03 September 2012

Studying Xi'an's Toughies and Smarties

Xi'an's subterranean terracotta army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210 - 209 BCE and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife. The three pits held more than 8,000 life-sized soldiers, mostly infantrymen. No two soldiers are alike but could roughly be classified into seven distinctive (personality) types of superbly sculpted faces: (i) the 国-shaped facial structure which is characterised by a rectangle face with high cheekbones, a wide forehead and cheek, (ii) the 用-shaped facial structure which is marked by an oblong face with flat cheeks and chin; (iii) the 目-shaped facial structure which is basically a narrow and long face with very fine/small features; (iv) the 田-shaped facial structure which consists of a nearly square-shaped face; (v) the 甲-shaped facial structure which has a wide top and narrow bottom, like the shape of a melon seed; (vi) the 由-shaped facial structure which is characterised by a rather long face with a narrow forehead and wide chin and  (vii) the 申-shaped facial structure with wide cheekbones and narrow ends.

portrait, headshot, China, Xian, terracotta army, terracotta soldier, clay warrior, sculpture


street portrait, headshot, China, Xi'an, Chinese man, bad teeth
street portrait, headshot, China, Xi'an, Chinese man, bad teeth



street portrait, headshot, China, Xian, Chinese man

Street portrait photographs of Xi'an's toughies and smarties in Matt Hahnewald's

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