Terakotová armáda - Tajné kódy císařových válečníků – Cotterell Maurice (2004)

The chance discovery of the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the ancient emperor who first unified China, caused a sensation in 1974. It is regarded as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century and as the eighth wonder of the world. The terracotta warriors accompanying the First Emperor into the afterlife appeared on newspaper front pages around the globe. According to the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian, construction of the tomb, resembling an underground city spread across approximately 10 square kilometres, took 11 years and involved around 770,000 of the emperor’s subjects, mostly prisoners of war and slaves. More than 8,000 clay figures, each weighing over half a tonne, together with models of chariots and statues of horses, guarded one of humanity’s greatest secrets for more than two thousand years. Maurice Cotterell, the author of numerous studies of ancient civilisations, explains and interprets the message hidden in the warriors’ faces, hairstyles, clothing and formations. He connects it with the scientific and mystical knowledge of the ancient Chinese, which modern science is gradually and laboriously rediscovering.