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This exhibition - the first to be held inside a specially modified Reading Room - is the largest group of objects relating to the First Emperor and his terracotta army that has ever been loaned out by the Chinese to a foreign institution.

"We wanted to have an exhibition about China and we tried to think of a good subject," says Jane Portal who is head of the Chinese section of the British Museum's Asia department.

"I went to China in September 2005 with Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum, - it was when Tony Blair went as well - and we signed an agreement with the national museum of China in Beijing."

"After that we went to Xi'an and it was the first time Neil had seen the Terracotta Warriors. We agreed that this would be a really good subject for an exhibition because a lot of people know about the Terracotta Warriors but they don't know who the first Emperor of China is and the fact that the Terracotta Warriors are guarding his tomb."

Digging up history

Perhaps the most famous archaeological site in the world, the 8,000 strong Terracotta Army was discovered by chance in 1974 by villagers in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. Each statue is unique and was individually crafted by nearly 700,000 craftsmen over a period of 40 years. They are well over two thousand years old.

The Terracotta Army in China

Naturally, you need to have led some life to have such an impressive army guarding you in your death. In 221BC, Emperor Qin Shihuangdi unified China to create the country that we know today. As well as unifying the country, Emperor Qin (pronounced 'chin' and why many scholars believe this is how China got its name in the West) also set about standardising the currency, measurements and Chinese script.

"The First Emperor is such an important figure in Chinese history, so we thought it would be a really good subject at a time when China is developing so quickly and there are the Olympic Games next year," says Jane Portal.

The site in Xi'an is still being excavated and new pieces are still being found, some of which will be on show at the British Museum, such as terracotta officials, acrobats, musicians and bronze birds who were meant to be dancing to the music.

"They were all for entertaining the emperor in his afterlife," says the exhibition's curator. "He had a grand vision of ruling forever and into eternity."

Despite his obsession with immortality, Emperor Qin died in 210BC.

Bringing the warriors to London

Thankfully, the British Museum has an excellent relationship with its Chinese counterparts that goes back several years. The British Museum has sent exhibitions to museums that have been shown in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are also regular staff exchanges between London and the Far East.

In March 2006, Jane Portal returned to China with a wish-list of objects relating to the First Emperor and the Terracotta Army that she wanted to borrow. She got nearly everything on her list, but that was just the start. They still needed to be transported back to London.

"They were brought over in four planes. It was quite difficult and quite complicated but we had four Chinese curators come over with them and we had three of our staff over there as well. The exhibits were packed and trucked from Xi'an to Beijing and they came on four different planes, one of them was a cargo plane because the horses and other objects were so large."

It looks like all the hard work has been worth it. Ticket sales have already passed the 100,000 mark and it is set to become one of the most popular exhibitions that the Museum has ever held.

"This man is one of the most important people in world history and we ought to learn more about him. It's in the most amazing place in the round Reading Room and it looks fantastic."

'The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army' is at the British Museum from 13 September to 6 April 2008.