The Terracotta Warriors

The Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses is located at the foot of mountain Lishan, about 35kilometers east of Xi’an, Shaanxi province. The Terracotta Warrior has been regarded to be the eighth wonder of the world and the evocation of it has been said to be the most valuable archaeological discovery. The Terracotta Warriors are replicas of what the imperial guard should look like in those days and provide abundant tangible materials for research on military affairs, culture and economy of the Qin Dynasty. It is a sight not to be missed by any visitor to China.

The Terracotta Army figures with a long history more than 2,000years is belong to the Qin Dynasty. Qin Shi Huang built the first feudal and centralized empire in Chinese history in 221 BC. This was what we called - the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC). Qin Shi Huang was a powerful emperor, acquiring great achievements. To consolidate his new-born empire, he reformed politics, economy and culture with standardizing the language and writing of China, which had varied greatly from area to area during the Warring States Period. Also, currency became standardized as a circular copper coin with a square hole in the middle. Measurements and length were also made uniform. Although he is a great person who acquired great acquirement, he could not escape from the influence of the ancient thoughts that pursued eternity and he even ordered his ministers to seek for an elixir of immortality. Based on this belief, he built a huge mausoleum for himself for enjoyment after death. And the Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses is just lie 1.5 kilometers from his tomb.

The museum covers an area of 16,000 square meters comprised by three sections: No.1 Pit, No.2 Pit and No.3 Pit. The No.1 Pit which was found by a farmer in 1974 when he was gigging a well is 230meters long, 62 meters wide and 5 meters deep. There are over 6,000 terracotta warriors and horse. The farmer had never expected that his discovery would shock the whole world. In 1976, the other two pits were unearthed. The No.2 Pit covers an area of about 6,000 square meters, including over 1,000 warriors and horses. The No.3 Pit is located 25 meters to the north of the NO.1 Pit, totaling about 520 square meters. There are 68 warriors and 4 clay horses, judging from the layout of Pit3, this is likely the headquarters directing the army.

The life size terracotta warriors are very different from each other in features, expressions, gesture, hairstyle and clothing. From the weapon they grasped such as bows, arrows and crossbows, the warrior can be divided into four categories. They were the guards of the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Every piece of the sculptures is very charming. Judging from their face shapes, hairstyles and figures, one can guess the soldiers' characters and regions of birth. The discovery demonstrates the high level of Chinese sculpting skills during the Qin Dynasty, becoming the link between the past and future of Chinese sculpture history. It is a real reflection of the Qin Dynasty. The evocation of the terracotta warriors has a deep influence to the research of the history of ancient China.

The Terracotta Warriors have acquired special affection of many presidents from different countries. It has been a must-see site of china and every day there are many tourists from domestic and abroad to visit it.

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