The Terracotta Army or the "Terracotta Warriors and Horses" 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. |
| photo credit pixabay.com |
Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.
How did they build so many soldiers?
To build 8,000 life size statues must have taken a large army of workers. Archeologists estimate that over 700,000 craftsmen worked on the project for several years. The bodies of the soldiers were made in an assembly line fashion. There were moulds for the legs, arms, torsos, and heads. These pieces were then assembled together and custom features such as ears, mustaches, hair, and weapons were added later.
There are between 8 and 10 different head shapes for the soldiers. The different head shapes represent people from different areas of China as well as different personalities of the soldiers. The heads were made from moulds and then customized and attached to the bodies.
When was the army discovered?
The Terracotta Army was discovered by farmers digging a well in 1974, over 2,000 years after it was covered over during the burial of Emperor Qin. The army was located about a mile from the tomb of the emperor.
Fast Facts
- China’s first emperor spent much of his life searching for immortality and built himself a tomb complex that encompassed 20 square miles.
- Construction of the tomb began when the future Emperor of Qin took power at the age of 13.
- The army took an estimated 40 years to finish.
- The clay soldiers remained untouched for more than 2000 years, until 1974, when they were unearthed by Chinese farmers.
- Recent digs have also uncovered terra cotta acrobats, musicians, and waterfowl.
- Every soldier is unique, no two are alike and each has unique and realistic features.
- Scientists are using various techniques to preserve the paint found on the warriors.
- The greatest mystery is yet to be revealed: the Emperor’s tomb, which has yet to be opened.
