The British Museum is hosting the exhibition ‘The First Emperor’ until April 6. Also known as ‘that terracotta army thing’, it was worth getting up really early to be in London at 8am, and queuing up until 9.15am with Anna to get two of the 500 tickets they sell everyday.
In the 3rd century b.C. king Ying Zheng of Qin conquered the other warring states, unified them into what later would become China, and thus became the first Chinese emperor. He standardized Chinese script, units of measurement, currency, the legal system, etc.
Not so happy with the idea of being mortal, the now emperor Qin Shihuang sent expeditions to look for ways to grant him eternal life, and in case that failed, he built a replica of his empire in his tomb. Among other things, he had a life-size army made in terracotta, wood and bronze, officials, acrobats, musicians, animals…
The terracotta army was discovered by chance by a farmer in 1974, and archaeologists have been digging up wonders ever since.
