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SECONDARY EDUCATION
Preparation – Weights and Measures
QinShiHuangdi(259BCto210BC)wastheFirstEmperorofaunifiedChina.Hecamefromalong
dynasty:theQin.Thelatterappearedattheendofthe7thcenturyBCandwerebehindthe
creationofvassalsbelongingtotherulingdynastyofthattime,theEasternZhou.Duringthe
followingcenturies,theQin,despitetemporarysetbacks,progressivelyimposedtheirauthority
onallotherChinesekingdoms.Aftercenturiesofwarfare,QinShiHuangdihadtheprivilegeof
proclaiminghimselfFirstEmperorofChina.
InordertoconsolidatehispoweracrossallofChina,QinShiHuangdiinitiatedaprogramof
administrativereformsundertheguidanceofhischancellor,LiSi.Thesereformswereintended
tointroducetheQinadministrativemethodstoallthenewconqueredkingdoms.Oneaspectof
thesereformswasthestandardizationofwriting,currencyandtheweightsandmeasures.
TheQinalsoimposedasinglecoppercoin,thehalfLiang,toreplacethevariouscurrenciesused
intheotherkingdoms.Alltheothercurrencieswereeliminated.Finally,theweightsand
measureswerealsostandardized,onceagaininordertoavoidtheuseofdifferentunitsin
differentpartsoftheempire.Archeologistshave,forexample,discoveredastandardweightof
32kilograms
Assignment One
AlgebraicEqualities:TheequationsbelowarebasedaroundtheQinstandardweightof32kg.Find
thevalueofeachunknown.
1. If32+A=35+8,thenA=?
2. If32–B=21–4,thenB=?
3. If32xC=8x8,thenC=?
4. If32+11+D=12+22+10,thenD=?
5. If32–E=12–20,thenE=?
6. If32xF=161–161,thenF=?
Preparation – Sima Qian
SimaQian(from145to86BC),wastheCourtastrologerofEmperorWufromHan,andis
generallyrecognizedasthekeyhistoricalsourceonthesubjectofAncientChina.Heisthe
ChineseequivalentofThucydides,theauthorof“HistoryofthePeloponnesianWar”,or
Suetonius,theauthorof“TheTwelveCaesars”.
SimaQianistheauthorof“Shizi”,alsosometimescalled“TheScribe'sNotes”.Itisa
historicdocumentcoveringmorethan2,000yearsofChinesehistory.Itisoneoftheonly
ChinesepublicationstoprovidedetailsonthevictoryoftheQinkingdom,thereignand
personalityoftheFirstEmperor,andonhisdeathandtheendofhisdynasty.
WeowehimtheuniquedetaileddescriptionoftheFirstEmperor’stomb,whichiswithin
theNecropolisandwasrediscoveredin1974.ThereisnomentionoftheTerracottaArmy
inhiswritings,itispossiblehedidnotknowofitsexistenceordidnotconsideritrelevant
orworthyofmention.
Modernarchaeologicalexcavationsgivecredencetohisdescriptionofthetomb.Wehave,
forexample,detectedanabnormalconcentrationofmercuryinthetumulusarea.This
findingsupportsSimaQian’sdescriptionoftheriversofmercury,asmentionedinhis
writings.
In2003,twogeophysicalstudiesshowedresultsthatconfirmedSimaQian’swrittenwork.
Inhischronicles,thehistorianmentionstheuseofmercuryinthetomb-toreproducea
geographicalmaprepresentingtheriversoftheempire.
Assignment Two
UsingthePeriodicTableabove,answerthefollowing:
1. WhatisthechemicalsymbolforMercury?
2. Mercuryisknownasa“TransitionalMetal”–namethreeotherTransitionalMetals
3. WhatisMercury’satomicweight?
4. IfHeliumisinGroup18onthePeriodicTable,whatgroupisMercuryin?
Preparation – Construction
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TheworkforcenecessaryfortheconstructionoftheFirstEmperor’snecropoliswasrecruitedin
allcornersoftheempire.AccordingtoSimaQianitrequiredmorethan720,000workersovera
periodof36yearstobuild.
TheQinwere“obsessed”bylogisticsandqualitycontrol.Allthestatueswerethustraceable.
Foremenfrompotteryworkshopshadasealtheyhadtoaffixontotheclay,(generallyona
discreetpartofthestatue),justbeforeit’sbaking.Thesealmentionedtheforeman’snameas
wellasthenameandplaceoftheworkshopheworkedfor.
Thestatueswerebakedatarelativelylowtemperature,between950and1,100C°.Atthis
temperature,thebakedclaystillremainedporousandrequiredanothertreatmentinorderto
preservethestatues.
Theweightofthestatuescanfluctuatebetween150and200kilograms.Eachofthemwas
madewithclayfromMountLi,wherethenecropoliswasbuilt.
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Thewholeassemblyhadtobemadeinafairlystricttimeframewithlittledelay.Theclayhadto
besufficientlyrigidtosupportitsownweight,butalsostillsomewhatmalleableonthesurface
sothattheworkerscouldstillworkonit.
Thestatuesweightshrunkby10%whenbakedintheoven.
