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Primary sourceArtifactQin dynasty

Qin Bronze Weight, Palace Museum Taipei

Qin dynasty

A photograph of a small dark green bronze weight from the Qin dynasty, displayed in the Palace Museum in Taipei. Its incised characters connect it to the unification era.

Shows the standard weights used under the Qin state, part of the unification policies the First Emperor carried out.

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A small dark green bronze object with a rounded body and a loop-shaped knob on top, standing on a clear acrylic display stand. Incised characters cover its sides. The background is a beige surface.
Gary Todd, Qin bronze weight, Palace Museum, Taipei, photograph, 2017. Wikimedia Commons.

About this source

What it is

This is a 2017 photograph by Gary Todd of a small dark green bronze object with a rounded body and a loop-shaped knob on top. Incised characters cover its sides. It stands on a clear acrylic display stand in the bronze gallery of the Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.

Why it matters

The curator's note identifies the object as a Qin dynasty bronze weight of the unification era. Weights were part of the standard measures that the Qin state used to make trade and taxation consistent across its territory, and the facts connect this to the policies of Qin Shi Huang. The note also says the display location suggests the object may be a copy or a display piece, so students should not assume it is the original as found.

Look closer

  • What do the incised characters seem to say, and who would have needed to read them?
  • Why would a state standardize weights, and who would benefit from that?
  • Does the display stand and museum setting change how you read the object?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Emperor Qin Shi Huang on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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