Terra Cotta Warriors

Part of the reasoning for choosing a trip to Xi'an, for me, was to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. I had read a little about them, and seen some brief video footage. Given all of the stories, I expected this to be an amazing experience, and I was certainly not let down.

After breakfast on our second day in the wonderfully historical city of Xi'an (a great rest and breakfast at the Sofitel), we did not head out immediately to the warrior excavation site. Rather, Jenny built up the suspense of the visit with a stop at the site of an excavation of a matriarchal village (deserves its own post), another stop at a terra cotta factory (tourist trap- but interesting place to view how the terra cotta is made into the statues), another stop at a famous hot springs (sorry no bathing), and finally a lunch. So early in the afternoon, we joined the throng of other tourists at the warrior excavation site which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.



The site was discovered in 1974 by a couple of farmers who were trying to dig a well. The Terracotta Army was buried with the Emperor of Qin Shi Huangdi in 209-210 BC Their purpose was to help rule another empire with Shi Huang Di in the afterlife. Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as "Qin's Armies" and the site is sometimes referred to as a necropolis (love this term!). Some people think that the army was also built for protection. Shi Huangdi ruled from 247 B.C. to 221 B.C. and is often credited with the unification of many states to create what would eventually be called China. He is known as the first emperor of China.


Construction of the site and the creation of the warriors began the day he became emperor. The terracotta figures were manufactured both in workshops by government labourers and also by local craftsmen. The head, arms, legs and torso were created separately and then assembled. Face moulds (perhaps as many as eight) were probably used and then individual facial features were crafted. Once assembled the intricate features such as facial expressions were added. Although all the faces were unique, the arms, legs and torsos were not. It suggests that for the sheer number of soldiers that were created, that it is likely that a factory line style of production, was used. It may in fact be the first large scale factory. After completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits outlined above in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

The terracotta figures are life-like and life-sized (admitedly perhaps a little short in today's standards). They vary in height, uniform and hairstyle in accordance with rank. There were foot soldiers, scholars, generals, archers, horses and chariots. When they were all assembled, they were then painted. Unfortunately, the soldiers we saw in the pits and in the cases have very little color to them. The archeologists discovered that the paint began to fade soon after they were excavated. It is for this reason that many of the clay warriors were reburied, and their re-excavation depends on the development of technology to preserve the colors. We were told that German scientists are currently close to finding a solutions. However, their existence served as a testament to the amount of labour and skill involved in their construction. It is also proof of the incredible amount of power the First Emperor possessed to order such a monumental undertaking as the manufacturing of the army.



They have excavated 8000 of these soldiers, and this only represents a very small portion of the overall site (now here the sources vary- some say the entire site contains 8,000 soldiers while others say that this number is only a portion of the overall site- I am sure that our guide said the latter). When it was all completed, the entire army was buried, along with the emperor, and then the 700,000 workers were "sacrificed" and then buried. Secrecy about the location was tantamount- seems a bit drastic and probably not all that useful since it would be difficult to controlling 700,000 bodies from gossiping at any point during their work on this site. I also find it amazing that at this time period, that there were that many people that could be killed and that it would not affect the remaining population adversely. There were more people "sacrificed" at the end of this project than lived in Alexandria at the same time period (population 600,000).

This last photo is of the small clay statues taken at the workshop. To me this is what they should look like. Unfortunately, this is what they look like before they hit the kiln. When then emerge from the heat, they have turned a dark grey, black color that I do not find appealing.

Post Script: While I was sorting through my pictures, I found a photo of my nephew standing next to a terra cotta warrior. He's not been to China yet. We took this photo at Christmas while we were docked for a day's visit. The warrior was standing at one of the doors of the fort at Acapulco.