'China's Terracotta Army' conquering attendance records in Atlanta
Published: Mar 23, 2009
He conquered China, then built an army of clay so he would live forever.
Two thousand years later, the emperor's warriors are attracting crowds in Atlanta .
Touted as one of the 20th century’s greatest archaeological discoveries, “The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army” has set a new record for the highest-attended exhibition in the history of the High Museum of Art.
On display through April 19 is an army of figures commissioned by China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, who reigned from 221–210 B.C. His military conquest unified China and established a unified law code, standardized coinage and script, and built the Great Wall.
After surviving a series of assassination attempts, he became obsessed with immortality. He tried many different potions concocted by court alchemists. He ordered up an army of terracotta soldiers to guard his in the afterlife. But the emperor died before the tomb was completed and his army remained hidden for about 2,000 years.
A group of farmers began digging a well and unearthed the site in 1974. The exhibit is the largest group of life-sized terracotta figures to be shown in the United States, loaned by the Museum of the Terracotta Army and the Cultural Relics Bureau of Shaanxi Province in Xi’an, China.
The life-sized soldiers mutely guarded a vast underground palace, just as their living counterparts would have guarded the First Emperor two millennia earlier. On display are figures of terracotta warriors, court officials, acrobats, musicians, terracotta chariot horses, and bronze water birds apparently sipping water from the complex's underground river.
Remarkably, no two terracotta figures are identical. Differences in the detail of army and the hair style define the ranks of infantrymen, generals, and archers in action. The strongman’s heavy belly, the acrobat’s pose and the small robed stable boy reveal a highly orchestrated court life.
Qin Shihuangdi was King of Qin (pronounced ‘chin’), the source of the western name of China. The First Emperor is considered one of the greatest military leaders of all time, building on his state’s martial prowess and his organizational and strategic skills to conquer rival territory and establish the Qin Empire in 221 B.C.
While 1,000 figures have been excavated, an estimated 6,000 more may be unearthed. An audio guide is available for "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army."
Rental fee is $3 for members, $5 for non-members. You can see exhibits for two ancient kings, the First Emperor and King Tut, for a discount.
- by Diane Loupe, Atlanta Reporter for HelloMetro
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