A tribute to resilience

A scene from One Finger Across the Millennium, a new acrobatic drama, which premiered in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Sept 4, featuring acrobats from the province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Each represents a choice, a dream, a human destiny," Fu notes. "The fingerprint reminded me that countless hands write the history of workers, soldiers and artisans."

Fu also mentions, according to specialists at the museum, including Ma, he learned that the "supine figurine" in the Acrobats Pit, or Pit 9901 at the museum, was first unveiled during a ceremony for China's Cultural and Natural Heritage Day in 2022. Different from terracotta soldiers and civil officials in other burial pits, the figurines in Pit 9901 depict the acrobats who performed in the imperial palace. Discovered in 1974, the Terracotta Warriors army was built by Emperor Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty, who unified China for the first time.