The new Chinese empire of the title has, according to Mr Terrill, more in common than it would care to admit with the past, all the way back to the first emperor of all, Qin Shihuang.

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It is also where the Silk Road ended in the East and is home to the famed army of terracotta soldiers that belonged to the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.

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They were commissioned in 221BC by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi, who used the forced labour of 700, 000 subjects to create a mausoleum guarded by an entire army.

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