Documentary: China - Dynasties of Power

1700 years before the birth of Christ, in a faraway land, a dynasty of savage kings ruled a people called the Shang. Legends tell of barbaric sacrifices, thousands slaughtered by royal decree. The ruthless exploits of Shang kings are legend no more. We now know they were very real indeed. The Shang's quest for dynasty dates back to the very beginnings of western civilization. Here, isolated in the east, the most remote of ancient civilizations was flourishing in a land called China. Most westerners see Chinese culture beginning in the capital city of Beijing. Here, within the walls of the Forbidden City, the destinies of countless peasants were decided by a succession of all-powerful emperors. But for Harvard University's Robert Moracek, China's emperors were heir to a much older tradition, a tradition born of power, human sacrifice, and the mysterious rites of the Shang. The early dynasties of the Bronze Age in China were mentioned in great detail in the ancient texts from the Zhou and Han dynasties, but they were mentioned in almost a legendary way. The Shang dynasty moved from the stuff of legend to the stuff of archaeological fact with the discovery of oracle bones and their excavation at the very important Shang capital near Anyang. The city of Anyang lies 300 miles southwest of Beijing. Here in 1928, Chinese archaeologists made an extraordinary find. Deep in the countryside, workers uncovered a cache of tortoise shells. The shells were covered with mysterious inscriptions, strange prophecies written in ancient Chinese characters. After years of research, the first pictures of Shang court life began to emerge. 4,000 years ago, royal priests used heat to crack the shells, then interpreted the cracks, predicting the outcome of a battle, the birth of a prince, or the success of a great hunt. The shells also listed the names of Shang kings. Rulers long thought as mythic as King Arthur and his court were now part of China's history. The discovery inspired the Chinese to widen their search. This was the startling result. Archaeologists at Anyang discovered a series of royal Shang mausoleums. On ramps that led to the tombs, excavators were greeted by welcoming parties of headless skeletons. The missing skulls were found inside the grisly sanctuaries, arranged in mysterious patterns. Some 1,300 years before the birth of Christ, Shang kings built their empire on a foundation of human sacrifice. Critical to Shang religion was the belief that sacrificial offerings had to be made to the deities or the ancestral spirits. This was the source of their wisdom. In order to obtain this wisdom, the Shang were required to present sacrifices to their ancestors. The sacrifices included meat offerings, wine offerings, hence the huge numbers of bronze ritual vessels that we find. The Shang valued bronze more highly than gold. In these vessels, the kings would offer tribute to their gods and royal control over the resources that each bronze required was absolute. They were a symbol of the divine right of Chinese kings that would in later years be called the mandate of heaven. The Shang employed sophisticated technology to perfect this most sacred of their crafts. While Mediterranean artisans were only beginning to experiment with metals, the Chinese had already elevated bronze casting to an art. From clay molds packed in earth would come richly detailed works of art. Shang bronzes were covered with symbols of haunting terror, but these powerful rulers were also capable of intimacy. Wu Ding was a Shang king in the 13th century BC. Many of his greatest achievements, military and political, were credited to his favorite wife Fu Hao. In peace, she provided over rituals dedicated to the spirits and royal ancestors. In war, this remarkable woman was the Shang's greatest general. She led an army of 13,000 warriors into battle against two enemy clans, defeating both in great victories for the Shang. According to legend, when Fu Hao died, the king was heartbroken. He wept openly at her funeral and mourned her passing until his death. Over time, the kingdom they'd helped to create would perish as well. The Shang aristocracy was addicted to hunting and warfare. By 1000 BC, they'd found a more insidious addiction, alcohol. We know from later historical texts that the last Shang king was very, very fond of drink. In fact, descriptions describe him as having built ponds filled with alcoholic beverages and hanging sleds of meat and venison in the forest so he could go out and party and banquet whenever he wanted to, to the great destitution of his kingdom. It's also quite possible that the Shang use of bronze ritual vessels with a very high lead content also had physiological effects that decreased their capacity to rule. The inscriptions etched on the heat-cracked shells at Anyang had opened a new window onto Shang royal life. Their kings were ruthless. One, Dixin, was said to have invented hideous tortures. Hot coals were poured into a hollow cylinder and victims seared to death. Whether such reports are fact or fiction may never be known. It is known that Dixin was not alone in his quest for dynasty. At a site called Songxingdui, a competing culture was discovered, a people who vied with the Shang for the mandate of heaven. These Songxingdui masks were found smashed to pieces, part of a mysterious ritual. They were reassembled here in the city of Chengdu at the Institute of Archaeology. Over 5,000 fragments were pieced together to restore this colossal nine-foot bronze. Conservationist Zhang Guangli was astonished that such lavishly decorated sculptures would be intentionally destroyed by their creators. When I drew the I had many thoughts. I was curious there had been such a great statue so many years ago. Also, I felt that it was very mysterious due to its masks