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ArtCurious Podcast

Episode #77: Cursed Art: The Terracotta Army (Season 9, Episode 1)

ArtCurious Podcast

ArtCurious

Arts, History, Visual Arts

4.8847 Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In our ninth season, in a topic suggested by you, our listeners, we’re uncovering the backstory behind some of the world’s most famed “cursed” objects in art, architecture, and archaeology. Today, we’re beginning with one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the late 20th century: the grand funeral complex of Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, known as the “Terracotta Army.” Please SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW our show on Apple Podcasts! Twitter / Instagram Show your support for our show by purchasing ArtCurious swag from TeePublic SPONSORS: The Great Courses Plus: Enjoy a 14-day free trial with unlimited access Indeed: Listeners get a free $75 credit to upgrade your job post Bombas: Get 20% off your first purchase Ana Luisa Jewelry: Enjoy 15% off all pieces of sustainable and chic jewelry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:39.4

providing exhibition opportunities to emerging artists. Please visit Anchorlightrolly.com.

0:47.0

March 29, 1974, started out as a typically dry day in Xi'an, China. Dry, it's important to note, because some of the area

0:56.5

was farmland and farmland that sorely needed irrigation. So a group of seven farmers who

1:02.6

communally worked the land began a mundane sort of project. They began to dig a well. But what they

1:09.0

ended up digging up instead turned out to be the absolute

1:12.3

opposite of mundane. As the band of workers burrowed into the ground, they found their shovels and

1:17.9

pickaxes hitting something hard about 15 meters below the surface. This wasn't the fresh water they

1:23.8

had expected, but instead a stone face grinned up at them. There had long been

1:29.8

myths and legends swirling around the Shian region about hidden secrets and buried treasure. But did

1:35.3

any of the local farmers believe them to be anything other than storytelling through the long

1:39.6

cold nights? Did these tales spring to mind when the seven literal groundbreakers unexpectedly came across

1:46.6

what has become known as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of our modern times?

1:52.3

And after the enormity of their discovery washed over them, did they expect fame and fortune?

1:57.9

Surely none of them could have foreseen the immense hardship and heartache that would

2:02.4

befall them. But should they have, given that some have claimed that their own discovery

...

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