Did Greeks influence China’s Terra Cotta Army?

[Epirus DNA]

Did Greeks influence China’s Terra Cotta Army?

The theory that the Chinese were interacting with Greeks or at least Greek culture at such an early date is not too far fetched. Although the Silk Road between China and Europe was formally established in the 3rd century A.D., Chinese accounts claim Roman traders arrived well before that. During the rule of the First Emperor of Rome, Romans were already wearing Chinese silk.

Did the Greeks Help Sculpt China’s Terra Cotta Warriors?
New analysis and DNA evidence suggests the 8,000 life-sized figures in emperor Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis owe their inspiration to the Greeks.

SOURCE: Smithsonian Magazine
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...ors-180960771/

Greeks May Have Influenced China’s Terra Cotta Army

SOURCE: History Channel
https://www.history.com/news/greeks-...rra-cotta-army

[Epirus DNA]

Lukas Nickel, chair of Asian Art History at the University of Vienna, tells Furness that he believes the Chinese artists may have encountered examples of Greek art, which made its way into Asia after the reign of Alexander the Great, whose empire in the 4th century B.C. spanned all the way to present-day India. “I imagine that a Greek sculptor may have been at the site to train the locals,” Nickel says.

[Epirus DNA]

The DNA evidence comes from remains from sites in the Xinjian province dating to the time period of the first emperor. They show that Chinese and Europeans were likely encountering each other at that early date. “We now have evidence that close contact existed between the first emperor’s China and the west before the formal opening of the Silk Road. This is far earlier than we formerly thought,” says Li Xiuzhen, Senior Archaeologist at the museum that houses the terra cotta warriors. “We now think the Terra cotta Army, the acrobats and the bronze sculptures found on site, have been inspired by ancient Greek sculptures and art.”