National Geographic Museum Blog

So, you think you are a terra cotta warrior fan? Do you have the ring tone? No? Then, we have to question how much of a fan you really are. Not only do we all have the ring tones, I wake up to the sound of the ring tone. I’d call that dedication.

To get the ring tone, check this out.

We are counting down the New Year with some photos that we love taken from the blogger preview held in November. Send in your comments and vote for a favorite! Thank you to Chris McDonough for this great photo.

We are counting down the New Year with some photos that we love taken from the blogger preview held in November. Send in your comments and vote for a favorite! Thank you to Flickr follower eschn3am for this great photo.

Take a moment to see test your knowledge. Here is a short history of the terra cotta warriors:

259BC Ying Zheng became king of the state of Qin at age thirteen. Initially he ruled under the regency of his mother and Chancellor Lü Buwei.

239 B.C. The king began to rule in his own name. Shortly after assuming control, he sent his armies to conquer the surrounding states.

221 B.C. He renamed himself Qin Shihuangdi (Chin She-hwong-dee), First Emperor of the Qin, and declared his line would continue for ten thousand generations. In accordance with his new status, he greatly expanded the scope of his tomb, which by tradition was already under construction. Terra cotta warriors are built and buried in pits near the emperor’s tomb.

210BC Qin Shihuangdi dies of an illness on a tour of this empire.

208BC Xiang Yu, a warlord from the south, led an army into the capital, burning and plundering the city. It was probably his men who seized many of the weapons in the terra cotta army pits and burned various parts of the necropolis.

1974 The tomb is accidentally unearthed by local farmers digging to create a well.

We are counting down the New Year with some photos that we love taken from the blogger preview held in November. Send in your comments and vote for a favorite! Thank you to Flickr follower Graecyn K. for this great photo of one of the smallest objects in the exhibition – a bronze seal used in the Qin Emperor’s new administration system.

English Mandarin Pinyin
First Qin Emperor’s burial complex 秦始皇陵 Qín Shǐhuáng Líng (chin sheh h-wahng leeng)
kneeling archer 跪射俑 guì shè yǒng (gway sheh yong)
standing archer 立射俑 lì shè yǒng (lee sheh yong)
work, construction, task 工作 gōngzuò (gong ds-woe)
what’s to be done? 怎么办 zěn me bàn? (zen muh ban)
green tea 绿茶 lǜ chá (loo chah)
Xi’an (city), the capital city
of Shaanxi Province 西安 Xī ān (she ahn)
Xi’an’s previous name: Chang’an;
meaning “Perpetual Peace” 长安 Cháng’ān (chahng ahn)
water 水 shuǐ (sh-way)
the Silk Road 丝绸之路 sī chóu zhī lù (seh ch-owe jeh loo)

Thank you to our great facebook fan Alan Miranda for this list!

We are counting down the New Year with some photos that we love taken from the blogger preview held in November. Send in your comments and vote for a favorite! Thank you to Flickr follower Dan Pancamo for this great photo.

The exhibit is nearly at its halfway point and that means that your time to buy tickets is dwindling. Weekends are selling out fast but there is a lot of availability on weekday afternoons (office field trip anyone?). To hear what people are saying refer to last week’s post or check out our facebook page. The murmur out there is that people loved the exhibit and continue to recommend it for friends. It;s something that really is a chance of a lifetime.

Just click here to buy tickets.

In case you missed the initial coverage in November, take a moment to listen to this NPR Podcast Guy Raz’s visit to the museum.