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The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting him in his afterlife.
The figures, dating from approximately the late 200s BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong District, outside Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The figures vary in height according to their rank, the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army hold more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remain in situ in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other, non-military terracotta figures have since been found in other pits, including those of officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.
Sima Qian wrote that the first emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artifacts and wondrous objects. According to this famous account, 100 flowing rivers were simulated using mercury, and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies, below which lay the features of the lands of China which the emperor had unified. Some translations of this passage refer to "models" or "imitations"; however, those words were not used in the original text, which also makes no mention of the terracotta army. Sima Qian – Shiji Volume 6 《史記•秦始皇本紀》 Original text: 始皇初即位，穿治酈山，及並天下，天下徒送詣七十餘萬人，穿三泉，下銅而致槨，宮觀百官奇器珍怪徙臧滿之。令匠作機駑矢，有所穿近者輒射之。以水銀為百川江河大海，機相灌輸，上具天文，下具地理。以人魚膏為燭，度不滅者久之。二世曰："先帝後宮非有子者，出焉不宜。" 皆令從死，死者甚眾。葬既已下，或言工匠為機，臧皆知之，臧重即泄。大事畢，已臧，閉中羨，下外羨門，盡閉工匠臧者，無複出者。樹草木以象山。 Translation: When the First Emperor ascended the throne, the digging and preparation at Mount Li began. After he unified his empire, 700,000 men were sent there from all over his empire. They dug down deep to underground springs, pouring copper to place the outer casing of the coffin. Palaces and viewing towers housing a hundred officials were built and filled with treasures and rare artifacts. Workmen were instructed to make automatic crossbows primed to shoot at intruders. Mercury was used to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze and Yellow River, and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically. Above, the heaven is depicted, below, the geographical features of the land. Candles were made of "mermaid"'s fat which is calculated to burn and not extinguish for a long time. The Second Emperor said: "It is inappropriate for the wives of the late emperor who have no sons to be free", ordered that they should accompany the dead, and a great many died. After the burial, it was suggested that it would be a serious breach if the craftsmen who constructed the tomb and knew of its treasure were to divulge those secrets. Therefore, after the funeral ceremonies had completed, the inner passages and doorways were blocked, and the exit sealed, immediately trapping the workers and craftsmen inside. None could escape. Trees and vegetation were then planted on the tomb mound such that it resembled a hill. Although these elements of Sima Qian's account on the structure of the mausoleum have been seen as credulous in pre-modern assessments, the detection of high levels of mercury that were found in the soil of the tomb mound following the discovery of the mausoleum site have since given credence to Sima Qian's account. Additionally, the Emperor is well documented for building monumental statues in human form during his reign, such as the Twelve Metal Colossi, which were a series of contemporaneous statues that are now lost but have been noted in historical records.
Later historical accounts have suggested that the mausoleum complex and tomb itself had been looted by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first emperor. Shui Jing Zhu Chapter 19 《水經注•渭水》 Original text: 項羽入關，發之，以三十萬人，三十日運物不能窮。關東盜賊，銷槨取銅。牧人尋羊，燒之，火延九十日，不能滅。 Translation: Xiang Yu entered the gate, sent forth 300,000 men, but they could not finish carrying away his loot in 30 days. Thieves from northeast melted the coffin and took its copper. A shepherd looking for his lost sheep burned the place, the fire lasted 90 days and could not be extinguished. Sima Qian – Shiji Volume 8 《史記•高祖本紀》 Original text: 項羽燒秦宮室，掘始皇帝塚，私收其財物 Translation: Xiang Yu burned the Qin palaces, dug up the First Emperor's tomb, and expropriated his possessions. Han Shu 《漢書·楚元王傳》： Original text: "項籍焚其宮室營宇，往者咸見發掘，其後牧兒亡羊，羊入其鑿，牧者持火照球羊，失火燒其藏槨。" Translation: Xiang burned the palaces and buildings. Later observers witnessed the excavated site. Afterward, a shepherd lost his sheep which went into the dug tunnel; the shepherd held a torch to look for his sheep, and accidentally set fire to the place and burned the coffin. However, there are indications that the tomb itself may not have been plundered.
