Terracotta Warriors

One of the main attractions that brings people to Xi’an are the Terracotta Warriors. You’ve probably seen them on National Geographic or the History Channel. I had seen pictures of them, but I didn’t know the background. Nonetheless, I was still very excited to get to see them. Like I said, old stuff fascinates me. The Terracotta Warriors were built by Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, in 3rd Century B.C. Ok, he actually didn’t build them all himself, but he ordered 700,000 workers to build what archeologists estimate to be over 8,000 life-size, individualized soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses to guard his empire in the afterlife, the majority of which are still buried in the pits. I’ve concluded that this emperor had a bit of an ego and he took it with him to the afterlife.

A couple of centuries after the emperor died, irate rebellious peasants broke into the tomb and destroyed many of the warriors. Since the discovery of warriors in 1974 archeologists have worked to reassemble them. They are on exhibit here and other museums around the world. But if you are going to see a Terracotta Warrior it might as well be here.