NHK World Heritage 100 Series

Narration Text

A terracotta army has risen from the underworld after 2,200 years. This great army entombed in the earth was made for Qin Shi Huang Di to conquer the afterlife. His mausoleum is in Xian in China. It took 700 thousand laborers and 40 years to build.

The Qin conquered all of China in 221 BC, and a vast unified state was born. Qin Shi Huang Di was the very first "emperor" of all China. Amazing buried treasure was discovered about one kilometer from his mausoleum in 1974. Terracotta figures were unearthed form 5 meters beneath the surface. There are rows of soldiers and horses, 8000 in all. Three rows of life-size warriors head the formation. They are the vanguards. Officers ride on horse-drawn chariots behind. A stunning number of soldiers in the formation of the Qin Army is at the rear. The terracotta figures are aligned with the road to the mausoleum. This was part of the Qin emperor’s tomb complex. The faces are lifelike. They are so delicately carved you can see each strand of hair. Each face is unique and shows the various ethnic groups that made up the army. The general’s colors have been recreated from pigment traces.

These horse-drawn bronze chariots were found near the Emperor’s mausoleum. It appears that the Emperor planned to conquer the after-life riding his chariot. The Qin Dynasty was overthrown. Rebel chief Xiang Yu set fire to the terracotta army. Qin Shi Huang Di hoped to rule the world, but his dream died with him.