2022/08/18 by Qingbo Duan · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Chinese history and philosophy #Eurasian Exchange Networks #China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations #Emperor #Terracotta #Bronze #Ancient history #Sculpture #Pottery #Buddhism #Archaeology #Bronze Age #Cultural exchange #Architecture #Politics #Art #History
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/jch.2022.25
openalex publication_date 2022/08/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract Several cultural features found by archaeologists at the First Emperor of Qin's necropolis did not have roots in East Asian cultures but were inspired by cultural exchange with the civilizations of West Asia along the various “Silk Roads.” Examples considered in this article include terracotta figures of soldiers and horses, long-pole acrobatics, terraced architecture for tombs, bronze chariots, bar-shaped bricks, and technology for casting and repairing bronze statuary. Within Qin culture more broadly, there are several other cultural features which were probably brought from West Asia, including iron metallurgy, gold-working, trough-form pan tiles for roofing, stone inscriptions and stone sculpture, elliptical cocoon-form flasks, and possibly the transmission of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. Furthermore, non-material elements of political and economic culture from the Persian Empire and Hellenistic kingdoms were also brought eastward alongside these materials. They were part of a coherent system that inspired the political and cultural revolutions of the First Emperor.