Emperor Shi Huangdi Founder of Qin dynasty 221-206 BCE X’ian, China Terra Cotta Army of Emperor Shi Huangdi Founder of Qin dynasty 221-206 BCE X’ian, China

X’ian combines old & new China. The name means western capital.

Old X’ian city wall . This is where the Silk Road caravans started.

Three pits were discovered and each contained some Terra Cotta soldiers. The soldiers are life size. Their clothing and hair styles help us understand social class divisions in Qin China. A topknot indicates an officer. There are over 7,000 soldiers in total.

Pit 2 is 7,100 square meters

Life size horses of Terra Cotta

Honor Guards

The clay entrance ramp still has some workers footprints in it.

An honor guard formation

¾ size Bronze chariot

¾ size Bronze horses

The recent movie, “Hero”portrayed this chariot bringing the main character for his audience with Emperor Shi Huangdi. This model is smaller than in real life. Bronze was expensive .

A gold & silver bridle

Officers in front probably in a formation as if the Emperor was reviewing them.

Pit 1= 16,000 square meters

The well at the right is how the army was discovered The well at the right is how the army was discovered. In this pit were 6,000 soldiers in many small pieces.

Three farmers digging a well discovered these terra cotta figures below ground. They called in Chinese archaeologists who quickly uncovered the army and realized what this find meant. Legends had talked about it but everyone assumed it was just a story until 1974.

Today the surviving farmers are employed by the museum Today the surviving farmers are employed by the museum. In the summer, they sign autographs for tourists. They were only paid $500 for their land by the Chinese government so these jobs are also compensation for the finders for their honesty in reporting the find.

This is what the soldiers look like when they were discovered.

Qin battle formation Notice the broken soldiers at the top Qin battle formation Notice the broken soldiers at the top. This is how they look when first uncovered. They must be put back together piece by piece.

An officer and horses

Broken soldiers

Soldiers being reassembled

Soldiers with bundles of possible missing pieces behind them.

The reconstruction process- soldiers must be put back together and refired.

Officers in the front

This pit is HUGE !

An enlisted soldier

An officer and his horse

An officer wears armor and a moustache.

An archer without his bow

Cavalry soldier and horse

A Ming burial in Pit 3

Pit Three is 4,282 square meters

Broken soldiers from the wooden roof collapsing on them.

Amy and a modern soldier