Students, faculty explore terracotta warriors exhibit at Franklin Institute

Faculty in the Bi-Co Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures organized a free end-of-semester trip to downtown Philadelphia to the Franklin Institute to see a traveling exhibit of the famous life-size terracotta warriors from the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, who proclaimed himself the first emperor of China in 221 BCE.

In addition to famous examples such as the general, an armored officer, a kneeling archer, a saddled horse, and a kneeling musician, the exhibit included nearly 200 other objects, including bronze ritual vessels, jade pieces, weapons, standardized weights and measures, and architectural fittings, that demonstrated how the first emperor developed a unified China.

Shiamin Kwa (Bryn Mawr), Hank Glassman (Haverford), Erin Schoneveld (Haverford), and Tetsuya Sato (Haverford) were joined by History of Art professor Jie Shi (Bryn Mawr), research librarian Anna-Alexandra Fodde-Reguer (Haverford), and a group of 10 undergraduate and graduate students from the Bi-Co to explore the exhibit, followed by a screening of the IMAX film “Mysteries of China.” This exhibit is the only East Coast stop of a two-city tour, and the first visit of the warriors to Philadelphia in 30 years. The exhibit will remain at the Franklin Institute until March 4, 2018, when it leaves the east coast to move on to Seattle. 

Learn more about the exhibit and admissions information by visiting the Franklin Institute website.