During the Zhou dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi Huang had thousands of terracotta warriors made in an attempt to reconstruct his empire for the afterlife. The tomb to the west is still to be fully excavated, and is said to include a full reconstruction of the ancient capital, complete with rivers and lakes of mercury. According to historian Sima Qian, over 700,000 workers were drafted for the project, and those involved in the construction of the tomb were rewarded with graves beside their emperor. Originally painted in bright colors, the warriors were constructed from interchangeable parts luted together by clay. Because the heads were hand-molded, no two warriors appear the same. Huang's army was drawn from all over his vast empire, and this ethnic diversity is reflected in the variety of hairstyles, headdresses, and facial expressions of the warriors.
In 1974, peasants were digging a well near the Emperor's tomb and found fragments of pottery. Further excavation led to the discovery of the army of warriors. Can you imagine what a waste it would have been if they were never discovered?
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