China's Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor's Legacy

China's Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor's Legacy by Yang, Liu. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780980048490.

Like most of Chinas amazing archaeological discoveries, the terracotta army was found by accident. It came to light in 1974 when local farmers were drilling a well. Since then, remarkable discoveries at the First Emperors burial site have ben ongoing, revealing the wealth of Chinas ancient past. With contributions from leading scholars, Chinas Terracotta Warriors presents a panoramic view of Qin artistic, military, and administrative achievements under the powerful ruler sho proclaimed himself First Emperor of China. In addition to findings from his tomb complex, it examines the period of Chinese history preceding the First Emperors reign (246-210 BCE) and his establishment of the Qin empire and dynasty in 221 BCE. The Qin state had been in existence for over half a millennium before the First Emperor came to the throne, and its rulers had played their parts in the evolution of a small state into a superpower. Only in recent years has that history been revealed through a series of remarkable and often accidental discoveries of tombs and burials of early Qin royals and aristocracy. In the absence of substantive and reliable written sources, it is this archaeological evidence which provides clues to Qins rise from state to empire. Chinas Terracotta Warriors is published to accompany exhibitions at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco