Terra-cotta Warriors, Xian China
I figured since the last two posts featured Chinese art postcards, I might as well finish the blog week by sharing another postcard which also features Chinese art.
The postcard above, “Terra-cotta Warriors,” features a small part of a collection of life-size sculptures of the army of Qin Shi Huangdi (259-210 BCE), the first Emperor of China–who unified China and laid the foundation for the Great Wall. As funerary art, the collection was buried with the emperor to serve as protection for him in the afterlife.
In a Live Science article Owen Jarus, comments on the artistic details of the sculptures:
The details of the warriors are so intricate and individualized that it has been hypothesized that they were based on real soldiers who served in the emperor’s army. Each warrior has uniquely styled hair and features; some have topknots while others have goatees; some have caps and loose tunics while others have armored vests and braided hair. They have different builds, expressions and postures. Another key feature is that the warriors were decorated in bright colors, which contributed to the individuation.
You can read all about the 1974 discovery, in the Shaanxi province in northwest China, of the first (nearly) 2000 of the 8000+ known warriors interred with the emperor: Terra Cotta Soldiers on the March.
And if you wish to read further, see the article by Jarus referenced above, which provides more details about the contents of the pits found near the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi: Terracotta Warriors: An Army for the Afterlife.
Until next time…
Pics and Posts 
Netflix has a really good show that covers this in one episode. So interesting. Great card Chandra! 🙂
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Do you remember the name of the program?
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Empire Games, episode four. The whole series is very interesting. 🙂 Found these and added them to my list. :o) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-1IcaeuGnw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDsDLayV5Fw. Enjoy Chandra. xoxox
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Oooh…thanks, Sheila!
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I have always been fascinated by this terra cotta army. It makes me sad to think that much effort went into protecting the king after his death when all he really needed was Jesus.
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This is BCE–about 200 years before Christ–so neither Qin Shi Huangdi nor most of the world would have been familiar with Him or the prophesies regarding Him.
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Wow! I had no idea about the variety or the amazing number of warriors. Thanks for sharing that cool knowledge.
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Can you imagine? A literal ARMY of thousands of soldiers…Art is beautiful and amazing!
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