Ancient Qin Army Chess Set

Catalog description

Ancient Qin Army Chess Set, part number CI006, is a discontinued product from the 2007–2011 catalog. It was last listed at $109.98, down from a high of $119.99.

This remarkable chess set is based on the life of ancient Chinese Emperor Qin who suffered a lifelong fear of death. He decided to assure himself an easy passage into the hereafter by taking his legions with him. He amassed an army of artisans almost as large as his military. He commanded them to create a life-size clay duplicate of every soldier in his service. When they finished the emperor had a terra cotta duplicate of his entire army. Qin died at the age of 50. Two thousand years later this army was discovered by a poor farmer searching for water on his land. By 1979 more than 1000 warriors had been reassembled plus 300 horses and dozens of chariots. In 2002 the army numbered 7000 along with several hundred horses. Ground-piercing radar has detected shards still underground that when finally excavated will produce an army in excess of 100000 soldiers. This exquisite chess set pays homage to that amazing story.

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