The Terra Cotta Warriors
by Jess Aither

The day is hot and the air is thick. All 19 of descend off of the bus and begin our walk to the pits while the sun beats down on our backs. We enter the plaza which marks the location of the Terra Cotta Warriors. In 1974, local farmers in Xi’an discovered the "8th wonder of the world" accidentally while drilling a well. The farmers uncovered a head made out of terra cotta clay, not knowing what lay beneath them.

In 247 BC, the first emperor of China, named Qin Shi Huan began the construction of his underground mausoleum, which contained a terra cotta army of over 8000 warriors and horses, built there to protect him in the after life.
Each of the 8,000 warriors are completely unique ranging in height, facial features, hair style and rank. They were made using molds for the heads, hands and feet, and what is known as a coil pot method for the legs, arms, and the bodies. Using the rustic method of firing the warriors, in order to dry them, only 1 out of every 10 warriors were completed successfully. This meant that production of the clay soldiers, to finish them in time for the emperor’s death, had to happen day and night for years. Unfortunately, they were never finished. When the emperor died unexpectedly, production of the warriors ceased. He was buried along with what was completed of his underground fortress.

More than 2,000 years later, we stand where that emperor once did, overseeing his dream. We entered Pit #1 through a short hallway. As we began to exit the hallway, the massive size of the pit was seen and heard through our gasps. I personally remember my breath being taken away at the sheer magnitude of what we were witnessing. Coming out of the short hallway, it opened up to a room that was the size of a football field and all along the ground were the warriors that had been there for thousands of years in various stages, and now, being reconstructed. The finished ones were lined up in rows. All we could do was stand there in silence and attempt to take in the massive amount of history that was standing before us. It was really one of the only times in the trip when I was truly speechless. It was amazing and breathtaking, I am very glad that I got the opportunity to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.

This is how the soldiers were found in the 1970's. They had been smashed by the regime that came after Qin Shi Huan, first emperor of unified China. Painstaking restoration work has put back together 1000's of soldiers and horses to date, with much of tomb left to be uncovered.

The size of pit #1 is amazing. This is the oldest pit, the longest excavated, and the most extensive find to date. The dirt walls between the soldiers are original dividers of rammed earth between the lined up foot soldiers and calvary.

Some of the Terra Cotta Horses in pit #1.

Left to Right: Kneeling Archer; Standing Archer; Honor Guard. All three are higher level soldiers found in later pits, not with the foot soldiers, leading archeologists to believe they are situated closer to the burial chamber of the Emperor (yet to be unearthed).

Jenna and one of the Charioteers, in a case.