Xi’an’s famed terracotta fighters carry a tale that spans centuries. Recognized as a World Heritage Site and hailed as a modern wonder, the vast complex beneath the surface reveals a hidden world. Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, ordered life beyond the grave through an impressive necropolis. History waits at every turn, from ancient beginnings to the echoes of later eras. Archaeologists and scientists have steered the exploration from the very first discoveries, while today the exhibition Warriors of the Qin and Han dynasties at Xian opens a doorway into this civilization’s evolution. Visitors can experience a journey through what happened before, during, and after the rise of these empires. The show runs through January 28, 2024, inviting curiosity and learning.
How and why were the Xi’an warriors created?
Seven terracotta figures stand with a horse, joined by a trove of 120 pieces from nine Chinese museums. The exhibit invites not only admiration but participation, offering a chance to uncover secrets and understand the civilization’s evolution. The display connects cultural life with political power, delving into currency, beliefs, and the Qin legacy in later dynasties. Music and calligraphy emerge as essential threads, while explanations reveal the methods of crafting the warriors using techniques that endure to this day.
300 pound horse
Xi’an horses frequently traveled beyond China, yet one example weighs about 300 kilograms. The Qin were expert breeders, drawing knowledge from nomadic neighbors in Central Asia. This war horse epitomizes alertness and strength, a cornerstone of battlefield horsemanship.
Bo Bell by Duke Wu of Qin
This bell ranks as the largest bronze bell from Taigong Temple, dating between 770 and 475 BCE. An inscription notes a heavenly mandate to rule, a common theme signaling the divine authority claimed by the dynasty.
Blanqing, a percussion instrument
Music held a central place in life and in tomb findings. The instrument pieces form an L-shape, part of a set that could include up to 32 elements hung on a wooden frame and struck with a mallet, illustrating the ceremonial soundscape of the era.
qing calligraphy
A remarkable inscription from the Tang period (618–907 AD) accompanies these stones, describing social, political, and cultural events. The stone shown in the exhibition is a replica of an original piece. This marks one of the earliest Chinese calligraphy records, transformed during the Qin era and still influential today.
Currency
Approximately 219 gold bars were discovered near the Han capital, each weighing around 250 grams. The unit system used, jin, helps translate how 30 jins relate to larger measures, with the shi equaling roughly 30 kilos. Dividing a piece into sixteen parts yields liang, offering insight into the economic life of the era. Gold had a significant role across the 475–221 BCE period as a symbol of wealth and power.
bronze chariot
Two bronze chariots, found beside the emperor’s tomb, stand at half their real size. The excavation posed major challenges, with the vehicle weighing around 1,200 kilograms and comprising approximately 3,000 parts. A lid spanning about a meter in diameter measures just 4 millimeters thick. The find also included roughly 1,700 gold and silver items.
other warriors
Within the Yangling Mausoleum, a smaller terracotta army from the Han dynasty was uncovered. These figures wore silk and leather armor, with wooden joints and a striking difference in scale compared to the Qin army.
engraved ceramic
The tomb builders and masters of the terracotta soldiers were laid to rest in mass graves nearby. Names appear on tiles, revealing a few individuals such as Dong Wu Luo, possibly a prisoner of war, preserving fragments of a much larger workforce behind the grand spectacle.
Armor
Armor pieces recovered from Emperor Qin’s tomb include thousands of small limestone plates connected by copper wires. Modern archaeologists estimate about five million of these plates exist, each under a centimeter thick. In practice, genuine armor was crafted from lacquered leather rather than stone.