Chinese archaeologists have done the world a major service in providing the real information for a properly accurate realignment of Western prehistory in terms of the ascendancy of Chinese history, culture and technology from the point of the unification of China under Qin Shihuang, also known as the First Emperor, during the third century BC, and the long narrative of the presumed superiority of West deriving from the Hellenic/Greek civilisation. This exhibition’s broader effects have the semblance of a slow-burning array of Chinese fireworks, in that the full ramifications of these discoveries brings only gradual adjustment – a rewriting of the longstanding ‘tablets’ of Western superiority in terms of such development, from the time of Greek classical civilisation onwards. Broadly speaking, the West has long held itself in denial of this realisation, which dawned in the minds of her sinologists a century ago at least. Such recognition could not be accepted, since it seemed to strike at the roots of cherished Western assumptions. It has taken the advent of global exchange to establish the reality. Neil MacGregor himself, on an earlier visit to China as recounted by Jane Portal, was, ‘Perplexed that the First Emperor was not more widely known in world history’. Quite whether, when the exhibition reaches the USA next year, a similar revision of the historical narratives occurs, remains to be seen. If anything, the geopolitical stakes involved in Chinese resurgence will be higher still.

At the British Museum, a historic transformation has occurred, specifically incurred by the need for a new exhibition space, which could be tailored to the requirements of this exhibition. The cherished round reading room, carefully protected in Lord (Norman) Foster’s outstanding scheme, has itself provided the venue, by skilful conversion and lighting effects. Much has been made of the fact that Karl Marx wrote and studied there, but that is unlikely to have been of much significance to present-day Chinese politicians, as was perhaps intended. The real significance is that of the high quality of the space provided. Now there is much speculation as to whether, when the army marches off, there can be an adjustment within the Museum, and to the satisfaction of the English Heritage officials, to make this a permanent venue for temporary exhibitions. This development would provide welcome relief to the hard-pressed curators planning future shows, and much needed additional income from this prime space, currently somewhat languishing despite its historical associations.

In this space, the figures (17 only all counted, although 20 are proposed) are raised on a purpose-built temporary floor. The ‘placement’ of these figures is such that, unlike in China, they can be viewed close up, in such a way that their individuality can be fully studied and appreciated. This quality, in each figure, is remarkable – in the distinctive facial expressions, hair treatment, clothing, and visible characteristics differentiated as if real human beings. And it is this quality of ‘humanity’ which is conveyed so meaningfully: these are figures, of all rankings, who in their quietly relaxed and disciplined presence, express a capacity for enigmatic thought, mild amusement, even for love. They are far from being automata in the mould so favoured by Chairman Mao. But he would have appreciated, no doubt, that most of the figures range from 6ft to 6ft 5ins in stature; much taller than their shorter creators and contemporaries in the First Emperor’s time. The First Emperor emerges from early Chinese history nonetheless as a tyrannical despot, for all his brilliance and skill in the development of a well-functioning system of government and administration: ‘fit for purpose’ it was, in the jargon of today. The Empire possessed a commonly acceptable form of currency of exchange, a common system of weights and measures, a form of script for universal usage, and even such transportation innovations as a common width for cart axles in order to make travel on commonly dimensioned tracks possible throughout China. The crossbow came to the West from China even earlier, along the Silk Road. At least the West gave China the stirrup, that mainstay of cavalry proficiency, in the 4th century AD: much earlier, the chariot came to China from Mesopotamia some 2,000 years before, and the crossbow predated the First Emperor, and soon reached the West. The First Emperor of course could not have enforced his dynamic innovations without tyranny. Life was always held cheap there, as across the world in the twentieth century. It has to be remembered that the simulacrum ‘army’ of Shihuang was created by great teams of artisans under conditions of virtual slavery and bondage. The process for creating the figures depended upon significant cohorts of craftsmen under the charge, it is understood, of some 87 foremen, each responsible for for stringent quality control and ultimate stamping of approval. Clearly the variations in in facial characteristics and bone structure, hair treatment, apparel, even armour, where applicable required a sequence of assembly from feet to hands to heads of the utmost regularity. The attention to detail throughout is formidable and seemingly infallible. The army was accompanied by bureaucrats and scribes with a less impressive bearing than the military.

Inside the hushed and darkened Reading Room, numbers of visitors are controlled to between 400 and 500 per hour. There they can also view a superb chariot, drawn by four prancing steeds. An archer bends, poised to shoot (the bow could not survive, being of wood). There is a group of birds, including a walking heron and a duck. In addition to the soldiers, 12 grouped in drill formation, there are acrobats and musical players,and a muscle-bound weightlifter. With all this panoply, the First Emperor could rest secure in his great mausoleum, far exceeding those contemplated by Hitler and that prepared within the Kremlin. It is said that it might take all of a hundred years to reach the climacteric point of opening the tomb of this Emperor within the large mound which contains, still exuding traces of the mercury used within for simulacra of the rivers and seas defining and bounding the empire territorially. One might ask whether this climacteric is really necessary, and whether indeed it might not be better to open the great tomb now? The China Tourist Board might well agree, whatever the portents.

The exhibition at the British Museum is supported by numerous other antiquities and objects from the excavations, and is described in a sumptious catalogue. The visitor is likely to emerge from the pediment of the museum with a markedly changed perception of past, present and future worlds. History can never remain the same.

Michael Spens