and outfits. The more I drew it, the more I felt like I was reading a wordless history book. These once shattered masterpieces seemed to be evidence of a more sober approach to power. While the Shang severed human heads as a show of force and authority, the rulers of Songxingdui conserved their population by decapitating statues instead. But kings rich enough to commission such extravagant bronzes were also capable of mustering formidable armies. Cultures like the Songxingdui may have weakened the Shang and thus set the stage for a new dynasty, a people called the Zhou. A thousand years before the birth of Christ, 300 years before the founding of Rome, Zhou culture flourished. They established their empire from a capital near the present-day city of Xi'an. Here the great King Wu secured his dynasty by creating China's first system of justice for the common people. This Zhou bronze details an ancient lawsuit and the punishment that followed. The inscription is interpreted by Dr. Han Wei at the Shaanxi History Museum. There was a man who was accused of slandering his master. The judge ordered that his crime would be written on his face with special ink, but the sentence was reduced to 500 pieces of bronze and 500 lashes of a leather belt. Zhou kings created a feudal system based on the teachings of Confucius. The king was considered a father figure who entrusted relatives with vast tracts of land. Soon these nobles raised armies of their own and a struggle for dynasty began. Fierce fighting would erupt. Smaller states were swallowed up by larger regional powers. The final centuries of conflict from 481 to 221 BC are called the Warring States Period, a time when the seven most powerful states battled for supremacy. Armies of thousands were drafted from peasant populations. Enormous resources were allocated to training raw recruits and developing new weapons. Crossbows were developed some 13 centuries before they appeared in Europe. The Chinese weapon was armed with a sophisticated trigger mechanism. The Zhou relied on their swords for close combat, but when all else failed, they resorted to psychological warfare. In 496 BC, a Zhou general, unable to break a long-standing stalemate, sent brigades of criminals to the front. Their choice was simple, die by their own hand or suffer an even worse fate if they refused. As enemy troops held their ground, the grim line of convicts approached. As the soldiers watched in astonishment, the convicts committed suicide. The gruesome diversion allowed the general's troops to overwhelm his stunned enemy. The Warring States Period was a time of both ruthless destruction and inspired creativity. From the spoils of conquest, rulers commissioned magnificent bronzes, including great ceremonial chimes. Jade pieces were in constant demand and symbolized the power and majesty of the noble ranks. Of all the warring states, the Qin Kingdom was the most resourceful. They developed agriculture on a massive scale to go along with a powerful military force. 250 years before the birth of Christ, a maze of dams, canals, locks, and waterways transformed the heart of central China. The Min River was diverted into the Shengdu Basin, converting an area the size of Connecticut into lush farmland. Qin leaders could now support a growing civilian population and feed their military machine as well. In the last years of the third century BC, Qin ministers convinced a young prince that China's competing states were now his for the taking. The prince followed their advice and became the most powerful ruler in the world, son of heaven, lord of all things under the sky, first emperor of China, Qin Shuangdi. A half million strong, the Qin army destroyed all rivals in a series of savage campaigns. Under the Qin system, even the lowest commoner could raise his rank and social status based on the number of heads he cut off in battle. In one conflict alone, 450,000 enemy soldiers were captured. All were beheaded by Qin warriors eager to improve their station in life. In the end, it's estimated Qin destroyed two-thirds of his enemy's population. The first emperor succeeded where none before him ever had. He unified China, but the struggle to preserve it was just beginning. Far to the north of present-day Mongolia, nomadic warriors raided Qin settlements along the frontier. The first emperor responded with an army of 200,000 convicts and 100,000 troops. Their mission, to build a barrier unique in all the world, the Great Wall of China. Over the course of 10 arduous years, thousands of men perished from exposure and fatigue. Their hobbled, broken bodies were added as fill. Their only tombstone, the wall that consumed their lives. If the king had a major construction project, you would be called away for many years at a time, separated from your family, working under impossibly difficult conditions on, for example, the Great Wall, and facing not only harsh climate, but possible enemy military action against you while you're involved in the construction, and quite frequently even being put to death at the end of the construction project, so that you wouldn't reveal the secrets of the construction itself. Ancient folklore records the journey of Mang Jan Nui, searching for her husband, a worker on the Great Wall. Unable to find him, overcome with grief, Mang broke down and wept. So bitter were her tears, the wall opened up to surrender the body of her beloved. The Great Wall of China was a monument to dynastic might. It stretched from the lowest deserts to heights of over 6,000 feet. Sections of new wall connected barriers built by earlier dynasties to create a wonder that spans 2,600 miles. It's even visible to astronauts in space. The Great Wall stood as a warning to outsiders that China was at last a unified kingdom. Qin now moved to secure his power from within, purging all political