Terra-Cotta Warriors

 

Political leaders, celebrities and scholars who have visited the site of the

Terra Cotta Warriors

  all considered it as a great archeological discovery in human history and worth one of the eight wonders in the world. The site is ranked high besides the Pyramids in Egypt and ancient sculptures in Greece, they are all the invaluable treasures of our world.

The astonishing discovery of the

Terra Cotta Warriors

was at Xi'an in 1974 by a local peasant. It triggered the interest of Chinese archeologists, they excavated the 7,000 earth-made soldier and horse figures, which are taller and larger than the real live ones at that time (about 2,200 years before present). The most interesting thing is the face expressions and the "hair styles" of these soldier figures are different from one another. It took about 38 years with many craftsmen to complete the whole project.

In 221 BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty established the first centralized feudal dynasty in China. After his death, he was buried at the north foot of Lishan Hill in the east of Lintong County. The tomb is a rammed-soil mound, 47m high and its base is 485m - 515m. In 1974, three large pits of terra-cotta figures were found 1.5km east of the mausoleum. Among the three, the largest one is Pit No.1, covering 14,260 sq. m. The pit is divided into eleven corridors in which arrayed 38 columns of life-sized clay warriors, horses and chariots.

Over 6,000 clay warriors could be assumedly unearthed from the pit if it would be completely excavated. This would be really an artistic reappearance of hundreds of

Qin Shi Huang's warriors

. With its artistic momentum, it could be acclaimed a piece of great masterwork. The figures, life-likely shaped and colorfully painted, are of high artistic value. Now, a big arch-roofed exhibition hall is set up over Pit No.1 where the restored terra-cotta warriors and horses are on display.