The National Museum of Shaanxi History opened in 1991, eighteen years after Premier Zhou Enlai first suggested that such an establishment was needed to exhibit the province's archaeological treasures. Occupying a large site in Xi'an's southern suburbs close to the Big Goose Pagoda, the museum, housed in a complex of striking Tang dynasty style pavilions, is an absolute must for every visitor to the city.

The exhibits here represent the very best of the museum's collection, the greater portion of which remain stored in its underground warehouse. The permanent exhibition on the ground and first floors is supplemented by touring exhibitions, usually two, in the basement. Included elsewhere in the museum are lecture theatres, conference rooms, a library, research laboratories and an extensive restoration centre. A new unit for restoration has been funded by an Italian Antiquities Department donation of US$4 million.

For security reasons, visitors to the museum must leave their bags in the cloakroom before entering the galleries. A spacious entrance hall greets visitors with its reproduction lion from Shun Ling, the tomb of Wu Zetian's mother. Pace yourself on the stunning marathon walk through a million years of Chinese history. You need about three hours in this museum to do it justice. For longer-stay visitors to Xi'an, a return visit after trips to outlying sites may help to put the sights that you have seen into context. The exhibits on the ground and first floors are arranged in chronological dynastic order.

PREHISTORY TO 2000 BCE

At the entrance to the first gallery a relief map of Shaanxi province shows the three main landscape divisions of the province, from north to south: the loess lands of the Yellow Earth Plateau, the Guanzhong Plain around the Wei River and the Qin mountain range. Most of the exhibits in this museum were unearthed from the Guanzhong Plain, one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Relics in this room hail from Shaanxi's three main prehistoric sites-Lantian, Dali and Banpo. Fossilized remains of old Stone-Age man were discovered at Lantian and Dali, while at Banpo the foundations of a Neolithic village have been excavated (see page 79). Pottery with distinctive markings such as the fish design were among the most remarkable finds

XIA, SHANG, WESTERN AND EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTIES

The second gallery covers the 21st century BCE to 770 BCE, the dawn of the iron and bronze ages. By the Shang and Zhou dynasties, metalworking techniques had become highly sophisticated. Bronze was used in weapons for hunting as well as in battle, ritual implements, agricultural tools, and household and palace utensils. Particularly striking are the handsome cooking tripods (ding), some measuring up to one metre (3.3 feet) high. The Chinese government sent a replica of the largest tripod-cooking vessel on display as a gift to the United Nations headquarters. Also look out for the four-legged cooking vessel from the Shang dynasty, which is the only one of its kind. Elegant bulbous-based and thin-legged wine vessels (jue) were used for warming liquor. Weapons include daggers, halberds and spearheads, as well as stick-shaped scabbards with sawtooth edges.

Moving onto the relics from the Western Zhou and later the Eastern Zhou, one sees the same material, bronze, cast into more elegant, beautiful and practical wares.

Extremely impressive are the bronze bells. There is a single Shicheng Bell, about the size of the largest of watermelons, a musical instrument used in the home of a nobleman or even at court. In a separate display case close-by is one of the museum's finest pieces, a set of chime bells (bianzhong). The set consists of eight bells suspended from a wooden beam and arranged according to size. Strangely enough, although their number corresponds to the eight notes of an octave, the fourth and seventh notes, 'fa'?and 'ti', are absent. Discovered at Fufeng County, the bells were almost certainly used to entertain the courts established by the Zhou (see page 80). Other examples of aesthetic refinement in Zhou bronzeware include a fine ox-shaped wine vessel, an ornate incense burner, an artist's palette and a bronze vessel with a cover and handle.

SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, THE WARRING STATES AND QIN DYNASTY 770 BCE?06 BCE`

In the third gallery the exhibits highlight progress made during the Qin dynasty in the fields of construction, plumbing, metallurgy, agriculture and irrigation, weaponry and public works. However, rapid economic and technical development had already begun to take place in the pre-imperial period. Around 400 BCE, the casting of iron became widespread, as evidenced by the many remains of axes, spades and swords excavated in Shaanxi, a region rich in minerals.

The most important relics from Qin times are, of course, the terracotta warriors (four of which are on display here), but visitors are sure to go to the museum located at the excavations (see page 99). Look instead for a tiger tally. It is quite small, but this ingenious object was a symbol of imperial authority-its holder or recipient could be certain orders were genuine if both halves of the tally matched. Although not immediately apparent, the tally comes in two symmetrical parts split along the animal's backbone. There is also a very interesting exhibit demonstrating the standardization of weights, measures and coinage that took place at this time.