was discovered on 29 March 1974 by a group of farmers—[[Yang Zhifa]], his five brothers, and neighbour Wang Puzhi—who were digging a well approximately east of the Qin Emperor's tomb mound at [[Mount Li]] (Lishan),The precise coordinates are ) a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, occasional reports surfaced of pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin [[necropolis]] roofing tiles, bricks and chunks of masonry. This discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists, including [[Zhao Kangmin]], to investigate, revealing the largest pottery figurine group ever found. A museum complex has since been constructed over the area, the largest pit being enclosed by a roofed structure.
The necropolis was constructed as a microcosm of the emperor's imperial palace or compound, and covers a large area around the tomb mound of the first emperor. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a Chinese pyramids shape, and is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. The necropolis consists of several offices, halls, stables, other structures as well as an imperial park placed around the tomb mound.
The warriors stand guard to the east of the tomb. Up to of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to backfill the excavations.
Some of the figures in Pits 1 and 2 show fire damage, while remains of burnt ceiling rafters have also been found. These, together with the missing weapons, have been taken as evidence of the reported looting by Xiang Yu and the subsequent burning of the site, which is thought to have caused the roof to collapse and crush the army figures below. The terracotta figures currently on display have been restored from the fragments.
Other pits that formed the necropolis have also been excavated. These pits lie within and outside the walls surrounding the tomb mound. They variously contain bronze carriages, terracotta figures of entertainers such as acrobats and strongmen, officials, stone armour suits, burial sites of horses, rare animals and labourers, as well as bronze cranes and ducks set in an underground park.
Originally, the figures were painted with ground precious stones, intensely fired bones (white), pigments of iron oxide (dark red), cinnabar (red), malachite (green), azurite (blue), charcoal (black), cinnabar barium copper silicate mix (Chinese purple or Han purple), tree sap from a nearby source (more than likely from the Chinese lacquer tree) (brown), and other colors including pink, lilac, red, and one unidentified color. The colored lacquer finish and individual facial features would have given the figures a realistic feel, with eyebrows and facial hair in black and the faces done in pink.
However, in Xi'an's dry climate, much of the color coating would flake off in less than four minutes after removing the mud surrounding the army.
Eleven of such figurines from Pit K9901 have since been subsequently unearthed with seven of them found in a degree of preservation that made them capable of being largely reconstructed from their fragment shards.
Johanna Hanink and Felipe Rojas Silva of Brown University argued that such speculations rest on flawed and old Eurocentric ideas that assumed other civilizations were incapable of sophisticated artistry and thus foreign artistry must be seen through Western traditions. Zhang Weixing, the chief archaeologist and archaeological work department director of the Mausoleum Site Museum, stated that "there is no substantial evidence at all" for any such linkage. Raoul McLaughlin, an independent researcher on Roman trade, stated that there is no Greek influence on the Terracotta Army and emphasized the differences in artisanship, construction material, and symbology. Darryl Wilkinson of Dartmouth College has instead argued that the Qin era display of sculptural naturalism, alongside that of the pre-Columbian Moche culture in Peru, indicate that "the Greeks did not invent naturalism" and that "sculptural naturalism is not the product of any one culture's civilizational 'genius.
The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt. Some carry inscriptions that date their manufacture to between 245 and 228 BCE, indicating that they were used before burial.
The terracotta army left a legacy however, as funeral terracotta armies are known from later dynasties, although in a less stern and militaristic style, and with much smaller statuettes, such as the Western Han Yangjiawan terracotta army (195 BCE) or Yangling terracotta army (141 BCE). The human-sized monumental style of the Qin emperor has thus been observed by scholars to be a relatively short-lived artistic phase which would not reappear until the 4-6th centuries CE with the onset of monumental Buddhist sculpture in China.
Since 2006, an international team of researchers at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have been using analytical chemistry techniques to uncover more details about the production techniques employed in the creation of the Terracotta Army. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of 40,000 bronze bundled in groups of 100, the researchers reported that the arrowheads within a single bundle formed a relatively tight cluster that was different from other bundles. In addition, the presence or absence of metallic impurities was consistent within bundles. Based on the arrows' chemical compositions, the researchers concluded that a cellular manufacturing system similar to the one used in a modern Toyota factory, as opposed to a continuous assembly line in the early days of the automobile industry, was employed.
