Terracotta warriors excavated from the tomb complex of the First Emperor of Qin have distinct facial features and a particular kind of fascination, offering a unique “ face-to face” encounter with ancient China. This is why the exhibition “ Qin — The Eternal Emperor and His Terracotta Warriors,” held at the Bernisches Historisches Museum in 2013, was centred on the terracotta figures. A second aim of the exhibition, however, was to extend this scope and give an insight into a period of more than 1,000 years of Chinese history and civilization. The first section showed the roots and rise of the Qin principality up until the development of the Chinese Empire. The second section was centred on the tomb complex of the First Emperor and his terracotta army. Finally, the third section dealt with Qin Shi Huangdi ’ s legacy for subsequent eras. Particular attention was also given to the archaeological challenges of the excavation and conservation of the terracotta army. This accompanying publication covers all of the topics dealt with in the exhibition and expands upon them. Similarly to the exhibition, the publication is also divided into three sections. The first section offers an outline of the political situation in the territory of presentday China during the first millennium BC ( Chapter 1 ), traces the rise of the Qin State from its origins until the foundation of the Empire in the year 221 BC ( Chapter 2 ), and gives an insight into the funerary culture of Qin society ( Chapter 3 ). The second section initially focuses on the First Emperor of Qin ( Chapter 4 ) and the organization of the Chinese Empire founded by him ( Chapter 5 ). It then describes in detail the tomb complex of the First Emperor ( Chapter 6 ) and the terracotta army ( Chapter 7 ). The third section of the book deals with the historical heritage of the Qin dynasty. It first examines the Han dynasty ( 202 BC–AD220 ) as the immediate successor of the Qin, and outlines a number of developments in the history of the Chinese Empire until its collapse in the year 1911 ( Chapter 8 ). Finally, it shows how the historical figure of the First Emperor and the terracotta army are perceived in contemporary China ( Chapter 9 ). The catalogue section is also divided into three parts and documents all objects on display in the exhibition. A chronological table, a reading aid for correct pronunciation of certain Chinese terms, and a list of the most important Chinese place and personal names and other terms mentioned in this book complete the publication.

It has been years since the first emperor of China’s death. But, apart from being the first emperor of China, he would have been forgotten if it wasn’t for the hidden legacy he left behind. Now unearthed, his legacy is now for the entire world to bear witness to his vast army of Terracotta Warriors. An army made out of the very earth they were encased in, they remain standing for the emperor, even in death. But perhaps they stand for a reason? Perhaps they stand for a cause? Men of Clay; an Exploration of the Terracotta Army, explores the mystery behind the resurfaced Terracotta Army and its science and significance.

A striking feature of Qin material culture (770–210 BC) in ancient China is the frequency with which it preserves stamped, incised or painted marks with a variety of Chinese characters, numerals or symbols. In a general sense, such repeated mark-making was an administrative strategy that enabled Qin administrators to mobilise people, raw materials and finished goods in vast bulk, subject to careful quality and quantity control, and archaeologically, this strategy is nowhere more obvious than in the manufacturing feat constituted by Emperor Qin Shihuang's mausoleum and his Terracotta Army. This study considers the production marks associated with both the terracotta warriors and their accompanying bronze weapons from a new perspective. We compare and contrast the marking practices on these two very different kinds of artefacts, devoting close attention to what this implies about workshop organisation or the operational sequences behind their manufacture. We also assess the location of such signs on their parent objects as well as their wider spatial distribution across the pit as a whole, ultimately with a view to understanding craft organisation and project logistics during this crucial early phase of empire-building in China.

A striking feature of Qin material culture (770–210 BC) in ancient China is the frequency with which it preserves stamped, incised or painted marks with a variety of Chinese characters, numerals or symbols. In a general sense, such repeated mark-making was an administrative strategy that enabled Qin administrators to mobilise people, raw materials and finished goods in vast bulk, subject to careful quality and quantity control, and archaeologically, this strategy is nowhere more obvious than in the manufacturing feat constituted by Emperor Qin Shihuang's mausoleum and his Terracotta Army. This study considers the production marks associated with both the terracotta warriors and their accompanying bronze weapons from a new perspective. We compare and contrast the marking practices on these two very different kinds of artefacts, devoting close attention to what this implies about workshop organisation or the operational sequences behind their manufacture. We also assess the location of such signs on their parent objects as well as their wider spatial distribution across the pit as a whole, ultimately with a view to understanding craft organisation and project logistics during this crucial early phase of empire-building in China.

DespitedecadesofresearchintotheTerracotta Army of the First Emperor of China, many questions remain about how, where and by whom the figures were made. This new study compares the results of microscopic analysis of the life-sized clay statues to other ceramic artefacts recovered from the mausoleum. By focusing on their original raw materials and clay paste recipes, it proves that the terracotta warriors were made near the site.Compositional,technologicalandspatial links between different artefacts suggest that clay was processed centrally before being distributed to different local workshops in a highly organised system of labour and craft specialisation that laid the foundation for imperial China. Keywords: China, Qin Shihuang, Terracotta Army, clay, petrography

Twenty-eight Artists from each EU country as well as three Chinese artists were invited by Qu Art to visit the world renowned Terracotta Warriors in Xian, China and to consider ways that these icons of the Emperor Qin's reign could be reinterpreted within popular culture of the 21st Century. Each artist responded to the collection of warriors, acrobats and servants in a myriad of different ways, and in so doing reflected a discreet aspect of their own individual culture within the EU by making a sculpture that responded to this ancient collection. LUiL in conjunction with Here East, was the only venue for this seminal exhibition in the UK, and although this Group Show has been exhibited throughout China at a number of Tier One museums and galleries in order to widen the appreciation of European contemporary art practice to an audience that might not be familiar with the nuances of Western Art. These new audiences, familiar with the cultural significance of their own "Terrac...

The Terracotta Army that protected the tomb of the Chinese emperor Qin Shihuang offers an evocative image of the power and organisation of the Qin armies who unified China through conquest in the third century BC. It also provides evidence for the craft production and administrative control that underpinned the Qin state. Bronze trigger mechanisms are all that remain of crossbows that once equipped certain kinds of warrior in the Terracotta Army. A metrical and spatial analysis of these triggers reveals that they were produced in batches and that these separate batches were thereafter possibly stored in an arsenal, but eventually were transported to the mausoleum to equip groups of terracotta crossbowmen in individual sectors of Pit 1. The trigger evidence for large-scale and highly organised production parallels that also documented for the manufacture of the bronze-tipped arrows and proposed for the terracotta figures themselves.

At the heart of Qin bureaucratic practice during China’s first empire were regular, little acts of accountancy in which objects (and people) were marked so their movements could be kept track of, their quality checked and their numbers marshalled for the large-scale purposes of the Qin state. In the mausoleum complex of the Qin Shihuang, the longer text and short inscribed marks found on the bronze weapons of the Terracotta Army are reasonably well known, and this information is helping us understand aspects of workshop organisation and logistics at this crucial period. This paper’s modest starting point is a study of two less well-known ink inscriptions found on crossbow triggers from Terracotta Army Pit 1. Using a mixture of multispectral photography, digital microscopy and Raman analysis, we uncover evidence of further marks on the same two triggers that suggest a similar pattern of ‘matching’ marks as suggested by the incised evidence. We also identify the black substance used to make the marks as a soot-based ink. Spatial analysis of the inked and incised trigger marks provides wider context and insight about how such marking practices amongst Qin bronze-workers may have operated.