enemies. The old feudal system of landed nobility was eliminated. Their private armies disbanded. When Qin became the emperor, he abolished the nobility and established a state system where he concentrated all power into the central government. States had no independent military or financial capacity. He was not about to follow the path that led to the end of the Zhou dynasty. Qin consolidated China with 5,000 miles of roads and a sweeping program of standardization. Even the width of axle wheels was fixed. Travelers were required to carry passports. Rival states once issued coins of all shapes and sizes. By imposing a standardized currency, Qin created a national monetary system. The written language was standardized as well, allowing the first emperor's edicts to flow quickly and easily to the farthest points of his realm. But language was also the medium of ideas and opinion. And in their writings, even royal scholars and historians began to criticize many of Qin's new ideas as a dangerous break with the past. Qin's grand counselor Li Si once observed that the well-fed rodents in the royal granaries were more aggressive than those in the streets. Later, he would wonder if too much knowledge might feed insurrection. Such thoughts prompted a ruthless decision. On Li Si's orders, 460 scholars were buried alive. Vast collections of histories, poems, and thought were destroyed. The civilization that gave the world paper and print would also conduct history's first book burning. But opposition to Qin only intensified. After three assassination attempts, Qin lived in heavily guarded seclusion. China's first emperor became obsessed with the search for a magic potion to shield him from death. But one of the concoctions he hoped would make him immortal eventually succeeded where his enemies had failed. Qin died in 210 BC. China's first emperor was buried in the most opulent mausoleum the country had ever known. Long before his death, more than 700,000 convicts had begun its construction. It's said that precious jewels adorned the tomb ceiling, depicting the sun, moon, and stars of the Chinese sky. Crossbow booby traps protected the main hall where models of China's great cities sat beside scale model rivers. Filled with mercury, they flowed into a miniature ocean. To conceal the site of Qin's tomb forever, all who knew its secrets were sealed within its walls. 15 years of chaos followed Qin's death. In 206 BC, a new dynasty called the Han rose to power. At its height in the first century BC, the Han dynasty was equaled in might only by the Roman Empire. But its fifth emperor Wu Di knew that even the Great Wall would not protect his kingdom forever. Nomadic raiders in the north remained an ever-present threat. Wu Di believed the key to dynasty was skillful diplomacy, not battle. His secret weapon, a trusted advisor and diplomat named Zhang Qian. Wu Di sent Zhang Qian north on a mission of peace to attempt a series of treaties cleverly designed to pit one Han enemy against the other. Midway in his mission, Zhang Qian was captured and given up for dead by the emperor. Ten years later, an old man appeared in Wu Di's court. Zhang Qian, the faithful diplomat, had survived. The courageous servant recounted his ten-year odyssey, including a startling discovery he'd made in his travels. Zhang Qian had escaped his captors and fled as far west as Afghanistan. There, to his amazement, he found Chinese goods on sale in every marketplace. Traders were moving Chinese products to the edge of the known world, the most precious commodity, a cloth called silk. Wu Di listened in disbelief as Zhang Qian described how Chinese merchandise was transported along a network of rough trails called the Silk Road. Running across China, through Persia, to the Mediterranean, the trade route covered some 4,000 miles. Bales of the finest Chinese silk were being traded on the streets of imperial Rome. In fact, Romans bought the material in such abundance that the emperor Tiberius imposed a limit on imported silk garments. In China, silk was the fashion of choice for officials whose fortunes had blossomed during the Han dynasty. Clues to the lifestyle of Han rulers were revealed in the city of Changsha in southeast China. In 1971, workers digging a bomb shelter smelled gas. That day changed the life of Dr. Xiang Chuanxin, director of the Hunan Provincial Museum in Changsha. When some of the workers took a cigarette break, the tunnel began to belch bluish smoke. The workers thought the smoke was from ghosts and came to us. We realized the gas was organic, coming from a very well-kept wooden tomb. Xiang directed a painstaking excavation and uncovered three gigantic coffins made of solid wood slabs. This coffin was used by ancient nobles. Its formation is huge. The wood was not cut by saw but cracked into pieces. These coffins had been buried underground for over 2,000 years. Only nobles could use them. There were also many objects found in the coffins. The tombs were protected from the elements by a thick lining of clay and five tons of absorbent charcoal. Inside were the remains of the Prime Minister of Changsha, his family, and a dazzling array of luxury goods. While the jewel-studded tomb of the Emperor Qin remains a legend, the great wealth uncovered in Changsha was real. More than a hundred pieces of elegant mist-like silk were found in perfect condition. This transparent gown weighs two ounces, testament to the matchless artistry of the Han. Silk was also the medium for imperial map makers. This chart accurately diagrams the flow of a local river and predates the first known western map by 300 years. Most stunning of all were the silks of Lady Xin, wife of the Prime Minister. Woven in silk is a haggard likeness of Lady Xin herself, the portrait of an old and sickly woman supported by a cane. Researchers now