Reflections on China’s First Collection of Terracotta Acrobats (an exhibition review)

Reflections on China’s First Collection of Terracotta Acrobats: Exhibition at the Qin Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, Xi’an, China, from 30 September 2011.

The first collection ever discovered of terracotta figurines depicting ancient Chinese entertainers that was found in the pits of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang (China’s First Emperor, 259 BC–210 BC) have been on display at the Qin Mausoleum Museum in Xi’an, China, since 30 September 2011. These terracotta entertainers were unearthed in a recent excavation starting in June 2013 as well as in the 1999 trial excavation in Pit K9901, which is southeast of the Qin Mausoleum. This distinct style of terracotta figurines includes acrobats and strongmen, and six of the eleven figurines unearthed have been reconstructed from fragments.

This new collection has attracted much scholarly attention as well as a crush of tourists. It is the first time that half-naked figurines have been discovered, and has thus changed the traditional view that only figurines wearing clothes existed in ancient Chinese sculptures (Chen, 2005). Equally intriguing, the way these figurines capture the instant of a particular action vividly reveal details of royal entertainment more than 2,000 years ago (Liu, 2000).

From the perspective of visual analysis (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006), this collection differs widely from its more famous counterpart, the buried army of terracotta warriors, in terms of visual representation, interaction, modality and composition. The narrative structures in the terracotta entertainers are mostly transactional processes. For instance, Entertainer Figurine No. 3 depicts a tall and muscular strongman performing weight-lifting (see Figure 1). He stands firmly with his feet apart. Current suppositions are that the tense muscles of the figurine’s right arm and back show that he was exerting all his strength to lift an extremely heavy item. His tense belly and prominent navel seem to indicate that he was taking a deep breath from his diaphragm, which was a breathing exercise often used by ancient Chinese martial artists when weightlifting. In analytical terms, the vectors of the figurine’s right arm, left leg and his back all point to a supposedly hefty item held up high. Compared to the static, solemn terracotta warriors, this dynamic representation reflects the transitory action of the energetic strongman as he performed for the emperor.

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Figure 1.

Acrobat Figure No. 3. Source: www.Chinanews.com. Photo by Yuan Zhang. Reproduced with permission.

Although the forearm of Entertainer Figurine No. 3 and the heavy item he is lifting are missing, the heaviest Ding (an ancient Chinese cooking vessel) found in the same pit gives some credence to the above speculation (Yuan, 2000); 60 cm in height and weighing 212 kg, this Ding is often referred to as ‘the first Ding in the Mausoleum’ (see Figure 2). Lifting Ding to demonstrate muscularity is the most well-known royal entertainment activity in the Qin dynasty (Chen, 2005). It is hard to determine whether that Ding was actually the stage property of Entertainer Figurine No. 3, but the dynamic representation of the strongman gives us a glimpse of the thrilling performances that were staged in ancient times.

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Figure 2.

The Ding and some terracotta entertainers unearthed from Pit K9901. Source: http://www.xiancn.com. Photo by Yuming Zhang. Reproduced with permission.

We now turn to the terracotta entertainers’ visual interaction with the viewers. As shown in Figure 2, the heads of most restored figurines are missing. Therefore there is no visual ‘demand’ or ‘offer’ (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006) addressed to the viewers. Even though the heads of some figurines were restored, by choosing different viewing positions, visitors may decide for themselves whether or not to be directly addressed by these sculptures. Like many other exhibitions, there are barriers preventing visitors from getting up too close to view the items on display. In this case, the terracotta entertainers are placed in hermetic boxes. As invaluable fragile unearthed relics, they cannot usually be approached from an intimate distance but are placed on plinths around 40 cm above the ground, and are thus positioned as symbolically towering over their viewers (see Figure 3). Interestingly, this ‘towering above viewers’ is different from how the majority of the terracotta warriors are displayed. Perhaps due to its great size (estimated at over 8,000 soldiers), the terracotta army has to be displayed down in their pit, while the small number of entertainers can be elevated into a more privileged position. The placement of the terracotta entertainers restricts visitors to a viewing position at a reverential distance, and the degree of visual interaction between visitors and the items on display is thus relatively low.

