Terracotta Armies were built by Qinshihuang (BC 259-BC 210), the first emperor of China. In ancient China, people believed they could continue their lives after death and Qinshihuang is one of them. In order to defend his regality after death, Qinshihuang began to build his terracotta armies, including terracotta soldiers, terracotta horses and terracotta chariots, at the age of 13.

Over 720,000 people were summoned by Qinshihuang to build terracotta armies. The whole project lasted for 37 years. After the death of Qinshihuang, not only the terracotta armies, but also the builders were buried with him.

Terracotta Army Museum

Terracotta Army Museum is located in Lintong District, 35 kilometers to the east of Xian.

In March 1974, a villager of Xiyang Village discovered Qinshihuang’s Terracotta Armies when he was digging a well. Archaeologists went to Xiyang Village as soon as they received the report from the villager, and then they found the miracle achieved 2000 years ago.

The digging project of terracotta armies never stops since they were initially discovered in 1974. Chinese government decided to build a terracotta army museum in 1975, which was finally opened to tourists in 1979. Based on the positions where the terracotta armies were found, 3 exhibition vaults were set up in the museum.

Vault One in Terracotta Army Museum

Area: 14260 square meters.
Length: 230 meters
Height: 5 meters
Width: 62 meters

The major exhibitions in vault one are terracotta warriors. According to their actions, the warriors were divided into 7 types, which are generals, common soldiers, chariot soldiers, elite soldiers, kneeling archers, standing soldiers and armored soldiers.

Generals

Height: 196 centimeters. Weight: 240 kilograms

Generals could be divided into fighting generals and stratagem generals. The fighting generals are wearing heavy armors and holding swords. They are already to move forward with their soldiers. The stratagem generals are wearing long cloaks and waving their hands. Ideas continuously come out of their brains.

Common Soldiers

Height: 196 centimeters. Weight: 166 kilograms

Common soldiers often fought against enemies face to face, so they never wore heavy armors in order to move faster and agiler.

Chariot Soldiers

Height: 190 centimeters. Weight: 170 kilograms

There were usually three soldiers on a chariot. One of them was driver and the other two stood on each side of a chariot, fighting against enemies.

Elite Soldiers

Height: 190 centimeters. Weight: 240 kilograms.

Elite soldiers were the bravest soldiers in Qinshihuang’s army. They wore no armet and armor, only held weapons. They were always appointed the most important and dangerous missions.

Kneeling Archers and Standing Archers

Height: 186 centimeters. Weight: 240 kilograms.

In order to attack efficiently and avoid hurt accompaniers, archers in the first row had to kneel to attack and the archers in the second row could keep standing to attack while the first row’s archers were kneeling.

Armored Soldiers

Height: 183 centimeters. Weight: 190 kilograms

Compared to generals, the armored soldiers are shorter.

Vault Two in Terracotta Army Museum

Area: 6000 square meters
Length: 86 meters
Width: 84 meters
Height: 5 meters

The armies in vault two are the most complete in the three vaults. The first squad consists of 60 standing archers and 160 kneeling archers. The standing archers are surrounding the kneeling archers. The second squad consists of 64 chariots, each of them are driven by 4 terracotta horses, which are as big as real horse. The 64 chariots are equally divided into 8 rows. The third squad consists of 19 chariots, 264 infantries and 8 cavalries. The chariots and cavalries are in the front of the squad and the infantries are standing behind them. The fourth squad consists of 108 cavalries and 180 terracotta horses.

Besides, archaeologists found two bronze chariots in vault two. Each of them is driven by 4 bronze horses. The chariots No.2 is the better reserved one. Its height is 1.06 meters and its length is 3.17 meters. A real chariot at that time would double the bronze chariot’s size. However, 1742 bronze castings, 737 gold castings and 983 silver castings make the chariot’s weight reach to 1241 kilograms.

Vault Three in Terracotta Army Museum

Area: 520 square meters
Length: 17.6 meters
Width: 21.4 meters
Height: 4.8 meters

There are only 68 terracotta warriors and horses in vault three, but they are the best reserved in the three vaults. Tourists can even see different colors on the warriors’ bodies, because vault three is the only one that never burned by fire. Vault three is the headquarters of vault two and vault one because it is located in the middle between vault one and vault two. Before Qin Dynasty, the generals always stood in the front of armies to how their braveness to both enemies and their own soldiers. As the development of the scale and tactics of wars, war directors were moved to the center of an army. In Qin Dynasty, headquarters became an independent department which was thought to be a significant improvement by archaeologists.