Terracotta Warrior exhibition to open in Japan soon

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, a cultural relic exhibition entitled "Terracotta Warriors and Ancient China – Heritage from the Qin and Han Dynasty" will be held in Kyoto, Japan from March 25 to May 22.

The exhibition is hosted by Tokyo Shimbun and the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, and jointly organized by the Shaanxi History Museum, Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, and various cultural institutions in Japan.

A cultural relic exhibition entitled "Terracotta Warriors and Ancient China – Heritage from the Qin and Han Dynasty" is scheduled to be held in Kyoto, Japan from March 25 to May 22. [Photo/Xi'an news network]

More than 120 sets of cultural relics from 17 cultural institutions and museums in Northwest China's Shaanxi province will be displayed at the exhibition.

These cultural relics include stones, bronze, gold, and jade that span from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC) to the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) – a period of more than 1,000 years.

The Terracotta Warriors to be exhibited have a variety of shapes, including armored warrior figurines, armored military officials, standing archer warriors, and sundae figurines, which have a high cultural value.

The relics have already arrived in Japan.

"As one of the most prestigious cultural IPs in China, the Terracotta Warriors went abroad for the first time in 1976 to be exhibited in Japan. After that, they were exhibited overseas many times," said Hou Ningbin, curator of the Shaanxi History Museum.

The exhibition is meant to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries, Ning added.

The exhibition will also be held in Shizuoka, Nagoya and Tokyo and last for nearly a year. The cultural relics on display will return to China in February of next year.