Naked Terra-cotta

The Terra-cotta Warriors are Xian’s biggest attraction, but the Han Emperor Jingdi’s smaller tomb on the outskirts of Xian is as impressive, if not as grand. Hundred foot tall tomb-mounds dapple the burial site just across the Wei River from Xian. Beneath these hills lie the tombs of the Emperor, his wife and others. Inside …

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Terra-cotta Warriors and Technological Failures

Created around 215 B.C., the Terra-cotta Warriors are Xian’s best-known attractions. At the time they were created, they were one of the most impressive technological wonders of the period. Thousands of soldiers with individual faces stare back at us across the millennia, each face painstakingly formed into an individual with what was then cutting-edge technology. …

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