The Terracotta Warriors
German Swiss International School Primary, Farquhar, Adam - 11
he Terracotta Warriors were made by sculptors for Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Emperor Qin Shi Huang was
famous because he was the first Emperor of Qin dynasty from 220 to 210 BC. Emperor Qin Shi Shang requested
for the Terracotta Warriors to be built to protect him in the afterlife. The Emperor hired the best sculptors from
Shaanxi Province to sculpt the Terracotta Warriors. However
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he want the Warriors to be a secret so after the eleventh year
of carving, he killed all the sculptures.
The Terracotta Warriors were all in different shapes, sizes and varied expressions. The Warriors’ each had either a
sword, bow, spear, shield or were standing on a chariot connected to a horse. They stood from 5’9 (175cm) to 6’3 (190cm)
tall. The tombs where the Warriors’ laid was approximately 2KM x 2KM. The Terracotta Warriors were one of the top
archaeological finds of the 20th century as they were 2,200 years old! — It dates back to the uniting of China under one
emperor, who's buried there.
The Terracotta Warriors’ tomb is at this moment closed to the public. It is based at Lintong, Xi’an, Shaanxi,
China.
The discovery of the Terracotta Warriors was found on March 29th, 1974 by local farmers digging a water well
approximately 1.6 kilometres east of the Qin Emperor’s tomb mound at Mount Li (Lishan). 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 Empero
The Warriors’ tomb included four pits. The first pit was opened to the public on China’s National Day, on
October the 1st 1979. The first pit was the last pit to be found but was also the biggest pit. The second tomb was found in
1976, and is twenty metres northeast of the first pit. The third tomb was also found in 1976, twenty five metres northeast of
the first pit. The third tomb looked to be the command centre of the armed forces. The third tomb went on display in 1989,
with sixty eight warriors, a war chariot and four war horses. The fourth pit exists although it is empty.
This discovery is very important to China as it is one of China’s historical artefacts. It was a great find for
archaeologists looking for something new to uncover. It is significant because the hundreds of detailed life-size models
represent the army and the history of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. It is considered one of the greatest archaeological sites in the
world, and one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century.
The Terracotta Warriors were made from moulding, white grit, quartz, mica and feldspar. Each Warrior took at
least one day for a sculptor to make.
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