When farmers digging a well near Xi'an struck clay fragments in 1974, they uncovered part of an enormous funerary army built for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to unify China.
Background
Qin Shi Huang began planning his mausoleum soon after taking the throne, eventually commissioning thousands of life-sized clay soldiers, horses, and chariots to guard him in the afterlife.
“Roughly eight thousand soldiers, and no two faces exactly alike.”
The Key Events
Archaeologists have since uncovered several pits containing an estimated 8,000 soldiers, each with individualized facial features, along with officials, acrobats, and musicians, though excavation of the central tomb mound itself remains ongoing and cautious.
Legacy and Lasting Impact
The site is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most visited archaeological sites in the world, and continues to reveal new details about early imperial Chinese craftsmanship and organization.
- The figures were originally painted in bright colors that faded rapidly after excavation.
- The central burial mound of the emperor himself remains largely unexcavated.
- The site was discovered accidentally by farmers digging a well in 1974.
References & Further Reading
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Britannica, entry on the Terracotta Army
- National Geographic, reporting on Terracotta Army excavations
- Lothar Ledderose, *Ten Thousand Things: Module and Mass Production*
