What Can Ancient Writings Tell Us About the Terracotta Warriors?

By David East

Small Section of Terracotta Army Showing each Unique Face — Small Section of Terracotta Army Showing Each Unique Face

China’s Terracotta Army is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, and one of the biggest archaeological finds in China. Visitors come from thousands of miles away to catch a glimpse of the awe-inspiring sight of these thousands upon thousands of buried soldiers in China. But even though these clay soldiers are thousands of years old, that doesn’t mean we’ve always known where they were.

Finding Qin Shi Huang’s Tomb – Terracotta Army

Farmer Yang Zhifa and his brothers, who were digging a well at the time, are credited with discovering the Terracotta Army on March 29^th, 1974. Bits and pieces from the tomb had been discovered at various times in the area for hundreds of years. Read More Show Less He came across one of the soldiers, then contacted the Chinese authorities, who explored the site and discovered the tomb itself. They found 8,000 clay soldiers in the Terracotta Army, with 130 chariots, and a total of 670 Terracotta Army horses. The Terracotta Army was built for Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s tomb. The thousands of soldiers were meant to protect him in the afterlife, accompanying him alongside the various treasures and artifacts he was buried with.

This archaeological discovery didn’t come out of nowhere: the tomb had been mentioned in historical records. But for nearly two thousand years, the tomb was considered to be lost, if it existed at all.

Records of the Tomb’s Construction

The Terracotta Army was first mentioned in the famous historical work Records of the Grand Historian, written by the historian Sima Qian and finished around 94 BC. Read More Show Less When Qin Shi Huang came to the throne, digging work and preparation began at Mount Li. Once all of China had been united into an empire, over 700,000 men came from all across the nation. “Mount Li”, as we know it today, is located in the city of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province in central China. Though Sima Qian’s record says that 700,000 built Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, that figure is larger than the population of any city that existed at the time. Historian John Man suggests the tomb could have been built by 16,000 men over a two-year period. We do know that digging work first started when Qin Shi Huang became King of Qin in 246 BC, aged just 13 years old. The actual construction of the tomb began after he unified China in 241 BC, becoming the first emperor of China.

Mount Li - An Auspicious Site

Writing 600 years after Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s death, the geographer Li Daoyuan stated that Mount Li was considered an auspicious site to be buried. In his work Commentary on the Water Classic he writes: Read More Show Less Qin Shi Huang undertook his great underground burial, building his burial mound within Mount Li, said to be filled with jade. Its north side is rich in gold, and its south side is rich in jade. As he wanted a great reputation, Qin Shi Huang was thus buried there.

A Tightly Guarded Palace

Sima Qian writes more about what filled the inside of the tomb: Read More Show Less They excavated three layers of underground springs and poured copper for the outside of the casket. They built palaces and observation towers that could fit one hundred officials, filling them with treasures and rarities. Workers were ordered to build mechanical crossbows to fire at those who would intrude. A drainage system was discovered in the tomb, which suggests that Sima Qian was correct when he said that underground springs were dug out. In 2012, the remains of an “imperial palace” were found at the site, roughly a quarter of the size of Beijing’s Forbidden City. As for the crossbows, historians are divided as to whether these tomb traps are real.
The hundred rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze, and the great ocean were fashioned from mercury, and were made to flow by use of mechanisms. Scholars have found high levels of mercury in the soil surrounding the tomb, which could mean that Sima Qian’s description of rivers of mercury is true. But it is also possible that the mercury is a result of pollution from local factories.

Man-fish?

Sima Qian talks about more features of the tomb: Read More Show Less The heavens were depicted above, and the land’s features were depicted below. Candles were made of the fat of “man-fish”, which will burn for a long time before going out. Scholars are unsure what “man-fish” refers to: it could mean whale fat or walrus fat, or other aquatic animals such as salamander.

The Emperor Was Not Buried Alone…

Sima Qian gives a rather gruesome account of what else went into the tomb: Read More Show Less The Second Emperor said: "It is inappropriate for the wives of the late emperor who have no sons to be free", ordered that they should accompany the dead, and a great many died. After the burial, it was suggested that it would be a serious breach if the craftsmen who constructed the tomb and knew of its treasure were to divulge those secrets. Therefore, after the funeral ceremonies had completed, the inner passages and doorways were blocked, and the exit sealed, immediately trapping the workers and craftsmen inside. None could escape. 188 burial pits have been found within the tomb, and human remains have been discovered there, mostly the skeletons of young women. The skeletal remains suggest that the people were killed elsewhere, then buried in the pits.

Fire damage?

Another historical record, The Book of Han, suggests that the mausoleum was burnt down. After the Emperor’s death in 220 BC, Qin Shi Huang’s Qin dynasty was succeeded by the Han dynasty. Read More Show Less The first emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu, struggled for power against the warlord Xiang Yu between 206-202 BC, and it is Xiang Yu who is said to have looted the tomb. Afterwards, a shepherd is said to have burnt it down: Xiang set the palace and buildings on fire. Later, onlookers saw that the site had been unearthed. Some time after, a shepherd lost his sheep, and the sheep entered the hole. Holding a torch, the shepherd went to look for his sheep. It started a fire, which burned the hidden casket. There is no solid archeological evidence that the tomb was destroyed, although there is some indication of fire damage in the pits where the Terracotta Warriors were kept.

“Made in China”

Of course, the artifacts in the tomb itself also contain writings which tell us how they were created. The Terracotta Warriors and their weapons bear inscriptions such as: Read More Show Less 17th year [230 B.C.]. Government Workshops, produced by master Yu, worker Diao. We know that the Terracotta Warriors were made in workshops by government workers and artisans local to the area. However, it is only from examining the figures that we know that their torsos, legs, arms, and heads were made separately, then joined together with wet clay, then fired. Every soldier is said to be unique, differing in height, rank, hairstyle, and uniform. Even the faces differ from individual to individual, although archaeologists have identified at least ten possible face molds. Originally, the figures were painted in all sorts of bright colors, but the paint has faded over time.

Where are the Terracotta Warriors now?

Though most of the warriors remain in Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, some of them have travelled around the globe. Currently, ten of the Terracotta Soldiers are on exhibition in The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, USA and will be there until March 4^th 2018. Meanwhile, some of the clay soldiers will also be put on display at the World Museum in Liverpool, UK from February 9^th 2018 to October 28th 2018.