What are the Terracotta Warriors and why were they ibuilt?
The Terracotta Warriors and Horses or The Terracotta Army is a massive collection of an estimation of over 8,000 life-sized statues made of clay created around 246 BC to 206 BC by an estimated 720,000 workers. The statues were based off the armies which the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang used to defeat other warring states and unite them into one Imperial China. Qin Shi Huang standardised currency, units of measure, writing systems and started construction of the Great Wall during his rule as the First Emperor of China. The Terracotta Warriors were buried in many pits along with Emperor Qin Shi Huang when he died to remember his glory and influence over the people. They were also buried so they would keep the memory the army which defeated the warring states and for his army to reanimate and join him in the afterlife so he could continue to lead the army even after his death. Several moulds were used for creating the Terracotta Warriors but each individual statue has its own unique details and facial features because they were hand carved to replicate a real soldier of Qin's army. Artisans who designed the Terracotta warriors have their ancient wisdom and good observation of life preserved in the incredible life-likeness of the Terracotta warriors. Former French President Jacques Chirac named the Terracotta Warriors the "Eighth Wonder of the World" on his visit to China in 1978. He also said that the Terracotta warriors were as important to see in China as seeing the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
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When and where were they discovered?
In 1974, workers were digging a well on the outskirts of the Chinese city of Xi'an in the Shaanxi Province. They did not know it at the time but they were digging down into the first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang’s tomb and his army of Terracotta warriors. At first, they found what looked like pottery such as jar but turned out to be the head of a Terracotta warrior. After more digging, they discovered many life-sized soldiers, horses and carriages made of clay which were buried in the ground in pits for over 2,000 years. The thousands of Terracotta warriors found all had unique facial features and it could be possible to find what part of China a soldier came from with further research being done on the Terracotta warriors. Some excavations have found Terracotta warriors wielding real usable weapons made of metal such as arrows, swords and spears. The metal from the weapons were sold as cheap scrap metal when they were first found and when their value was unknown. The pit which the workers found the statues was named Vault One and in 1976, two more 'vaults' were discovered about 20 metres away which were named Vault Two and Vault Three. The area containing the vaults and the emperor's tomb cover 56 sq km. Today, the Terracotta Warriors are considered "one of the greatest archeological sites in the world". The discovery of the Terracotta warriors have helped historians study the military, culture and economy of Ancient China.
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