Skilled sculptors from ancient Greece may have inspired the creation of the most famous Chinese statues of all time. The Terracotta Army - an army of clay sculptures for over 2000 years supervises the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China - would have been influenced by the most experienced craftsmen of antiquity, from the Mediterranean may have gone so far as to 'East to teach their techniques to local artists.
OLD KNOWLEDGE. Recent archaeological findings, such as the discovery of ancient European DNA in Xinjian province of China, would seem to indicate that close contacts between China's First Emperor (246-210 BC) and the West already existed much before the "official" of the Way Silk, in the third century AD, and 1,500 years before the explorations of Marco Polo.
CLASSIC PROPORTIONS. "Now we think that the Terracotta Army, acrobats and bronze sculptures found at the site have been inspired by the ancient Greek sculptures and art," says Li Xiuzhen, an archaeologist at University College London who has long studied these statues.
The findings will be presented in a BBC documentary and National Geographic, The Greatest Tomb on Earth, broadcast on English networks October 16, 2016.
THE DISCOVERY. The terracotta army was discovered by chance in 1974 by a farmer in an excavation of Xi'an, in China's Shaanxi province. The man was terrified to note an almost human head in the middle of the harvest. They have since been brought to light hundreds of warriors of various sizes according to the "rank", ditches adjacent to the tomb of Qin Shi Huang.
SILENT GUARDIAN. The statues, many of which are life-size, monitor the dead emperor with chariots, weapons and horses. It is estimated that the soldiers could be about 8,000, and their features are incredibly detailed, with lots of barbs to the fashion of the time, braided hair, and decorative knots on armor.
A TECHNIQUE HAVING ALREADY. For some time the archaeologists wondered how the Chinese sculptors they could play with such precision in 246 BC, when they began work on the mausoleum, and that of Greek contamination could be a theory. After all business contacts with the ancient China were active in ancient Rome. The time of Augustus (from 27 BC) the Chinese silks were now in the City of fashion, so much so that Seneca called "immoral" those who wear them.
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