During the millennium when which chariots were favored in China, from the Shang to the QIN dynasties, there were minor changes and embellishments on a basic design. The form of the chariot began with two horses, attached to a yoke by two curved yoke saddles. The central pole had a curve at the terminus to allow proper harnessing to the horses and was about three meters (10 ft.) long. The axle was joined centrally under the box to the pole by means of leather straps flexible enough to allow rapid changes of course. Boxes were rectangular and made of wood, sometimes with a leather base to act as springs, and were large enough to take three people. Shang chariot wheels had 18 spokes, but this number increased over time. During the western zhou dynasty, there were between 18 and 26, rising to 28 in the Spring and Autumn period, and as many as 30 during the Qin unification. From the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 B. C.E.), there are also some chariots pulled by four horses.
The initial discovery of chariot burials at Anyang was but a prelude to the recovery of further examples. Fragments of a chariot were found in the entrance ramp to the massive royal grave numbered M1001. Three pits were examined in 1987 at Guojiazhuang, Anyang, and one contained the remains of a chariot associated with two horses and two men. This was a particularly well-preserved tomb, providing insight into the stages in the mortuary ritual of what must have been part of a sacrificial offering during the interment of a particularly eminent person. The horses and men had been killed and placed into the pit first. Both men were aged in their early 30s. One lay prone to the right of the horses, his hands tied behind his back. The other had been placed directly behind the chariot box. Cinnabar had been sprinkled over his body and beneath the horses, which had been neatly placed in their correct positions for pulling the chariot. One wore a bronze bell, and their heads had been embellished with cowry shells. Considerable attention had been given to decoration: The sides of the chariot box had been lacquered, and bronze had been used for the hubcaps and yoke saddles.
During the Shang dynasty, the evidence from the chariot burials and the oracle bones indicates that these sophisticated and complex vehicles had three main functions. They were used in war but sparingly, they were used by the king for hunting, and they were employed in mortuary sacrifices as an indication of the elite status of the deceased. Both the linguistic and the archaeological evidence concur that the chariot was of Western origin.
With the Western Zhou dynasty, there is considerably more evidence for the presence and function of chariots. The sources are both documentary and archaeological. Dedicatory inscriptions on bronze vessels are prominent among the contemporary written records, and the text of such a record on the Maogong ding, a form of large bronze ritual vessel, illustrates the gift of a richly caparisoned chariot to an aristocrat:
The King said I confer upon you... a chariot with bronze fittings, with a decorated cover of the handrail; a front-rail and breast-trappings for the horses of soft leather, painted scarlet; a canopy of tiger skin, with a reddish-brown lining; yoke-bar bindings and axle couplings of painted leather; bronze jingle bells for the yoke bar; a mainshaft rear-end fitting and brake fittings, bound with leather and painted gilt; a gilt bow-press and fish-skin quiver; harness for a team of four horses; gild bridles and girth straps; a scarlet banner with two bells. I confer these gifts on you to be used in sacrifice and field service.
World History
