The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army

by Jane Portal (Editor)

Standing guard around the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi, the ranks of a terracotta army bear silent witness to the vast power of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, who unified China in 221 BCE. Six thousand warriors and horses make up the army, while chariots, a military guard, and a command post complete the host. A new look at one of the most spectacular finds in the annals of archaeology, this book also considers the historical and archaeological context of the Terracotta Army, as well as the extensive research and excavation carried out since its discovery in 1974. In richly illustrated chapters, experts in the field describe the Qin's rise and military conquest, the empire's ideology and practices, and the emperor's achievements and legacy. The authors examine the site itself, including new discoveries such as terracotta bureaucrats, acrobats, and strongmen, life-size bronze birds, hundreds of suits of stone armor, and terracotta warriors with colored faces preserved with new technology. From explorations of the massive mausoleum and the rituals that surrounded it, to explanations of the actual manufacture of the Terracotta Army, the book offers a detailed and authoritative tour of one of ancient history's most eloquent memorials, with all it says of China's long and coherent cultural past--and future potential.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, China, Art, Asia, Archaeology, Travel

Hardcover

First published February 28, 2007

Reviews

[Don]

Qin Shi Huangdi (秦始皇帝), the first emperor of unified China, is best known today for the thousands of terracotta warriors buried near his mausoleum. These three titles cover diverse aspects of his life, death, and legacy. While Wood’s book is the much more absorbing read, Man’s includes two sections of beautiful color plates. The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army, published to accompany an exhibition at the British Museum, is lavishly illustrated with photos and diagrams, and gives the most insight into the construction and meaning of the tomb sites.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

During this covid-19 pandemic I'm going again into my library and spending time with books I love. This wonderful book that shares brief history of the first Emperor and his terracotta warriors, administrators and entertainers in his burial mound is portrayed in stark, finely detailed, photographs. It has been described as the eighth wonder of the world and does earn that title in my book!

[Chris Sudall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took my Dad to the exhibition on 30th September 2007, he was only with us for another two years, but he loved the exhibition and bought me this book (I bought him a figure for his birthday, which I now own too).
A lovely book, with great pictures and explanations that is a great reminder of one of my all time favourite exhibitions.

[Aileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small book which I bought when I went to the exhibition at the British Museum. Briefly tells how the warriors were discovered, then shows examples of the different ranks, horses, entertainers, officials and animals, together with many photographic examples. A nice reminder of how much I enjoyed the exhibition.

[raya_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good start...

Beautiful visuals which will give you the picture of the whole history.

There are much deeper books that will help to understand more once you complete this to get the gist.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short read, great pics, research continues as they encounter more.

[Jesse Plumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife bought me a slim scholarly pictorial volume the terracotta army of China's first emperor at our local museum. The Terracotta Warriors by Jane Portal is a great little visual guide to the excavated terracotta warriors. It's formatted like a coffee table book, but the book itself is quite small. I didn't know just how little the burial site/tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang has been excavated by the Chinese government. The main tomb is still sealed and there's still a lot of new discoveries being made at the site whenever the Chinese government allows an excavation to take place.

[Ruric Amhari · Rating 4 out of 5]

British Museum catalogue to accompany the First Emperor: China;s Terracotta Army exhibition. Lots of lavish photos of the items on display plus descriptions and 6 essays giving context for the first emperor and the making of China, the rise of the Qin and military conquests and the terracotta army.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As my first folk art love is pottery, the creation of these pottery pieces fascinates me! The exhibit at The High is great!

[Linda Cumberland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small, well-selected set of photos from a traveling exhibit, with insightful exlpanations of distinctions among figures in dress, hair styles, relative size and posture.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful glimpse of these wonderful warriors

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short, pretty, and informative guide to the Terra-cotta warriors. Not much pizazz, but fine for a quick introduction.

[Molly Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting to read. I would like to do more research to see what else has been discovered since the book was published in the 2000s.

[Les Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't know why I had not come across this book sooner. A fantastic read.