Assignment Three
Thecraftsmenhaveassembledtwostatues,beforeputtingthemintheoventobebakedthey
haveweighedthem.StatueAweighs200kgandStatueBweighs150kg.
Byreadingtheinformationprovidedabout“Construction”,calculatehowmucheachstatuewill
weighafterithasbeenbaked.
StatueAnowweighs
StatueBnowweighs
During your visit
During Your Visit
TheTerracottaArmyisthelastgreatarchaeologicalfindofthe20thcentury,afterthe
discoveryofthetombofTutankhamen.Thearcheologicalsitewasdividedintoseveralareas
knownas“Pits”.IneachofthesePitstheydiscovereddifferenttypesofstatues;somewere
Warriors,someanimalsandmanyothertypesthatyou’lllearnaboutonyourvisit.
So,let’sbeginandembarkonafabulousvoyagethatwilltakeyoubacktoChina,asitwas,
morethan2,200yearsago.
Thereareseveralquestionsandassignmentstoaccompanytheexhibition.Ifyoulook
carefully,youwillfindmostoftheanswersyourself.
Assignment Four Inordertoproducesuchlargequantitiesofstatuesaprocessofstandardizedproductionneededto
becreated.Thisstandardizationwasbasedontheusageofmoldsthatallowedthecraftsmento
producethesamepiecesonaconsistentbasis.Therewere,however,variationsdependingonthe
workshop.
Thisdesireorneedtostandardizealsoexplainswhythestatuesshowremarkablysimilar
proportions.Withfewexceptions,thestatuesmeasure1.86to1.90meterstall,plinthsincluded.
Thefeetare25to29cmlong.Thetorsocircumferenceisbetween85and107cm.Thewidthofthe
headsvariesfrom19to23cmandthelengthofthefacesvariesbetween19and20cm.
Thewarriorstatuesareassembledfromsevenmainparts–whatwerethey?
1. …………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. …………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. …………………………………………………………………………………………….
4. ……………………………………………………………………………………………
5. …………………………………………………………………………………………….
6. …………………………………………………………………………………………….
7. …………………………………………………………………………………………….
Assignment Five
Duringyourvisit
The Terracotta Warriors were not the only statues to be unearthed at the site. There were statues of
other people and items which were important in the kingdom. There were acrobats and animals, and
even civil servants.
Thecivilservantpitof144m²islocatedaboutfiftymetersinthesouth-westernpartoftheFirst
Emperor'stomb.Itcontainstwelveterracottastatues.Eightofthemarestatuesofcivilservants
whilefourotherscouldbecoachmenorlower-rankcivilservants.Thereisalsoanauthenticwar
carriageanditshorses'skeletons,aswellasabouttwentyotherhorseskeletonsandabronzeaxe.
Insidethepit,thestatuesareplacedinawoodenbuildingcontainingseveralrooms.Thisbuilding
representsaworkplacewhichtheywouldhaveusedtooccupyduringtheirlifetime.
FindtheinformationanddrawtheCivilServantintheposturetheyarestandingin.
FUN. FAST. FACTS.
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TheTerracottaArmywasmadeupofmanytypesofWarriors.
EachmemberoftheArmyhadadifferentrole.
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CharioteerswhodrovethebeautifulBronzehorse-drawncarriages.
HighRankingOfficersworedetailedarmour.
TheInfantrymenworelongrobes.
ThereweretwotypesofArchers,KneelingandStanding–bothholdingabowandarrow.
Assignment Six
During your visit – Identify the warriors
1.
2.
3. 4.
Assignment
Seven
During your visit – POP QUIZ!
1. HowoldwasQinShiHuangdiwhenheascendedtothethrone?
2. WhowasQinShiHuangdi’sMother?
3. WhatwasthenameofthecurrencythatQinShiHuangdiintroduced?
4. HowmanystatuesareinPitN°1?
5. ThemostcharacteristicweaponinAncientChina,whatistheDaggerAxealsoknownas?
6. WhichmemberoftheTerracottaArmyhad approx. 195 to 230 large sheets of armour, of various
differentshapes?
7. Identifythetwobirdstatuesintheexhibition–whatarethey?
8. Whodiscoveredthenecropoliswhilstdiggingawell?
Did you know?
AswellasorderingthecreationoftheTerracottaArmy,TheFirstEmperor,ShiHuangdiwas
responsiblefortheconstructionofmanyotherimportantbuildingsinChina.Heorderedthe
diggingofcanalsandbuiltlotsofpalaces.Butmostimportantly,hebuilttheveryfirst
versionoftheGreatWallofChina.Itwasover2000kmlong.
Assignment Eight
ThesiteoftheTerracottaArmywasoneofthegreatestArchaeologicalDiscoveriesin
history.CanyounametheotherimportantArchaeologicalsitesbelowandtheir
locations?
Name: Name:
Location:
Location:
Name: Name:
Location:
Location:
Assignment Nine
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IdentifyChinaonthemapbelow
MarkanXontheapproximatelocationoftheTerracottaArmy
DrawapictureofChina’snationalflagintheboxprovided