Latest news with #Terracotta
Metro
3 days ago
- General
- Metro
Tourist smashes two Terracotta Army warriors during bizarre museum rampage
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Two of the world famous Terracotta Army clay warriors have been damaged after a tourist jumped into a pit and pushed them over. The 30-year-old man launched himself into the pit at the museum housing the antiques in Xi'an, China, on May 30, while eyewitnesses looked on in shock. Once inside the 18ft deep pit, the man, only identified by his surname, Sun, pushed and pulled over the statues. Video footage then shows him lying on the ground covering his face as eyewitnesses yell at him. One, Xiao Lin, said he was visiting the site with a tour guide when he suddenly saw the man jump in. He shouted, 'What are you doing?' before the man touched the figures and pushed them over. He said: 'Later, the museum was closed, and we were evacuated by staff. I didn't see how the man was removed from the pit.' A tour guide at the scene, named Tete, confirmed the man jumped in and toppled over the terracotta warriors. Afterwards museum security restrained the man while authorities confirmed he is suffering with his mental health. The exhibit is still open to the public while officials work to repair the damage. The Terracotta Army is regarded as one of China's greatest archaeological treasures and features a collection of more than 8,000 life-sized soldiers. The figures date from around the late 200s BCE and were discovered on March 29, 1974, by local farmers just outside Xi'an. In 2017, a man admitted to stealing a thumb from one of the Terracotta statues that was on display in Pennsylvania. Footage showed him taking selfies with the statues before appearing to break something off. The missing thumb was only noticed a month later and the FBI was called. More Trending Michael Rohana, snapped it off at the the Franklin Institute museum from the statue which was estimated to be worth $4.5million. By that figure, the damage to the statues in Xi'an could possible be $9million. Rohana later admitted that he had kept the thumb in a drawer. He was acquitted after his lawyer argued he was wrongly charged under laws that usually apply to major museum thefts. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: British man arrested in the US is accused of spying for China MORE: Leader who killed 6,000,000 of his own honoured in new statue MORE: I live in a 'murder house' – this is what it's really like
Los Angeles Times
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
New discoveries unearthed at Bowers' Terracotta warriors exhibition
The discovery of the first Terracotta Army pit in 1974 in the city of Xi'an, China was monumental in the sense that it gave archaeologists an intimate look into life in ancient China. Extremely detailed and incredibly well preserved, the stone figures have captivated museum visitors for 50 years. In 2008 and 2011, Bowers Museum featured Terracotta warriors exhibitions and now the relics return to Santa Ana as the museum presents 'World of the Terracotta Warriors: New Archaeological Discoveries in Shaanxi in the 21st Century.' Jointly organized by the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration, Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Center, Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum of the People's Republic of China and Bowers Museum, the new display is on view through Oct.19. Curated by Tianlong Jiao, Bowers' chief curator, the exhibition is made possible by contributions from PNC Bank, East West Bank and the Carpenter Foundation. While 2024 marked 50 years since the figures were first discovered, the exhibition this year continues to offer more to explore with the addition of more than 110 newly unearthed treasures making their North American debut in the Orange County show. 'We are incredibly proud to be hosting this historic exhibition in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the original discovery of the warriors,' said Sean O'Harrow, president of Bowers Museum, in a statement. 'And we are excited to feature new discoveries from royal tombs dating back further 2,000 years.' At a preview of the exhibition on May 23, Jiao was joined by Li Gang, director of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Museum, in leading an exclusive tour of the artifacts in the exhibition, beginning with highlights like the early Walled City discoveries. A reproduction of Shimao's walls, the largest known wall site in China where the discovery of jade pieces led to an archaeological investigation, features its own hidden jade between the wall's stone bricks, each with additional information about the significance of jade during the time period. It's one of a few interactive elements museum visitors will find as they move through the exhibit. They're meant to engage the viewer in an educational experience about China's political and artistic achievements before and during the Qin dynasty, Jiao explained. 'Jade was used as a ceremonial object,' Jiao said. 'We created this wall to help our visitors understand the significance.' It is fascinating to consider the ways life in ancient China included practices that are still popular today. An earring excavated from Zhaigou in 2022, for example, dates back to 1200-1000 BCE. 'This is the earliest gold earring in China and, if you notice, it is all one piece of hammered gold,' Jiao said. 'You know, even today if you wear this you will be in fashion.' The gold ear bob is curved into a swirl with a square of turquoise accenting it, a testament to the ancient jewelry maker's skill. The purpose of other artifacts and their inspiration are less clear to the modern eye. 'You may think this is a sculpture of an animal, but it is actually a wine vessel,' Jiao said of a bronze figure from the early Western Zhou Dynasty, which lasted from roughly 1046 to 1000 BCE. While it may look like a familiar animal, a closer look reveals its species is hard to pinpoint. 'This animal is very mysterious and we don't know what to call it, because it has the features of several animals,' said Jiao. 'If you look carefully, you see ears and rabbit face, but on both sides it has fish fins. It is very well cast and it was found inside one of the tombs.' The wine vessel is among the royal tomb artifacts included in the show. 'This is one of the 27 bronze vessels discovered by farmers in 2003,' said Gang, making them a newer addition to the exhibition. A few figures excavated from the 'Entertainers Pit' (also known as Pit K9901) from about 1999 to 2012 appear to have been modeled after those who entertained royalty. While beyond restoration because of the damaged condition they were in when archaeologists discovered them, it isn't difficult to speculate about their poses. A shirtless, muscular figure with his arm aloft, a hand pointing up was mostly likely meant to depict the traditional Chinese acrobatic art of plate spinning, according to Jiao. 'Many know the warriors, but this is a new discovery,' said Jiao. 'You can't see it but there is a hole that goes all the way down, for a stick. He is one of the Chinese acrobats.' The many life-size terracotta sculptures of soldiers and horses, displayed alongside intricately crafted half-size chariots, are the highlights of the show. The sculptures are a form of funerary art buried with the emperor, meant to protect and serve him in the afterlife and ensure that his power and influence continued even after death. Two half-sized bronze chariots, each drawn by four bronze horses, were excavated from a pit near Qin Chi Huang's Mausoleum. The detailed horse fleet and charioteers adorned in gold and silver were most likely created to usher the emperor's spirit to the other side. The most familiar figures are enclosed in glass, including a kneeling archer, an armored warrior and another archer, whose arm pulls back on a non-existent bow. Many of them were extracted from the first pit in the early 1980s. An interactive screen in one section of the exhibition allows users to paint their own Terracotta warrior, creating a simulation that more closely resembles the way the figures looked when they were first created. 'What you see here, the warriors don't have any paint, but when they were buried, every figure had paint,' Jiao said. The exhibition opened on the heels of Bowers Museum signing a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Museum to foster cultural collaboration in February. The partnership ensures Bowers will continue to highlight installations that celebrate China's artistic achievements and historical treasures, as it has done in the past with exhibitions like 'Treasures from Shanghai: 5000 Years of Art and Culture' in 2007, and the current exhibition 'Ancient Arts of China: A 5000 Year Legacy.' In conjunction with 'World of the Terracotta Warriors,' a Terracotta warrior-themed installation will debut in the Jewel Court at South Coast Plaza on June 4 and remain on view through June 30. 'World of the Terracotta Warriors: New Archaeological Discoveries in Shaanxi in the 21st Century' is on view through Oct. 16 at Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main Street in Santa Ana. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For tickets visit