know that the imperial lifestyle of the Han nobility, while opulent, was far from healthy. Remains found in the tombs reveal a fatty diet rich in meats and seafoods. The tomb's most precious relic offered the clearest picture yet of Chinese life at the top, Lady Xin herself. Buried for 21 centuries, she showed few signs of decomposition. Her skin, pampered in life, was still smooth and pliant. Chinese researchers could now produce the first modern medical profile of the Han ruling class. Lady Xin's lungs were scarred by tuberculosis. She suffered from intestinal parasites, and a ruptured disc explained the walking stick. But what ultimately killed Lady Xin, and no doubt many from the Han upper class, was an affliction common to us today. The autopsy of Lady Xin looked at her heart, intestines, reproductive system, and urinary system. It indicated that she had heart disease and died of a heart attack sometime in her 50s. The treasures of Changsha reveal the wealth of the Han nobility, but the fortunes of a prime minister were pocket change compared to the vast riches of China's emperors. To comprehend the magnitude of their power and wealth, we must return to the time of the first and greatest ancient Chinese ruler, the Emperor Qin. To protect his tomb, Qin assembled the most remarkable bodyguard the world has ever seen. No one knows how many artisans labored on this astonishing achievement, but estimates range in the thousands. The sheer effort of time, the superhuman attention to detail, the very scope of the undertaking itself, is unique in human history. On secret orders, an assembly line of subjects and artisans labored for decades to create an escort for the Emperor's ascent into heaven. In essence, Qin cloned his human army into life-sized soldiers made of clay. Warriors posed for their terracotta twins or suffered death, but this great army, created in their own image, was destined for defeat. In the chaos that followed Qin's death, the underground vault of terracotta warriors was discovered by an angry mob and put to the torch. The roof timbers gave way, sealing the soldiers deep within the earth, seemingly forever. For two millennia, Qin's great army remained lost, until 1974 when a discovery was made that would stun the world. A group of laborers outside the city of Xi'an stumbled upon Qin's escort to the afterlife. These statues, in the area called Pit One, are just a small fraction of the terracotta army. It's estimated thousands more warriors remain hidden in the earth. Freed from their interment, Qin's legions laid siege to the world's imagination. Dr. Yuan Changyi is director of the Museum of Terracotta Warriors. I came here as soon as the terracotta warriors were discovered by some peasants who were digging a well. The more we excavated, the more things came out. Over 6,000 terracotta horses and soldiers were discovered in Pit Number One. Many of us got together and started drinking to celebrate our excitement. The ancient vandals had smashed the warriors into pieces. With every figure unique, restoration is an arduous task. The sculptures are very realistic. You see the detailed hair combed backwards with a little braid pulled up across the head. The ancient Chinese cared a lot about their hair. According to the law records, if you got into a sword fight and cut off a soldier's topknot, you'd be put in prison for several years. While the Roman Empire was content with an army of a hundred thousand, the Qin amassed a military six times as large. The replica warriors of Xi'an reveal the look of Qin's troops in battle. The statues were buried in combat formation, giving researchers a haunting glimpse of dynasty on the march. The terracotta pit is arranged in a rectangular lineup. In the front is the leading edge of the battle array. The main body is made of a 38-column formation. There is a guarding column on either side and a row of guards facing to the back in the rear. Its organization is like a huge rock. When the Qin attack, enemies are broken into pieces, just like little eggs. Rescued from hands of clay were 10,000 working models of Qin weapons. Laser technology confirmed Qin artisans used chrome plating to block corrosion on the surface of this sword. Today its blade remains so sharp it can only be handled with protective gloves. Those who held the swords of Qin stood at parade rest, hidden from the world while 2,000 years of history passed in review. More than 200 emperors would follow Qin, ruling until the turn of the 20th century. Today they stand as a symbol of China's great paradox, a land where cycles of chaos gave birth to wonders and creations that enriched the world. Under Qin's harsh rule, the Chinese refined the cultivation of rice and millet, crops that today sustain over half the world's population. During the Warring States period, jade prospectors combed the wilderness, guided by the world's first primitive compass. Without the Chinese compass, without their creation of paper and printing, without their refinements to map making, and their invention of the ship's rudder, Europe's discovery of the new world would have been impossible. Ultimately, the reign of China's imperial rulers would end here, in the Forbidden City, around the turn of our century. In 1908, at the age of three, Puyi became China's last emperor. Three years later, he was dethroned, and China became a republic. Some argue that China's tradition of powerful leaders has never truly ended, and that more uncertainties await in the century to come. But in the rush to predict the future, the past must remain our guide. Ancient and modern China are inseparable. Over the past 4,000 years, while other civilizations have collapsed and vanished, the Chinese have continued to adapt and to survive. Despite countless wars and a century of revolution, it is the continuities that endure.