Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality

Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality is an exhibition in New Zealand. For more than 2,000 years, they secretly guarded the tomb of Qin Shihuang, China’s First Emperor. Discovered by chance in 1974, the underground army is one of the greatest archaeological finds known. The centerpiece is a phalanx of the funerary army, including soldiers, horses and chariots. Also included are works of ancient Chinese art crafted from gold, jade and bronze.

As many as 700,000 people toiled to create the army, mainly day labour, and probably conscripted. Each soldier was made from the feet up, with successive body parts shaped from coils of clay.