HAN DYNASTY 202 BCE?20 CE`

An elaborate wooden map on the wall in this exhibition room, the first one upstairs on the left, highlights the expansion of Han China. The Silk Road became important during this period (see page 153). Travellers who have visited the Han tombs north of Xi'an will see fine examples of funerary objects, such as a gold incense burner discovered from the area of the tomb of the Han general, Huo Qubing (see page 155). Other excavated tombs in the north Guanzhong Plain have yielded tomb figurines which were on a more modest scale than Qin Shihuangdi's terracotta army, but which nevertheless provide much information about daily life at that time. To keep the deceased content in the afterlife a variety of models in pottery were produced, including water wells, pigsties, barns and domestic animals such as oxen, chicken and dogs. For those who cannot get to the Xianyang Museum, a couple of hundred of the miniature terracotta army are shown here. Finally, there are a number of exhibits to illustrate Han ingenuity. Paper making, one of the four great Chinese inventions-the others were gunpowder, printing and the compass-is generally attributed to the Han Wudi period of 140?7 BCE. This early paper was produced from hemp fibre mixed with ramie (fibre similar to flax and substitute for cotton and linen) by a process of pulping, boiling and drying. Another material unique to China was silk-there is an exquisite gilded bronze silkworm from this period that was used as a burial object. A third group of relics includes gear cogs, nuts and hinges.

WEI, JIN, NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN DYNASTIES 220?81 CE`

A small room is devoted to the relics of this period, during which Chang'an lost its capital status and remained relatively unimportant until it regained its pre-eminence as a centre of imperial power and cultural influence under the Tang rulers.

SUI AND TANG DYNASTY 581?07 CE`

This was a period that corresponds to Xi'an's restoration as the unified empire's capital. In particular, the brilliance of the mid-Tang period is reflected in the most extensive and spectacular collection of exhibits in this museum. A wooden map, similar to the one in the Han gallery, shows the expansion of Tang China, which capitalized on Sui unification and encompassed present-day Mongolia, Vietnam and parts of Kazakhstan as well as what we recognize as the People's Republic of China today. Beyond, one sees display cases full of markedly colourful relics, consisting in the main of tri-colour glazed pottery articles. Foremost amongst these are the handsome horses and camels, which bear witness to Chang'an's links to foreign lands by means of the Silk Road. Particularly outstanding is a band of musicians on a camel in tri-colour pottery. Other figures include heavenly gods stamping on evil and ugly beasts; gargoyle-like animals which were used as guardians of tombs; and Tang beauties with plump cheeks and bouffant hairstyles, shod in shoes with upturned toes. Tang dynasty women were ingenious in the variety of hairstyles they wore. One notable example wears a 'wild bird' coiffure. The mirrors on display highlight the leisured lifestyle of Tang women. These are of highly polished metal, but it is their ornately decorated backs that are of particular interest.

As a backdrop to these colourful relics, some replicas of murals removed from tomb passageways and chambers are displayed. The themes illustrated relate to recreation, fashion and court activities. Most striking are murals showing polo playing, hunting, ladies being attended by maidservants and court officials receiving foreign guests. The originals are so delicate and sensitive that they have to be stored in a special climate-controlled room in the museum and are only accessible to very special visitors.

SONG, YUAN, MING AND QING DYNASTIES

Chang'an was eclipsed with the collapse of the Tang in the early tenth century and neither Xi'an nor its environs ever dominated national affairs again. Although spanning a millennium, the relics from this period only occupy a small area. Particularly noteworthy, however, are the fine porcelain pieces, characteristically sea green or ivory in colour. There are also some examples of mise, or secret colour, porcelain plates. Pale olive green in colour, this material is so named because even today scientists are unable to replicate the manufacturing process. These particular examples are from the crypt of Famen Temple (see page 222). Another striking display relates to the Ming dynasty-an array of 300 colourfully painted miniature pottery figures unearthed at the tomb of a Shaanxi official.

Tang-dynasty ox-head agate cup, unearthed at Hejia Village, Xi'an.

It was probably imported from Central Asia or Sassanian Iran.

Tourist Advice

An excellent museum of artifacts from around the region, the Shaanxi Museum is worth keeping on your itinerary.