No female figurines were found in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. Was it because they wanted to "protect women"? You may have misjudged the historical truth

Recently, restoration staff at the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum have used their skillful hands to restore the painted terracotta warriors, making these "soldiers" from thousands of years ago more lifelike. You may have noticed that there are so many "soldiers" in the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit, but why are there no "female soldiers"?

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01 Tracking and solving the mystery, starting from the ritual tradition in historical literature

The theme of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses comes from the Qin Dynasty army. The Qin army's regular military service system did not involve women. The "emergency plan" was activated at the critical moment of the national crisis, and women were mobilized to participate in the war. The weapons unearthed from the terracotta pits were sheathed swords, halberds with shields, and crossbows with bows. They did not reach the level of "daggers drawn", so there was no need to activate the emergency plan. It seems that "no" is an easy answer, but to explain "why no", we can get a glimpse from historical records.

"Military affairs are not close to women's equipment." (Zuo Zhuan, the 22nd year of Duke Xi, Zuo Qiuming, Spring and Autumn Annals)

This fully reflects the image and status of women at that time. In 638 BC, Duke Song fought against the Chu people at Hong. Zheng was an ally of Chu. On the morning of the 8th day of the 11th month, Duke Wen of Zheng sent his gorgeous wives Mi and Jiang to Keze to comfort King Cheng of Chu. King Cheng of Chu was a little proud and took his female guests to admire the spoils: a group of captives and a bunch of ears. What do you think? Look at how powerful our Chu army is.

The masters were worried about this, so they issued the saying "Do not approach women's tools during war". Men are responsible for external affairs, women are responsible for internal affairs, and it is not in accordance with etiquette for women to show their faces in public, and women should not get involved in military affairs. Who knew that the situation would continue to deteriorate the next day. King Cheng of Chu entered Zheng State to receive the ceremony. The host and the guest exchanged gifts and drank happily. This was a diplomatic meeting between countries. The talks and banquets were conducted according to etiquette, the atmosphere was solemn, and the agenda was normal. Unexpectedly, when night fell, Wen Mi, the wife of Duke Wen of Zheng, personally escorted King Cheng of Chu back, and the two concubines of Zheng also went with him.

The prophet asserted that this was not a good sign. If King Cheng of Chu did this, he would not die a natural death. How could he die a good death if he followed the etiquette and ended up with the mixing of men and women, which was not in accordance with etiquette? This incident was equivalent to announcing to the world that King Cheng of Chu could not complete his hegemony. In 626 BC, King Cheng of Chu was forced to commit suicide by the crown prince Shangchen (King Mu of Chu) and Pan Chong. He was posthumously named King Cheng, but he did not die a good death.

02 Stop spreading rumors. The so-called "feminist" rumors have nothing to do with marriage equality

For a while, the explanations such as "Qin Shihuang did not establish a queen because he was not interested in women" and "he did not set up female figurines to respect and protect women" sparked a heated discussion on social media. In the era of cold weapons, women's physical strength was indeed not suitable for field battles, and the presence of women would shake the morale of the army. However, if it is labeled as "respect", it is really too beautiful a fantasy. Historical lessons and ritual traditions are the answers to why there are no female figurines in the Terracotta Warriors. But has war ever kept women away? In the late Warring States period, the increasingly fierce plundering and annexation wars caused women to suffer more and more serious violence.

In his treatise The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, Engels quoted the Greek epic Homer, saying that in war, "the captured young women became victims of the victors' lust, and the military leaders selected the most beautiful among them in order of their ranks." After all, "beauty and spoils of war were slogans shamelessly put forward in the heroic age."

In a feudal society with autocracy and centralized power, the possibility of an emperor having only one partner for his entire life was extremely small. Compared with some princes, although none of the military wars led by Qin Shihuang were related to "sex", he could indeed be called "restrained" in terms of women. However, rulers all have the nature of relying on power to pursue sex and indulge in lust. During the war of unification, Qin Shihuang even plundered beauties from various countries and used bells and drums to enrich his harem every time he defeated the princes... "Beauty" and "bells and drums" are mentioned together, which shows that beauty is just a kind of "object".

