD 290), and more artefacts from the Tang Dynasty 唐朝 (AD 618-907). In this post we have included selected photos of the magnificent artefacts from the Shaanxi History Museum.

The Main exhibition hall of Shaanxi History Museum was inspired by Tang architecture.

Small gold dragons (赤金走龍), Hejia Village Hoard.

Gilt Silver Plate with Double Foxes in Shape of Double Peaches (鎏金雙狐紋雙桃形銀盤), Hejia Village Hoard, is inspired by Persian influences in style and technique, combined local references of good fortune: peaches and foxes (foxes and a few other animals were also considered a reference to good fortune in Tang China).

Gilt Silver Plate with Phoneix (鎏金鳳鳥紋六曲銀盤), Hejia Village Hoard

Silver Vessel in Form of Nomadic Leather Flask Depicting a Dancing Horse (舞馬銜杯仿皮囊式銀壺), Hejia Village Hoard. Another piece of silver ware reflected the influences from the nomadic tribes of Central Asia.

Gold Bowl with Design of Lotus and Mandarin Ducks (鴛鴦蓮瓣紋金碗), Hejia Village Hoard. A golden bowl for wine.

Agate Cup with Beast Head (獸首瑪瑙杯), Hejia Village Hoard. A rare piece of Tang treasure with influences from Persia.

Bronze blades and masks for rituals, Late Shang Dynasty (13th-11th Century BC)

Bronze Bianzhong (編鐘) of Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC), an ancient music instrument.

Terracotta Warriors of First Qin Emperor, Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

The Kneeling Archer, Terracotta Warriors of the First Qin Emperor, Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

Gilded Incense Burner, Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD 290), depicting a fantasy mountain supported by dragons. The incense smoke would leak from the gaps like mountain mist.

Oil Lamp depicting a goose with a fish in its mouth, Han Dyansty (206 BC- AD 290). The smoke from burning the oil would go through the goose’s neck to its body, which was filled with water.

Gilded Bronze Dragon with iron core, Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Tri-coloured Watermelon, Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Terracotta figure of Lady, Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). A selection of these terracotta figures revealed the impressive hair, makeup and fashion styles of the Tang Dynasty, which changed every few years.