IN COLLABORATION with the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Center and institutions across Shaanxi Province, World of the Terracotta Warriors offers an exclusive glimpse into China’s political and artistic achievements before and during the Qin dynasty.
May 23, 2025
By Lydia E. Ringwald
The Terracotta Warriors return to the Bowers Museum from May 24 to October 19, 2025, in an exhibit that includes many new fascinating discoveries.
In the 1970s, over fifty years ago, the archeological discovery of the Terracotta army pit became a UNESCO World Heritage site, attracting scholars and visitors to view the astounding excavation.
When first unearthed, the dramatic excavation site consisted of warrior sculptures standing in rows, each preserved with an individual identity and looking like they were still alive.
The entire army, including chariots and horses, allowed the world to experience living history.
In 2008, the Bowers Museum introduced these treasures in a premier exhibit that toured museums in cities throughout the United States.
Since the discoveries in the 1970s, many new archeological discoveries have surfaced at the site in Shaanxi. The ‘New Discoveries’ exhibit at the Bowers includes 110 of these recently unearthed treasures from the Shaanxi Cultural Promotion Center collection, with intriguing artifacts that reveal deeper insights into China’s political and artistic achievements before and during the Qin Dynasty.
Treasures in the exhibit traverse millennia, dating from the earliest walled cities of the Shimao from 2300 BCE to archeological sites of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, culminating in the Terracotta Warriors of the advanced culture of the Qin Emperor completed in 210 BCE.
Rare relics, Royal Tomb artifacts, including jade and gold ornaments, bronze vessels, and ceremonial objects, along with a collection of the iconic life-size Qin dynasty sculptures of Terracotta Warriors, horses, and intricately crafted chariots, are also included in this exhibition.
An enlightening series of lectures accompanies the ‘World of the Terracotta Warriors: New Discoveries’ exhibit during its stay at the Bowers.
The first of the distinguished lecture series is scheduled on May 25, ‘What the Stone Faces Tell Us’ with Dr. Lothar von Falkenstein. Professor of Chinese Archeology and Art History, University of California Los Angeles, who explores the mysterious meaning of stone carvings on a lost civilization of Shimao (2200-1800 BCE).
An international symposium on ‘World of the Terracotta Warriors’ with leading global experts is scheduled on June 21, 2025, from 9 am to 5 pm. It will explore archeological finds from Shaanxi, dating from the Neolithic era to the Qin Dynasty, which are interpreted through art and ritual in forming states in early China.
On June 27, 2025, Dr. Anthony Barbieri, Professor of Early Chinese History at UC Santa Barbara, presents ’Hellenistic Interactions with the Qin Kingdom’ exploring the interaction of the Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan with the Qin State in China during the third century BCE.
EXPLORE CHINA’S captivating early history through recent archaeological finds from Shaanxi Province, learning why it is hailed as a cradle of ancient Chinese civilization.
Bowers Chief Curator Dr. Tianlong Jiao on August 8 offers an after-hours exclusive exhibit tour from 4-5 pm to museum patrons who want unique insights into the World of the Terracotta Warriors exhibit. The following week, August 15, museum visitors may enjoy an interactive art experience,’ Magic at the Bowers Game Night,’ from 5 pm to 10 pm.
On September 6, 2025, Bowers Chief Curator Dr. Tianlong Jiao again offers the exclusive after-hours tour of the exhibit, with an interactive Magic game night the following week on September 15 from 5 pm to 10 pm.
On September 14, Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Min Li, Professor of East Asian Archeology, University of California Los Angeles, presents ‘From Shimao to the Qui Empire: Tracing Political Evolution Through Shaanxi’s Archeological Discoveries.’
On October 18, before the exhibition closes on October 19, Dr. Tianlong Jiao again offers one last exclusive tour and a unique opportunity to experience an ancient culture with insights into our human past.
Anne Shih, President of the Bowers Museum Board of Trustees, who initiated the original Bowers exhibit and U.S. tour in 2008 by gaining the cooperation of China to allow the tour of heritage art treasures, built on that momentum of goodwill and cooperation to bring ‘Secrets of the Silk Road’ exhibit to the Bowers in 2010, the ‘Warriors, Tombs and Temples: China’s Enduring Legacy’ in 2010-2011 and the ‘World of the Terracotta Warriors: New Discoveries’ exhibit to the Bowers now.
President Anne Shih, collaborating with Bowers Director Dr. Sean O’Harrow and Chief Curator Dr. Tianlong Jiao, has created a unique premiere museum experience, an exhibit of New Discoveries from Shaanxi archeological sites that reveal deeper insights into the mysteries of human heritage, the archeology of our identity.
The Bowers Museum has also published beautifully photographed catalogs of the splendid and intriguing art objects in these exhibits that may be accessed and downloaded from the Bowers Museum website.
Please visit the bowers.org website for ticket information to exhibits and details about the many lectures, tours, and offerings during the ‘The World of the Terracotta Warriors: New Discoveries’ at the Bowers Museum.
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