Unit 1 King's Guardian

      Judging from the 11 tombs of Chu in the Western Han Dynasty and a large number of Han tombs, terracotta warriors and horses buried there with the Kings. They are mostly unearthed in funerary pits outside the tomb, on the sides of the tomb or in the niches, including terracotta warriors and figurines. The most spectacular one is the terracotta warriors pit of Shizishan Tomb, about 400 meters west of the Chu Mausoleum. Although damaged due to the soil collection in early years, there are at least 5 pits there. The pottery figurines of the Han Dynasty were mostly gray pottery, molded in the kiln. Add white ceramics after firing, and then paint. They are vivid shown in their eyebrows, clothing patterns, and different equipment.

      Figurines are an important part of ancient Chinese burial objects, which originated from the funeral concept of the ancients who regarded death as life. In order for the deceased to continue to live as he did in the underworld, the figurines are truly loaded with all kinds of information from ancient societies, and are of great significance to the study of ancient public service systems, military arrangements, lifestyles, and even cultural exchanges between China and the West.

      During the period of the great development of sculpture art in Chinese history in the Han Dynasty, the types, quantities, materials, and levels of figurines reached a new height. The level of modeling and production has been perfected, the style is simple and vigorous, the charm is vivid, and the meaning is in shape. Xuzhou is the hometown of Han ancestor Liu Bang. There were twelve generations of Chu kings in the Western Han Dynasty, and six Chu kings or Peng Cheng kings in the Eastern Han Dynasty. After they died, they were buried near Xuzhou, thus forming the huge Han tomb group. A large number of funeral clay figurines were unearthed.

Unit 4 Soul immortality

      The end of life is the beginning of entering another world. In ancient China, the concept of life and death evolved to build another world for the dead, so that they still enjoyed everything they had and loved. In the ancient Shang and Zhou dynasties, not only the owners were buried in the tombs, but even a large number of people and horses were buried with them. In the Spring and Autumn Period, pottery figurines were used to replace living people, but there was still the custom of burying the loved things during their lifetime. Some items are even marked with the owner's name to clarify the ownership to avoid disputes in another world. The exhibits displayed in this section are all practical utensils buried with the tomb owner. According to the custom, bathing supplies are buried. For example, the gold plate (Zhao Jimu Pan, exhibit No. 70) given by the Han Dynasty Royal Palace in the exhibits should be the love of the tomb's owner. Or the whole burial is filled with wine utensils, such as the bronze cymbals (exhibition 73) and gilt bronze urn (exhibition 74) unearthed from the Shizishan Tomb, etc. The beloved things are buried with them to show the concepts of "Soul immortality" and expecting eternal life.