Terracotta Army Statues

The Terracotta army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting Qin Shi Houng, 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 were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, outside Xi’an, Shaanxi, China. The figures vary in height according to their rank, tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the army hold more than 8000 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. 

The construction of the tomb was described by the historian Sima Qian (145-90 BCE) in the Records of the Grand Historian, the first of China’s 24 dynastic histories, which was written a century after the mausoleum’s completion. This mausoleum had 700,000 conscripted workers.