Terracotta Soldiers

I went to Atlanta today and saw the Chinese terracotta soldier exhibit at the High Museum. They were impressive, although there were only ten on display. The only thing missing was the effect of seeing thousands of them massed together as I did in China.

The terracotta soldiers were made around 210 B.C. to defend the First Emperor of China, Qui Shi Huang, in the afterworld. The soldiers were discovered in 1974, and are an incredible archialogical treasure. The site at Xi'an, Shanxi province, was one of the most impressive I saw in China during my 2005 trip.

Besides the soldiers, the exhibit here in Atlanta had a horse, carriage, bird and couple entertainers from the thousands in Xi'an (I do not remember the entertainers on exhibit in China). The descriptions and related artifacts were more complete here, or else I missed them when I was there. The site of the Xi'an pits -- each one at least the size of a football field or bigger -- was pretty overwhelming.

The soldiers leave Atlanta next month to spend summer in Houston and then in DC in the fall. See them if you can. Atlanta's a whole lot closer than Xi'an.

- Dwight Watt
from "Watt's Thoughts," available at dwight-watt.home.att.net