Terracotta Army
by Unknown Artist, -210
Details
- Year
- -210
- Medium
- Terracotta
- Size
- Over 8,000 soldiers, each 180-197 cm tall
The Terracotta Army is a collection of over 8,000 life-sized clay soldiers buried with China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, around 210 BCE. Each warrior has unique facial features, hairstyles, and expressions, suggesting they were modeled on actual soldiers. The army was meant to protect the emperor in the afterlife, a concept of Ancient Egyptian sculpture taken to an entirely different scale.
Farmers discovered the first fragments in 1974 while digging a well near Xi'an. Excavation revealed three major pits containing infantry, cavalry, archers, and officers arranged in battle formation. The warriors originally held real weapons (mostly looted in antiquity) and were painted in bright colors that faded within minutes of exposure to air. Some pigments have been preserved using modern techniques.
The museum complex sits in Xi'an, China, about 35 kilometers from the city center. Only a fraction of the emperor's tomb complex has been excavated. The main burial mound remains sealed, reportedly containing rivers of mercury and elaborate recreations of the empire. The Terracotta Army alone took an estimated 700,000 workers over 40 years to create.
About Terracotta Army
Over 8,000 soldiers, plus 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. They were buried around 210 BCE with Emperor Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor. The figures are spread across three main excavation pits. Many remain unexcavated to preserve them.
Yes. Each figure has a unique face, with different hairstyles, expressions, and features. They were assembled from separately made parts (heads, arms, legs, torsos) then customized with hand-sculpted details before firing. Height varies by military rank, with generals being the tallest. No two warriors are identical.
At the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, about 35 km northeast of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, China. The largest pit is enclosed by a massive roofed structure. The site was discovered in 1974 by local farmers digging a well. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
Yes. The warriors were originally brightly painted in red, green, blue, yellow, and purple. Exposure to air after excavation caused most of the lacquer-based paint to dry out and flake off within minutes. Archaeologists now use special preservation techniques and leave many warriors unexcavated until better methods are developed.
Craftsmen used local clay, shaping parts separately in molds, then assembling and customizing each figure by hand. After assembly, the warriors were fired in kilns at high temperatures, then painted. The entire project took an estimated 700,000 laborers nearly 40 years to complete, beginning when Qin Shi Huang took the throne at age 13.
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