The whole World was impressed with the display at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing. Though personally I found the reports of the cost somewhat disturbing, if correct the national debt of many a country could have been paid off in a stroke. Of course the purpose of the event was to show the World that China had arrived as a power on the geopolitical stage.
Over the weekend Freddie and I went by tandem to Assen to see some examples of China as a geopolitical play of the first order in ancient times. No doubt the exhibition of the Terracotta warriers that has been to London and now in Assen in North Eastern Netherlands was timed to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics. As an impression of greatness it was second to none.
About a dozen of the famous nearly life size figures were on display, plus a lot more smaller pieces. It was described how an entire tomb city was buit as a resting place for the dead empiror and some of his later successors. Other than providing a resting place there is no doubt it was also intended to fulfill the more practical purpose to show off China's power, much like that on view with the Olympics. The small museum in Assen was packed, we waited patiently in a queue outside for an hour. The wait was worth it. The figurines had an amazing lifelike quality and in spite of their number (the tomb contained hundreds) each had a different look. Also on display were representations of objects and chattels to accompany the imperial household into the next life. Interestingly some were clearly not intended for actual use as they only imitated the form of household objects but were not functional.
No comments:
Post a Comment