25 Places to visit before you die: No.8 The Terracotta Army

Described as the greatest archaeological find of the 20th Century, the Terracotta Army, rediscovered in 1974 near Xian, Shaanxi province, China, is a remarkable accumulation of life-sized clay figures of soldiers and horses dating from 210 BC with which the First Emperor decided to be buried. The whole Army is yet to be excavated from the ground, but the 1,000 or so figures already uncovered are an astonishing site and march onto afterabc's list of, 25 Places to visit before you die. 

Ying Zheng, the First Emperor of China, was a remarkable leader, becoming at age 13  King of Qin, (247BC) which at that time was the westernmost of the seven provinces that were to make up the united China, by 221BC Ying Zheng had subjugated all the other provinces to create what we know today as China. King Zheng renamed himself Qin Shi Huang Di ('First Emperor of Qin'). The First Emperor was to have a lasting effect on his country including; connecting the existing walls to create the first version of the Great Wall of China, constructed an extensive network of roads and canals throughout his empire, standardized written language and money, and abolished feudalism, establishing in its place provinces run by civilian governors.

Shortly after Zheng became king, he ordered that construction begin on a Mausoleum and an Army of Terracotta solders that were going to help Shi Huang Di rule another empire in the afterlife. Construction began in 246 BC and continued until about 209 BC, and involved approximately 700,000 workers.  The Mausoleum precinct was huge, measuring 2,100 x 975 metres and enclosed administrative buildings, horse stables and cemeteries; the heart of the precinct was the 500x500 metre tomb for Shi Huang Di. The tomb is under an earthen pyramid 76 meters tall and somewhat intriguingly remains unopened.

The Terracotta Army were placed in three large pits which are located about 600 meters east of the mausoleum precinct. (A forth pit was dug but not used).

The Emperor had stated that no two solders were to be made to look the same. Thus the construction of the statues would require an immense control of manufacturing and quality control. Remarkable for the age, the figures were produced in a style of an assembly line with specific parts, the head, arms, legs and torsos created separately and then assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting one solid piece of terracotta and subsequently firing it. The process involved separate workshops using government labourers and also by local craftsmen each been made responsible for the parts they produced;- each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying that workshops that once made tiles and other mundane items were commandeered to work on the terracotta army.

Interestingly, it is believed that eight face moulds were most likely used, and then clay was added to provide individual facial features. Once assembled, intricate features such as facial expressions were added. It is believed that their legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. The statues of the infantry soldiers range between 5 foot 8 inches and 6 foot 2 inches; the commanders are 6 and half feet tall.  The statues were vividly painted including a colour called Chinese purple; although most of that paint has flown, traces of it may be seen on some of the statues.

Upon completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

The construction of the pits included excavation to about 7 meters deep, placement of a brick floor, and construction of a sequence of rammed earth partitions and tunnels. The floors of the tunnels were covered with mats, the life-sized statuary was placed erect on the mats and the tunnels were covered with logs. Finally each pit was buried. Pit one, the largest pit, is about 230 meters long and has 11 corridors, the infantry was placed in rows four deep. Pit 2 includes a U-shaped layout of chariots, cavalry and infantry; and Pit 3 contains a command headquarters. Only about 1,000 soldiers have been excavated so far; archaeologists estimate that there are over 7,000 soldiers (infantry to generals), 130 chariots with horses, and 110 cavalry horses.

In Xian itself, you can see the Terracotta Army in a barn-like museum that has been built specially for it, galleries allow the many visitors to look down on the parts of the site that are excavated. It is easy to imagine the figures as almost real people, with different hairdos and mixed facial expressions. But it is the sheer size of the site and the knowledge that so much more lies hidden that is the so breath taking.

As mentioned earlier the Emperor's tomb has not yet been excavated, but it is written by chronicles of the time that he recreated his entire empire down there, with rivers made of mercury, a false sky filled with stars and ersatz mountains to climb and dream on. By modern standards the Emperor seems crazed by power, but he also achieved much, as we have so much more to learn from further excavations. The First Emperor ruled until his death in 210BC, aged 49.

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