cover image China's First Emperor and His Terra Cotta Warriors

China's First Emperor and His Terra Cotta Warriors

Frances Wood, . . St. Martin's, $24.95 (209pp) ISBN 978-0-312-38112-7

Starting May 18, one of the greatest archeological finds in China—the ancient terra cotta army of the first Chinese emperor—begins a two-year U.S. tour. Two new books relate the history of the emperor and this “buried army.”

China's First Emperor and His Terra Cotta Warriors Frances Wood . St. Martin's , $24.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-312-38112-7

In 246 B.C., at age 13, Zheng, also known as Qin, ascended to his late father's throne. Proclaiming himself the first emperor, Qin ruled for 36 years, expanding his empire through military force and unifying China with a well-ordered set of legal codes. In this first-rate historical and biographical sketch, Wood, head of the British Library's Chinese Department, debunks some of the legends of megalomania and cruelty that have grown up around Qin (for instance, that he buried alive scholars who disagreed with him). Using the 1974 discovery of an army of more than 6,000 terra-cotta soldiers buried in Qin's tomb, Wood points out the emperor's obsession with immortality, his fear of death and his desire to maintain his rule in the afterlife. Wood admits there's little written evidence about Qin; yet her close reading of these sources offers fresh insight into a little-known figure and his kingdom, far outpacing John Man's The Terra Cotta Army (see below). 36 b&w illus., 1 map. (June)