By the time Zheng, the future First Emperor, was born in 259 BCE, the state of Qin (pronounced CHIN) was already nearly six centuries old. It was waging war with neighboring states for supremacy at the same time Rome was battling Carthage for the upper hand in the Mediterranean. Qin, like Rome, would ultimately prevail. Under the leadership of Qin Shihuang, or First Emperor of Qin, China’s seven warring states were unified as one nation for the first time.
The works of art in this exhibition trace the tumultuous rise of Qin from a regional power of humble origins to a superpower and illuminate the political, economic, and cultural reforms that, along with the terracotta warriors, remain today as the First Emperor’s legacy.
The works of art in this exhibition trace the tumultuous rise of Qin from a regional power of humble origins to a superpower and illuminate the political, economic, and cultural reforms that, along with the terracotta warriors, remain today as the First Emperor’s legacy.
