China's thousands of years of history have moved into the walls of the Esterházy Palace, which invites you to travel through a real time. The more than 40 clay figures presented at the exhibition, capturing high-ranking officers and soldiers, can be seen for the first time in our city. Walking through the spaces, the visitor can almost feel as if he is becoming part of the ancient army.
The finds found in the tomb complex of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang-ti, reshaped the image of the early empire. The figures of the army, which guarded the tomb of the ruler who united China and featuring life-size clay soldiers, were found in Shenxi Province in 1974, not far from the former capital of the empire.
The tomb complex of the emperor, who died in 210 BC, was built by hundreds of thousands of workers for 33 years. Archaeologists have already discovered many burial places in the grave garden, which covers a huge area, in the last half century, but its central part - where, according to contemporary reports, a scaled-down replica of the Chinese empire was also created - is still untouched.
The height of soldiers slightly higher than life size varies between 177-187 centimeters. The figures, like their clothing and protective weapons, were made of clay, and the offensive weapons were manufactured in their original form for the statues, each of which has unique features and facial expressions.
In parallel with the exhibition featuring the terracotta army, a selection of Chinese artefacts kept in the Rómer Museum's own collection can also be seen. Among these, a special place is occupied by the ancient sedges made of stone reliefs from the Han and Tang Dynasties, as well as pictures and inscriptions engraved in stone. All of these, together with scroll images and album pages made during the Sung and Qing dynasty, give a taste of Chinese art with a peculiar tone, which is radically different from the European.
