Currently showing at the
Asian Civilisations Museum in
Singapore is the
Terracotta Warriors Exhibition.
The Exhibition is on until 16th October 2011.
The nearest MRT(subway) to the museum is Raffles Place.
The Terracotta Warriors were discovered near xi-an in 1974. They are lifelike sculptures of the armies of the first Chinese Emperor of China which were buried with him to protect him in the afterlife.
The first emperor of China was called Qin Shi Huang.
Amazingly every single Terracotta Warrior was made to look unique and was hand painted by local xian Craftsmen of the time.
Prior to entering the gallery we came across these funny exhibits which looked interesting.
The warriors have been beautiful preserved and it is amazing that many years after their creation we can still see them today.
Previously these historical artifacts would not have been allowed out of China but today they are - which is lucky for us.
Tickets for entrance cost 8 singapore dollars per adult, which with hindsight was pretty good value.
The Museum was particularly busy though as we visited it on a Sunday - so difficult to get good photographs due to the crowd.
These were more preliminary figures before the main event which we again found quite interesting.
Rest assured they did not have Laptops or Ipads in Emperor Qin's time!
The Bronze chariot for the emperor was quite interesting. The coachman was quite well covered and was armed with a sword to protect the emperor.
The roof was round to depict the sky.
The chariot was unearthed in 1980 and was to be used by the Emperor for inspection tours.
Here is a suit of armour to be used by the warriors.
It consists of limestone plates.
The warriors look almost serene and trance like - almost like they are in a form of afterlife themselves.
All of the Warriors faces look happy and confident.
Perhaps confident and strong of their protection of the Emperor.
Here is a horse which looks bold and strong and has a saddle.
It is one of the 180 terracotta horses which were discovered from the emperor's burial chamber.
In the burial chamber the Terracotta Warriors can be categorised as Common Soldiers, Elite Soldiers, Armoured Soldiers and Generals.
The Generals wore long cloaks and waved their hands to organise their troops.
Common Soldiers wore no armour so they could be agile and ready for engagement with the enemy.
This Soldier still has evidence of the red paint used to paint him.
It was an amazing experience to see the Terracotta Warriors in Singapore.
Thius makes us want to see all the figures in Xi-an at some future point.
The downside of this exhibition is that it was too crowded with people and the collection was not extensive really.
The Bronze Chariot was a highlight though.
The entrance fee was reasonable but we would advise you to go on a quieter day when the school tours and families are not crowding the gallery.
Hope you enjoy it.
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