- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: China's famed Terracotta Army comes to London
- Date: 11th September 2007
- Summary: UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD PROFESSOR SPECIALISING IN CHINA STUDIES, JESSICA RAWSON, WALKING AROUND EXHIBITION TWO TERRACOTTA SOLDIERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD PROFESSOR SPECIALISING IN CHINESE STUDIES, JESSICA RAWSON, ON HOW THE ARMY'S CONSTRUCTION WAS AN EARLY FORM OF MASS PRODUCTION, SAYING: "Because the army's very precisely made, it replicates or produces
- Embargoed: 26th September 2007 13:00
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- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVACN1CCIAEWDRT20BGZZQB1UQTN
- Story Text: In 1974, a peasant in China's Xi'an province was routinely digging through the earth. He stumbled upon what appeared to be a statue head made of bronze which he believed would get him a few packs of cigarettes.
Little did he know that his discovery was one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.
Members of China's Terracotta Army have safely made its way to London and will be shown at the British Museum in what museum officials said is expected to be one of the biggest exhibitions in the museum's history. Already 100,000 tickets have been sold and that is before the exhibition officially opens to the public on Thursday (September 13).
The majority of the 120 objects loaned come from the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, a tomb complex which he built in order to not only protect him in the afterlife, but he also take with him after his death. He also ordered the construction of statues of his staff, servants, as well as animals.
The Terracota warriors reached 184 to 197 cm in height (six feet to six feet, five inches) which were significantly larger than the people's stature at that time. Many were built by convicts, many of whom died or were injured in its lengthy construction.
The exhibition features different warrior figures of different ranks.
Each of the 7000 soldiers were given individuality with no two warriors looking alike.
Jessica Rawson, a University of Oxford professor specialising in Chinese studies, said it is a fascinating insight into an early form of mass production.
"Because the army's very precisely made, it replicates or produces a complete set of types of soldier: archer, foot soldier, infantry, charioteers, all types and they're all shown in their proper dress, their proper army, every sort of gesture and the right weapons. So to work that out, there needs to be a bureaucrat indeed there needs to be a whole house full of bureaucrats working it out," she said.
Rawson added that people continue to be fascinated today with the Terracotta warriors as they did three decades ago: "I think because it's so hard to understand yet easy to see. So in one and the same time you can see the figures and identify with them, and yet what are they all about? For some time people said they were portraits of an army. I don't think they were portraits. I think they are an actual army. And so what one has to get one's minds around - and I think this is why they're so intriguing - is they are an army, they are figures which will come to life to fight on behalf of the emperor after his death."
Given China's economic and cultural growth today, Rawson said the timing of this exhibition is especially important: "From the moment it was found in the Seventies, this has been significant. It is simply one of the most astonishing finds in the world. It's especially significant now for different reasons, that is, China's development. I have worked on China most of my career but for many people China is an unknown territory and I think it's important given the problems the world will face in modernisation, climate change, all sorts of difficulties are going to come their way with everybody is young today, I think they need to know with whom they share the world."
Excavation continues to this day at the site but museum officials don't believe the tomb of Emperor Qin will be found in the current lifetime.
"The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" runs until April 2008. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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