When we visited the National Museum, there were four exhibits open, and we could take pictures in two of them. The first was a wax museum, which was quite wonderful. Here, I would like to introduce you to Confucius. He lived from 551-479 BC, and his thought has been one of the major forces that has shaped Chinese culture.

Qin Shi Huang is best known in the West as the emperor whose grave was guarded by ranks of terra cotta warriors. His claim to fame, however, is much greater than that. As the founder of the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC, he was the first to unify China, the first to standardize the characters of the Chinese language, and the first to connect various guard walls into the beginning of the Great Wall of China.

Kublai Khan was the emperor in power when Marco Polo visited China in the 13th century. Although most of the major dynasties in Chinese history have been Han Chinese (the major ethnic group in China), a few were not. Kublai Khan's dynasty, the Yuan, was Mongolian. The last imperial dynasty, the Qing, which was overthrown in 1911, was Manchurian.

Deanna is posing with China's first astronaut, Yan Liwei, who flew into space in October 2003. He orbited the earth for 21 1/2 hours in the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. In Chinese, astronauts are called yu hang yuan, or a person who navigates the universe.

The other exhibit where we could take pictures (but no flash) was "Selected Treasures of Chinese History." This rhino is a wine container. It is cast bronze, from the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 9 AD).

Also from the Western Han, this bronze pillow makes Lee's bamboo pillow seem soft. Many ancient cultures used pillows similar in design. Its purpose was to raise your head to a comfortable sleeping height, not to cushion it.

Here is one final picture from the Western Han. This is a burial suit made of squares of jade sewn together with gold wires.

After the fall of the Han Dynasty, China entered the Three Kingdoms period. The Wu Kingdom was centered in Nanking in the southeast, the Shu Kingdom in Chengdu in the southwest, and the Wei Kingdom in Luoyang in the north central part of China. This clay courtyard is from the Wu Kingdom. Not only is it detailed and artistic, but it also displays the layout of a typical traditional Chinese home.

In many ways this horse, found in Luoyang, is typical of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD) tri-colored pottery. However, black pottery is quite rare. We were told that this particular horse is famous because it is the only complete black horse found to date.

Vases made during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties are famous throughout the world. Looking at the workmanship in this Qing Dynasty piece, we can understand why.

Copyright 2005, Dr. Lee Williams

Last Modified: 15 February 2005

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