The First Emperor: China’s Entombed Warriors

Overview

The First Qin Emperor of China is said to have burned books, buried academics alive and rationed his official daily reading matter by weight. He was obsessed with obedience, and obsessed with immortality. Ironically, he's best known for his tomb. The life-size terracotta warriors in his funeral complex were never meant to wait — they were there to follow him into the afterlife. But wait they did. Thousands of clay statues — the sheer number of them now thought to reflect the sheer numbers of Qin's imperial guard. Rows upon rows of soldiers, acrobats, horses. Each of them different and distinct. Rediscovered near the city of Xian in 1974, his burial complex is even now still being excavated and even now still being robbed.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is about to play host to the warriors, opening this Thursday for a long summer season. You can get close to the warriors, examine their accoutrements and check out some recently unearthed finds as well. In Qin's time, you could be walled up alongside the artefacts for knowing the secrets of his immsense underground city. Today you just need a ticket, and the Gallery lets you escape with your life.

Image by Kevin Poh.