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Terracotta Army Stands Watch in Atlanta

Terracotta Infantryman; photo courtesy of the High Museum of Art.

Posted by Mike Melia , January 9, 2009

For more than 2,000 years an army lay dormant under China's soil until a farmer stumbled upon a clay head while digging a well in 1974. The head belonged to one of an estimated 7,000 terracotta soldiers stationed to protect the tomb of the country's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi. It was one of the most important archeological finds of the century.

In 221 B.C., Qin Shihuangdi, the king of an area called Qin (pronounced Chin), conquered the region's other six warring states, uniting them to form what is now China. He standardized currency, writing, measurement, built a Great Wall (not the one we know today), organized a vast army and gave birth to a nation. He wanted those accomplishments replicated and preserved for his tomb outside the city of Xian.

Today, after more than 30 years of excavation, an area of twenty-three square miles has been uncovered, revealing offices, parks and what appears to be a river bank populated by statues of birds and musicians. The emperor's final resting place has yet to be unearthed. The legions of sculpted soldiers stand watch over it all, and a number of them are now on view in the United States.

[Listen to David Brenneman of the High Museum of Art talk about the terracotta army in this narrated slideshow.]

Creating the terracotta army took more than 1,000 men in an assembly line, yet not one soldier is alike. Basic shapes were mass produced using a handful of different molds, but the heads were worked individually by hand, creating distinct facial features and hairstyles that captured the various ranks of the soldiers and the ethnic diversity of the infant empire. Each soldier stands over six feet.

Now on display at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, visitors get a chance to see the craftsmanship that went into the enormous tomb complex. The exhibit features more than 100 works, including nine soldiers, a court official, a chariot horse, strongman and the recently discovered birds and musicians.

After leaving Atlanta on April 19, the soldiers can be seen at the Houston Museum of Natural Science from May 18 to Sept. 25 and then at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., starting Nov. 19.

Comments

Posted:
01/11/09 at
11:16 AM

mary liebrock : I found this discussion of the terra cotta soldiers most interesting -- it's amazing that they were underground for so long without discovery. Hope it comes to a museum near me soon. Keep up the great reporting!
Posted:
03/10/09 at
06:47 PM

tiff : good paper
Posted:
06/ 4/09 at
02:41 AM

Michael Zhang : from http://www.sianshop.com/ Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had begun to work for his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life. A group of peasants uncovered some pottery while digging for a well nearby the royal tomb in 1974. It caught the attention of archeologists immediately. They came to Xian in droves to study and to extend the digs. They had established beyond doubt that these artifacts were associated with the Qin Dynasty (211-206 BC). The State Council authorized to build a museum on site in 1975. When completed, people from far and near came to visit. Xian and the Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses have become landmarks on all travelers' itinerary. Life size terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations are the star features at the museum. They are replicas of what the imperial guard should look like in those days of pomp and vigor. The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. They were tagged in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public on China's National Day, 1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back. No. 2 Pit, found in 1976, is 20 meters northeast of No. 1 Pit. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 chariots of wood. It was unveiled to the public in 1994.Archeologists came upon No. 3 Pit also in 1976, 25 meters northwest of No. 1 Pit. It looked like to be the command center of the armed forces. It went on display in 1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses. Altogether over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed from these pits. Most of them have been restored to their former grandeur. The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is a sensational archeological find of all times. It has put Xian on the map for tourists. It was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world cultural heritages.

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