Earth Soldiers or Terracotta Army (Simplified Chinese: 兵马俑; Traditional Chinese: 兵馬俑; pinyin: bīngmǎ yǒng; plain "soldier and horse funeral statues"), sculptures in terracotte in the tomb of the first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang. Sculptures made in 210 BC were discovered in 1974 by a farmer near Xi'an in Shaanxi province of China. The army is believed to protect the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, known as the "Emperor of the Firsts".
Qin Shi Huang, who defeated all the principalities in China and ended the Warring States period, declared himself emperor by establishing the Qin Dynasty. According to the historian Si Maqian, the construction of his tomb, which was started in 246 BC while Qin Shi Huang was still alive, took 30-odd years, 700 thousand people were employed in the construction.
Located in the Lishan region of Xi'an city of Shaanxi province of China, the foundation of the tomb is rectangular, 350 meters long from south to north, and 345 meters wide from east to west; The 76-meter-high soil is in the shape of a pyramid.
The face expression of each of these statue soldiers, whose height varies between 183-195 centimeters, is different. In the excavation area, it is estimated that there are still 8000 soldiers under the ground, 130 chariots along with 520 horses, 150 cavalry horses.
The Qin Shihuang Tomb and the Terra Cotta Army were taken to the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1987.
Comments
Post a Comment