China's Terracotta Army is a British documentary special (which forms part of The World Uncovered current affairs series) in which presenter Dan Snow follows the making of the British Museum’s biggest exhibition in a generation and tells the story of its subject, the First Emperor of China.
The documentary originally aired in the UK on BBC Two on 15 September, 2007. It is 60 minutes long.
China's Terracotta Army aired in South Africa on DStv's BBC World channel on Saturday 1 March 2008, at 14h10.
Repeats
Sunday 2 March: 12h10, 19h10
Monday 3 March: 04h10
Synopsis
China’s Terracotta Army is one of the world’s biggest and most important archaeological finds. Row after row of warrior figures, they were part of the tomb complex of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, pronounced Chin She Hwang Dee.
He ruled the Qin Dynasty, China's first unified dynasty, from 221-206 BC. The figures were buried with him after his death 2000 years ago, to protect him from his enemies in the afterlife.
But it wasn’t just protection that he wanted...
Qui was a megalomaniac who became obsessed with finding an elixir that would give him eternal life.
The next best thing was to be all-powerful in the afterlife, and he was apparently convinced that the way to do this was to surround him with perfect, baked clay models of the soldiers, officials, servants and entertainers that he would need once he had died.
As well as the warriors, they’ve recently found figures of acrobats, musicians and strongmen.
The curator of the exhibition at the British Museum, Jane Portal, explains further: "As well as the warriors, they’ve recently found figures of acrobats, musicians and strongmen put there to entertain the Emperor. He’d really thought of everything."
Excavations have been going on at Qin’s tomb complex since its discovery in 1974. But as it covers a staggering 22 square miles, only a fraction of the contents have been revealed so far.
"There’s still much, much more work to be done before we even begin on the main burial chamber", Jane tells Dan.
"Legend maintains that there’s a huge underground palace, which was modelled on the emperor's realm, with rivers flowing with mercury and the ceiling studded with pearls and diamonds representing the stars and sun.
"I’m a bit disappointed really – there’s no way they’ll get to it in my lifetime."
With exclusive access to the British Museum team for over a year, Dan follows the curator Jane Portal, and the design team, as they create a blockbuster exhibition in the historic Round Reading Room.
He also travels to China to see the original Great Wall, the sacred mountain Tai Shan, and the huge necropolis at Xian with its thousands of warriors.