Grinding and polishing marks visible under a scanning electron microscope have provided evidence for the earliest industrial use of for polishing.
According to a 2022 study, there is statistically no difference between the facial features of terracotta warriors and contemporary Chinese populations, particularly northern and western Chinese populations. However, the issue of terracotta warriors being potentially deformed and Chinese populations undergoing changes in their facial features due to climate change and dietary factors were not addressed.
An exhibition tour of 120 real-size replicas of Terracotta statues was displayed in the German cities of Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Oberhof, Berlin (at the Palace of the Republic) and Nuremberg between 2003 and 2004.
Warriors and other artifacts were exhibited to the public at the Forum de Barcelona in Barcelona between 9 May and 26 September 2004. It was their most successful exhibition ever. The same exhibition was presented at the Fundación Canal de Isabel II in Madrid between October 2004 and January 2005, their most successful ever.
Between 15 June and 17 September 2006 the exhibition entitled "Los Guerreros de Terracota: Un Ejercito Inmortal" ("The Chinese Terracotta Army: An Immortal Army"), composed of 73 objects, were displayed at the National Museum of Colombia in Bogotá.
A collection of 120 objects from the mausoleum and 12 terracotta warriors were displayed at the British Museum in London as its special exhibition "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army" from 13 September 2007 to April 2008. This exhibition made 2008 the British Museum's most successful year and made the British Museum the United Kingdom's top cultural attraction between 2007 and 2008. The exhibition brought the most visitors to the museum since the Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972. It was reported that the 400,000 advance tickets sold out so fast that the museum extended its opening hours until midnight. According to The Times, many people had to be turned away, despite the extended hours. During the day of events to mark the Chinese New Year, the crush was so intense that the gates to the museum had to be shut. The Terracotta Army has been described as the only other set of historic artifacts (along with the remnants of the wreck of the RMS Titanic) that can draw a crowd by the name alone.
From December 2009 to May 2010, the exhibition was shown in the Centro Cultural La Moneda in Santiago de Chile.
The exhibition traveled to North America and visited museums such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Subsequently, the exhibition traveled to Sweden and was hosted in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities between 28 August 2010 and 20 January 2011. An exhibition entitled 'The First Emperor – China's Entombed Warriors', presenting 120 artifacts was hosted at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between 2 December 2010 and 13 March 2011. An exhibition entitled " L'Empereur guerrier de Chine et son armée de terre cuite" ("The Warrior-Emperor of China and his terracotta army"), featuring artifacts including statues from the mausoleum, was hosted by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 11 February 2011 to 26 June 2011. In Italy, from July 2008 to 16 November 2008, five of the warriors of the terracotta army were displayed in Turin at the Museum of Antiquities, and from 16 April 2010 to 5 September 2010 nine statues including officials, lancers and an archer were displayed at the Royal Palace in Milan at the exhibition entitled "The Two Empires".
Soldiers and related items were on display from 15 March 2013 to 17 November 2013, at the Historical Museum of Bern.
Several Terracotta Army figures were on display, along with many other objects, in an exhibit entitled "Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City from 3 April 2017, to 16 July 2017. Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties Metropolitan Museum of Art 'Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C.–A.D. 220)' Review: Treasures of Nation-Building Wall Street Journal An exhibition featuring ten Terracotta Army figures and other artifacts, "Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor," was on display at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington, from 8 April 2017 to 4 September 2017 before traveling to The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be exhibited from 30 September 2017 to 4 March 2018 with the addition of augmented reality.
An exhibition entitled "China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors" was at the World Museum in Liverpool from 9 February 2018 to 28 October 2018.
An exhibition entitled "Terracotta Warriors. Legacy of the First Emperor" took place in the Western Australian Museum in Perth between June 2025 – February 2026.
An exhibition also took place in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, Hungary entitled "The Guardians of Eternity" between November 2025 – May 2026.
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