This world-famous site, discovered by a local farmer in 1974, is still being excavated today, more than 40 years since the time of its first unearthing.
The Terracotta warriors were built by Emperor Qin over 2000 years ago. (This is the same emperor that built the Great Wall). He had them built to protect him in his afterlife. It took approximately 37 years and 700,000 men to build the Terracotta army. He left behind no record of the soldiers, so no one ever knew that they even existed.
In 1974 in the farming town of Lin Tong, a farmer was digging a well on his land and uncovered the face of one of the warriors. He thought that it was a demon that he had unburied and thought that he would be cursed from then on.
He went to the Chinese government and told them what he had found. The government bought his land from him and began excavating. This first find is now what they call pit 1. It is infantry, and is where the farmer found the face of the first soldier. In 1976 two more pits were discovered very close to the first one. These two new pits contained the generals and the cavalry of the Terracotta army. They are called pit two and three.
The amazing thing about these warriors is that there are no two that are alike. They are all different, with different faces, different expressions, etc. There are over 8,000 known warriors at this point. They weigh from 300 pounds to 600 pounds each.
The Terracotta army was originally built in long corridors, with large wooden beams above them. They were then buried with dirt. Over time the wooden beams deteriorated and caved in, breaking most of the soldiers and horses with the weight of the wood and dirt.
They have an area that they call the hospital, and this is where they carefully put all the pieces of the warriors back together. The crazy thing is that the broken pieces of multiple soldiers are all intermingled, so as they try to put the pieces together, they don’t even know which soldier they came from.
The amazing thing about these warriors is that there are no two that are alike. They are all different, with different faces, different expressions, etc. There are over 8,000 known warriors at this point. They weigh from 300 pounds to 600 pounds each.
The Terracotta army was originally built in long corridors, with large wooden beams above them. They were then buried with dirt. Over time the wooden beams deteriorated and caved in, breaking most of the soldiers and horses with the weight of the wood and dirt.
They have an area that they call the hospital, and this is where they carefully put all the pieces of the warriors back together. The crazy thing is that the broken pieces of multiple soldiers are all intermingled, so as they try to put the pieces together, they don’t even know which soldier they came from.
Our local guide Louise was hysterical, and said that when the tourists go home at night and the lights are turned off, the soldiers start fighting with each other to get their body parts back.
It is 20 minute walk from the entry gate to the sight of the Terracotta warriors, so on our way in, we caught the golf carts, but on the way out, we had to walk.
Once we made it to the museum, we had to go through our ticket check which took some time.
But then we were in and were free to explore on our own. The most famous area is called pit one, and it contains the vast majority of the soldiers, horses and chariots. The sheer magnitude of this excavation sight is unbelievable!
Then there is the detail in each soldier. No two are alike. Remember these warriors are life size!
Some of the horses.
This is the front of the display in pit one. This is where the well was, where the Terracotta warriors were discovered.
Many of the soldiers originally held weapons made of wood, so those weapons no longer exist.
A lot of the soldiers are still waiting for the archaeologists to find some of their body parts.
This area is called the hospital. It is where they put the soldiers back together as they find their various pieces.
Some of the warriors that are sill being unearthed. You can see they they are in a state of rubble.
Once we made it to the museum, we had to go through our ticket check which took some time.
But then we were in and were free to explore on our own. The most famous area is called pit one, and it contains the vast majority of the soldiers, horses and chariots. The sheer magnitude of this excavation sight is unbelievable!
Some of the horses.
This is the front of the display in pit one. This is where the well was, where the Terracotta warriors were discovered.
A lot of the soldiers are still waiting for the archaeologists to find some of their body parts.
Since the first excavations began, the Chinese government has realized that they do not really know how to preserve the soldiers that they have uncovered, so they now have slowed the excavation of the soldiers dramatically and have even recovered some of the warriors as they wait for a better way to preserve them.
Seeing the Terracotta soldiers was an amazing experience for Steve and I. Steve remembers learning about these in ~1975 and wanted to see them at this point...well we did it today! The magnitude of this sight, and the fact that it was created over 2,000 years ago is incredible to us. The crowds at this museum were unbelievable, but so worth it. And we were amazed at how considerate everyone was. They got to the front, took their pictures and moved on.
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