The Terracotta Warriors
Glenealy School, Suzuki, Sara – 8
ver 2000 years ago there lived a man in China. He was called Qin Shi Huang, when he turned 13 years old he
became the first ever emperor in China. Emperor Qin spent much of his life searching for immortality and built
himself a tomb complex that encompassed 20 square miles. Around 700,000 of his people made statues called
the terracotta warriors, also known as the terracotta army. When he died, they were to be buried with him. These
fascinating warriors are located in Shaanxi. The warriors lain underground for more than 2000 years, and most of them held
real weapons such as spears and swords and even after it was lain underground there were still sharp.
There are around 8000 soldiers, 130 chariots and 670 horses however the total is not really known and experts estimated
that it took around 40 years to finish them all. It is made of many figures including soldiers, horses, chariots, bowmen and
archers. Crossbows were set to fire automatically if the figures were robbed. Most of the figures measure 5 feet 11 inches tall
but some soldiers are as tall as 6 foot 7 inches. The figures are life sized (183~195 CM) and each have unique different faces,
no two of them are alike. Legend says that the first emperor had a single edged eyelid, so all of the armies was made with
him. Ordinary soldiers are bareheaded, and their hair is plaited and knotted in elaborate style. To help the figures stay
upright, the upper body and the head are hollow and the lower body is solid.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. 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.
Many people think that it is one of the most significant archaeological sites in the world and the greatest discovery of the
20th century. Visiting the terracotta warriors is also the top attractions in China. It is the world’s largest and most intricate
ancient bronze artifacts. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and attracts more than 2 million visitors
a year. Each soldiers has a footprint of 2.25 square feet. All of them together covers around 32 football pitches. The tomb is
most famous for its large rows of soldiers, but there were plenty of other statutes to accompany Emperor Qin in the afterlife.
As impressive as the soldiers are today, they were likely much more impressive 2,000 years ago. The soldiers were painted
to look even more realistic and then covered with a lacquer finish. The soldiers were even designed with different clothing
and armor. Men from the cavalry are dressed differently than foot soldiers. Some soldiers don't have armor. Perhaps they
were supposed to be scouts or spies.
There were 4 main pits approximately 7 metres deep and these have already been excavated. These were located
approximately 1.5 kilometres east of the burial mound. The first pit which was 230 metres long and 62 metres wide,
containing more than 6,000 warriors. Pit one is the largest pit, is rectangular and covers 14,000 square meters (150,000
square feet) of space. It has 11 corridors, most of which are more than 3 metres wide and paved with small bricks with a
wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was also used for the tombs of nobles and would have
resembled palace hallways when built. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for
waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil raising them about 2 to 3 metres above the surrounding ground level
when completed. Pit two has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots and is thought to represent a military guard.
By far pit three is the smallest pit. Pit three is the command post, with high-ranking officers and a war chariot. Pit four is
empty, which is maybe left unfinished by its builders.
They were found on 29th of March 1974 in Xi’an (a famous China cultural city) while farmers were digging water wells.
They suddenly found parts of bodies coming out except they weren’t bones, it was the terracotta pieces. Some of the
Terracotta warriors are kneeling and some are not. Most of the statues were found broken into many pieces which
archeologists have been carefully putting back together for many years. Terracotta is a common type of hard-baked clay.
Once the soldiers were shaped with wet clay, they would have been allowed to dry and then baked in a very hot oven
called a kiln so the clay would harden. Some of the statues were still painted which can give us an imagery of how the
warriors were once painted. The horses in the army are saddled and this shows that the saddle had been invented by the
time of the Qin Dynasty. The terracotta warriors truly are amazing.
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