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Figure 3.

The elevated position of the terracotta entertainers. Source: www.xiancn.com. Photo by Yuming Zhang. Reproduced with permission.

In addition to the interactive relations, another important aspect of interpersonal management is visual modality, that is, how real the figurines appear to be. The terracotta entertainers are life-size. They were originally painted with pigments but over the centuries the colour coating has flaked off or faded. Their heads, arms, legs and torsos were manufactured as anatomically accurate to the human body. It can be inferred that standard naturalism is adopted in these terracotta figurines.

However, this naturalistic depiction is significantly different from that of the terracotta warriors, who are naturalistic only in the depiction of their facial features and stone suits of armour. The terracotta entertainers, on the other hand, are naturalistic in the detail put into the movement of their half-naked bodies, which makes them distinct from any other figurine type such as the terracotta warriors or officials. In addition to the faithful representation of muscles and limbs, this naturalistic coding orientation is also manifested in the entertainers’ short skirts and belts. The skirts vary in both shape and pattern: they include flared, pleated and straight skirts. The fabric is indicated by the patterns of rhombuses, stars and clouds. In comparison to the long gowns and trousers that were commonplace in ancient Chinese clothing, these short skirts are very unusual. The discovery of entertainers as new members of the terracotta army therefore provides new dimensions for the study of ancient Chinese clothing (Chen, 2005).

Yet another important difference between the terracotta entertainers and the warriors is that the warriors are almost always the same height and build, while the entertainers vary in both dimensions. Nevertheless, both depictions faithfully represent what they actually were at that time. The acrobats and strongmen hired for royal entertainment in the Qin dynasty were required to give various performances such as climbing poles, wrestling and lifting Ding. These diverse acrobatic performances were later referred to as Bai Xi (literally ‘hundreds of shows’) in the Han dynasty to indicate their great variety (Liu, 2000). Thus, these entertainers with diverse skills and strength would have had different figures and weight. This explains why some of the terracotta entertainers are tall and strong while others are short and slender. The soldiers in the Qin dynasty, on the other hand, were strictly selected – their height and build were supposed to be within a certain range to increase the uniformity and solemnity of the army. Interestingly, despite their great differences, scholarly studies indicate that these two types of terracotta figurines could have been manufactured by the same group of craftsmen. Due to the tight imperial control in the Qin dynasty, craftsmen were required to inscribe their names on items they produced in order to ensure high quality. Some of the terracotta entertainers have the same inscribed signatures as those on the terracotta warriors unearthed from Pit 1 (Yuan, 2000). In other words, the variations in social status and function led to the different styles; the craftsmen appreciated these differences and the realistic appearances represent their actual physiques.

As for the figurines’ visual composition, Kress and Van Leewen’s (2006) model of the polarized human body provides a useful tool for viewing the compositional dimensions of the figurines. The terracotta entertainers are displayed in hermetic boxes and therefore visitors can typically view them from the front through the glass case. If we take the front as the social and public side while the back is the non-social private side, the frontal display gives an exact representation to viewers of what was performed in front of the emperor on the stage. The backs of the entertainers that were usually hidden from spectators are similarly not easily revealed to viewers nowadays. Since the heads of the majority of the figurines are missing, the ‘Ideal’ parts of them are lost. The feet representing their ‘Real’ parts are in place for most restored figurines. The concrete ‘Real’ part combines perfectly with other parts of the body to represent the action.

As stated by Wei Cao, Vice Dean of the Qin Mausoleum Museum:

Like the excavation of Pit 1, the excavation of the terracotta entertainers is open to the public so that visitors may observe the ongoing excavation process … So far only a portion of the site has been excavated, and the evacuation of Pit K9901 may take three or more years.

The discovery of this new type of terracotta figurine reveals to us the origin of Chinese acrobatics and royal entertainment, while appreciating the sculptures from an analytical perspective may help us catch a glimpse of the visual means employed more than 2,000 years ago to present the dynamic entertainment activities. Hopefully there will be more exciting relics unearthed so we may go one step further towards unravelling the myth of this fascinating art in the remote past.