Wu Yongqi, curator of the Qinshihuang Terracotta Warriors and
Horses Museum in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is
often called the "guard of the Qin terracotta warriors".
Since 1978, the 56-year-old has studied and protected these
invaluable relics, part of which are now on show in the
largest-ever overseas display of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
artifacts at the British Museum.
Wu was among the large group of urban youths sent to the
countryside for re-education during the "cultural revolution"
(1966-76). The Beijing native worked as a farm hand for two years
in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province. However, because of his myopia, he was
denied jobs in the city three times.
Wu Yongqi (left) explains to his colleagues
the structure of unearthed relics.
But fortune smiled upon the forlorn man in 1971,
when the Shaanxi Provincial Museum opened its door to him and gave
him a job as a guide.
"I think I was chosen simply because I can speak Mandarin
without a local accent," Wu says with a smile.
With no formal education beyond middle school, Wu found the new
job challenging. At first, he had difficulty explaining the history
of relics displayed in the museum. But he worked and studied
hard.
"Wu was a hardworking student in the museum, and he read a large
number of ancient books and archaeological materials to learn more
about the relics," says former director of the museum Yuan
Zhongyi.
Seven years later, Wu was transferred to the newly constructed
Qinshihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum and joined the
team responsible for repairing the relics.
Since then, he has been whole-heartedly dedicated to the
renovation.
Emperor Qin Shihuang (259-210 BC) established the Qin Dynasty,
the first feudal empire in Chinese history. After his death, the
emperor was buried in a mausoleum in Lintong District in eastern
Xi'an.
In March of 1974, local farmers were drilling a well a kilometer
and a half to the east of the tomb when they discovered the No 1
Pit.
The next year, the government drafted plans for the Qin Shihuang
Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. The 16,300-square-meter pit
was designed to cover the No 1 Pit.
Thousands of life-sized terracotta warriors and horses were
unearthed from the site, and in 1976, two more excavation sites -
No 2 and No 3 pits - were uncovered. The discovery soon became
recognized internationally as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
The museum officially opened in October 1979 and has since
attracted millions of visitors both home and abroad annually.
Wu Yongqi stands face to
face with his life-long friends - terracotta
warriors.
It was Wu who led the team of Chinese and German
scientists to discover how to preserve the color painted on the
surface of the warriors.
The astonishing sculptures lost much of their coloration during
the two millennia they spent underground. And the remaining, faint
coloration began fading immediately after excavation because of the
sudden change in temperature and humidity.
It wasn't until the 1990s that Wu's team made a breakthrough,
developing a special lotion that binds the pigments to the
terracotta.
Thanks to their efforts, visitors can today view the warriors
and have a better idea of how magnificent they appeared when they
were first completed.
In acknowledgement of the technology Wu's team developed, the
State Administration of Cultural Heritage established a national
protection center for ceramic relics in the museum.
In the 1980s, Wu also participated in the excavation and
preservation of the delicate terracotta sculpture of horses pulling
a chariot. "It took us about 10 months to put together the horses
and chariot, which was broken into thousands of shards upon
excavation," he recalls. "The whole process was riddled with
excitement and difficulties."
Wu couldn't count the number of political leaders and guests
he's received over the decades he had been the head of the museum.
His colleagues often affectionately call him "No 1 Tour Guide".
He remembers that Bill Clinton once joked that he also wanted to
be the curator during his visit at the museum.
But Wu was most impressed by an ordinary guest in the 1990s, who
carried his wife's cinerary casket through the museum. The staff
was deeply moved when the man said he came there to fulfill his
wife's final wish.
Wu seldom watches TV or movies, but he has seen Jacky Chan's The
Legend several times.
This, he says, is not because part of the film was shot at the
museum, but rather, because of the scene in which the hero returns
the relics he has unearthed to the museum.
"The Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang is a fabulous underground
kingdom. And the terracotta sculptures are only a part of its
immense treasure trove. Every time I see this huge, marvelous army
of warriors and horses, I feel their powerful force," he says.
Wu was recently elected as a deputy to the 17th National
Congress of the Communist Party of China, which will commence in
October.
(China Daily September 26, 2007)