Aerial panoramic view of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and Mount Li. Copyrighted image, unauthorized reproduction

To know whether Qin Shihuang respected women, we can first look at the burial pits of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum. In 2013, ten small tombs were discovered in Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, where a group of young women who died in an accident were buried, many of them with incomplete limbs. This corresponds to the historical records that after the death of Qin Shihuang, the second emperor ordered all the childless concubines to be buried alive with him. Women are equivalent to spoils of war, that is, property, and naturally cannot be included in the state system. Qin Shihuang Mausoleum is a condensed version of the state system, and no female figurines have been found so far. The Baixi figurines are male figurines; the waterfowl pit is male figurines; needless to say, the civil servants' figurines are also male figurines.

Qin Bamboo Slips Cultural Wall. (Photo by Tang Rongpei, Xinhua News Agency)

After the Qin Dynasty unified the country, it established a system of state protection of marriage and clarified the official approval procedure for divorce. However, in the marriage relationship between men and women protected by Qin law, the man held the initiative and could unilaterally file for divorce. If the woman was dissatisfied with the marriage, she had no choice but to flee privately without being captured.

"If a man abandons his wife and does not write a letter, he shall be fined two rank of silver." Should he be punished for abandoning his wife? He shall be fined two rank of silver. (Legal Questions and Answers from the Qin Bamboo Slips from Shuihudi, Yunmeng)

Using the "Legal Questions and Answers" to prove his attitude towards marriage between men and women is a bit like adding some virtues and good politics out of thin air. In fact, if a man divorces his wife, he must report it to the government. If he divorces privately, not only will the man be fined, but the abandoned woman will also be punished equally. Regardless of right or wrong, both sides will be punished with fifty lashes, which is really ridiculous. How can we see marriage equality?

03 Historical Mystery: Why did Qin Shihuang, who legislated marriage, never have a queen in his lifetime?

Qin Shihuang unified the country, and the emperor became the core symbol of the autocratic regime. The "Book of Han: Biography of Foreign Relatives" also records that "after the rise of the Han Dynasty, the emperor's mother was called the Empress Dowager, the grandmother was called the Grand Empress Dowager, the concubine was called the Empress, and the concubines were all called Madam." In ancient China, the harem system was a very important field. In this field, the emperor must work closely with the empress to jointly maintain the order and security of the harem. China's empress system should have appeared in the Qin Shihuang era, but why did the person who established the system never establish an empress? This has become an unsolved historical mystery.

Some people believe that it was family factors that influenced Qin Shi Huang. Qin Shi Huang's mother, Zhao Ji, was originally a concubine of Lu Buwei. After the death of King Zhuangxiang of Qin, "the emperor became stronger and stronger, and the queen mother continued to be promiscuous." Later, the queen mother had an affair with Lao Ai and gave birth to two sons. According to psychological theory, experts believe that the psychological shadow of hatred for women caused by resentment towards his mother and the psychological barriers formed by his mother's behavior prevented Qin Shi Huang from developing healthy marriage ability when he grew up. The many women in the palace were only there to satisfy his physiological needs.

Some people also believe that Qin Shihuang had too high requirements and did not have a suitable queen. Qin Shihuang was the first emperor in Chinese history. In addition, he was the first to unify the six kingdoms. Qin Shihuang was arrogant, so he had very high standards when choosing a queen. He hoped to choose a woman who could match him as a queen, but such a woman did not appear, so Qin Shihuang delayed the matter of establishing a queen indefinitely.

Some people believe that Qin Shi Huang delayed appointing a queen in order to live longer, but he died before he could do so. There are many different opinions. Qin Shi Huang did not appoint a queen during his 37-year reign. There should be many reasons for this, but which reason played a decisive role is not recorded in historical records.

Today, we can only speculate based on the little information and imagination of the time. Tracing back and conducting in-depth research on this legendary and mysterious history may help us better understand the development and evolution of Chinese history.

Author: Xu Weihong, Researcher at Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Produced by: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., China Science and Technology Publishing House (Beijing) Digital Media Co., Ltd.