Book description
The Terracotta Army is one of the greatest, and most famous,
archaeological discoveries of all time. 6,000 life-size figures of
warriors and horses were interred in the Mausoleum of the First
Emperor of China - each is individually carved, and they are thought
to represent real members of the emperor's army. This is the
remarkable story of their creation, the man who ordered them made,
their rediscovery and their continuing legacy as a pre-eminent symbol
of Chinese greatness.
The First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, was king of the Chinese state of
Qin and the first man to unite China into a single empire. He built
the first Great Wall and brought a single written script to the whole
country. He was an inspired and ruthless ruler, but one also beset by
paranoia and a desire for immortality. He is still considered the
founding father of the modern state of China. On his death in 210 BC
he was buried in a giant mausoleum near modern-day Xi'an. Legends of
the treasures contained therein still tantalize the imagination today.
In 1974 local farmers digging a well for water broke through into
the burial mound and found the first of the Terracotta warriors.
Further excavations have revealed the full splendour of the buried
army. But the majority of the mausoleum is yet to be opened, including
the burial chamber itself - myth tells us that amongst the treasures
yet to be uncovered is a vast map of the First Emperor's kingdom with
rivers marked with channels of flowing mercury. The story of the First
Emperor and the Terracotta Army is a fascinating one, not least for
the discoveries yet to be made.
John Man
is a historian and travel writer with a special interest in Mongolia
and China. After reading German and French at Oxford he did two
postgraduate courses, one in the history of science at Oxford , the
other in Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He is
the author of GENGHIS KHAN, ATTILA THE HUN and KUBLAI KHAN.
