One of the terracotta warriors exhibited in Stockholm. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/ Chen Xuefei]
By Chen Xuefei
The Swedes can see China's terracotta army starting today (Saturday August 28) in Stockholm. Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf formally declared open the exhibition of China's terracotta army in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities on Friday. CRI's Stockholm correspondent Xuefei Chen reports.
A grand ceremony was held in the museum's Beijing Auditorium, where China's terracotta army was presented to the audience. The Swedish king spoke at the ceremony.
"This year marks 60 years since Sweden became one of the first countries to establish diplomatic contact with the People's Republic of China. However, the cultural contact between Sweden and China dates back even further," the king said.
The King said he and Queen Silvia visited the terracotta site in 1981, and just three years later, China's terracotta soldiers visited Sweden for the first time.
This time, the scale is about 10 times larger than the previous exhibition and all but one of the 316 are originally from the 11 museums in Shaanxi Province where the terracotta army has been stationed. The objects in the exhibition include 10 Qin terracotta warriors, 120 Han terracotta figures, and almost 200 cultural relics from the Qin and Han tombs.
Zhao Rong, director of the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau said the specific preparations on the Chinese side took several months.
"Most of the objects were excavated from the Qin and Han Dynasties emperors' mausoleums, which date from the second and first centuries BC. Many of them came from the latest excavation in Shaanxi province and have never been displayed outside," Zhao said.
Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Swedish Minister for Culture said that Swedish people are very much looking forward to seeing this exhibition.
"Culture has a special ability to bring people together, over time and over space," Liljeroth said that the exhibition will stimulate more interest among Swedes about China.
The exhibition has received positive comments from the special guests at the opening ceremony including sinologist Cecilia Lindqvist.
"I am very happy that this could come to Sweden, it is an excellent exhibition. It is magnificent figures that are shown here, the soldiers are so tall and beautiful to see, and also in this specific place, it is designed like a grave, which added attraction to the things shown here. I am very happy that it could come here so that many more Swedes could see it," Lindqvist said.
Sanne Houby-Nielsen, director general of National Museums of World Culture in Sweden, said it would be unreal if the exhibition is held in other place.
One of the terracotta warriors exhibited in Stockholm. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/ Chen Xuefei]
"The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities has for many years harbored a vision, idea and wish to do a large exhibition from ancient China, an exhibition with both Qin's warriors and the story of the first emperor, but also the consolidation and unification of China during the early Han Dynasty. The idea was to create this exhibition as a kind of celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sweden and China," said Houby-Nielsen who is in charge of this project.
In fact, the exhibition was held in underground caverns beneath the Far Eastern Museum which are called "Rock Heavens." The place was built with dynamite in 1940 for use by the Swedish Navy for military purposes. This was the first time that the underground heavens were opened to the public.
"For us, this is the opportunity to stand face to face with the warriors because even if you have been to China, and you have been in the museum in Xi'an, it is quite a long distance from the platform and down from the entrance, but here, you have the very intimate experience of the warriors, the audience can almost stand face to face just like we are talking now," Houby-Nielsen explained.
At least 150 thousand visitors are expected to attend the exhibition, which will last until January 16th of next year.
Curator Han Si explained that the terracotta soldiers were transported by both trucks and airplanes.
"We used four big trucks from Xi'an to Beijing and flew from Beijing to Copenhagen using a large cargo airplane, then traveled from Copenhagen to Stockholm again with oversized trucks. So, our journey was a combination of flight and highway transportation," Si said.
"The biggest challenge is that the relics need to be packed well, they should not shake, and should not move in the boxes," Si said, adding that the preparation work took the entire summer.
The exhibition displays many kinds of artifacts that show the concerns of the first Chinese emperors, including the lofty goal of using unified measurements. The objects on display include the jade burial suits, the golden goat and the various highly-accurate measuring devices that are still used today around the world.
"These findings are magnificent, even if they have already been known, they are still spectacular for the audiences to have such an experience," Houby-Nielsen said.
China has loaned out terracotta warriors around the world to promote China's spectacular world heritage.
