TerracottaArmy

MausoleumoftheFirstQinEmperor

UNESCOWorldHeritageSite

State

Party

China

Type

Cultural

Criteria

i,iii,iv,vi

Reference

441

Region

Asia-Pacific

InscriptionHistory

Inscription

1987

(11thSession)

NameasinscribedonWorldHeritageList.

RegionasclassifiedbyUNESCO.

TheTerracottaArmy(traditionalChinese:兵馬俑;simplifiedChinese:兵馬俑;pinyin:bīngmǎyǒng;literally"soldierandhorsefunerarystatues")orTerracottaWarriorsandHorsesisacollectionof8,099largerthanlifeChineseterracottafiguresofwarriorsandhorseslocatedneartheMausoleumoftheFirstQinEmperor(Chinese:秦始皇陵;pinyin:QínShǐhuánglíng).Thefiguresvaryinheightaccordingtotheirrank;thetallestbeingtheGenerals.Theheightsrangeis184-197cm(6ft-6ft5in),ormorethanafullfoottallerthantheaveragesoldieroftheperiod.Thefigureswerediscoveredin1974nearXi'an,Shaanxiprovince,China.

Introduction

TheTerracottaTombMuseumentrance

TheTerracottaArmywasburiedwiththeEmperorofQin(QinShiHuangdi)in210-209BC(hisreignoverQinwasfrom247BCto221BCandunifiedChinafrom221BCtotheendofhislifein210BC).TheirpurposewastohelpruleanotherempirewithShiHuangdiintheafterlife.Consequently,theyarealsosometimesreferredtoas"Qin'sArmies".

TheTerracottaArmywasdiscoveredinMarch1974bylocalfarmersdrillingawaterwelltotheeastofMountLishan.(Theprecisecoordinatesare34°23′″N,109°16′″ECoordinates:34°23′″N,109°16′″E.)MountLishanisalsowherethematerialtomaketheterracottawarriorsoriginated.Inadditiontothewarriors,anentireman-madenecropolisfortheemperorhasbeenexcavated.

Constructionofthismausoleumbeganin246BCandisbelievedtohavetaken700,000workersandcraftsmen38yearstocomplete.QinShiHuangdiwasinterredinsidethetombcomplexuponhisdeathin210BC.AccordingtotheGrandHistorianSimaQian(145BC-90BC),theFirstEmperorwasburiedalongsidegreatamountsoftreasureandobjectsofcraftsmanship,aswellasascalereplicaoftheuniversecompletewithgemmedceilingsrepresentingthecosmos,andflowingmercuryrepresentingthegreatearthlybodiesofwater.Pearlswerealsoplacedontheceilingsinthetombtorepresentthestars,planets,etc.RecentscientificworkatthesitehasshownhighlevelsofmercuryinthesoilofMountLishan,tentativelyindicatinganaccuratedescriptionofthesite’scontentsbyhistorianSimaQian.

ThetombofQinShiHuangdiisnearanearthenpyramid76meterstallandnearly350squaremeters.Thetombpresentlyremainsunopened.Thereareplanstosealofftheareaaroundthetombwithaspecialtent-typestructuretopreventcorrosionfromexposuretooutsideair.However,thereisatpresentonlyonecompanyintheworldthatmakesthesetents,andtheirlargestmodelwillnotcoverthesiteasneeded.

Aterracottasoldierandhishorse

QinShiHuangdi’snecropoliscomplexwasconstructedtoserveasanimperialcompoundorpalace.Itcomprisesseveraloffices,hallsandotherstructuresandissurroundedbyawallwithgatewayentrances.Theremainsofthecraftsmenworkinginthetombmayalsobefoundwithinitsconfines,asitisbelievedtheyweresealedinsidealivetokeepthemfromdivulginganysecretsaboutitsrichesorentrance.Itwasonlyfitting,therefore,tohavethiscompoundprotectedbythemassiveterracottaarmyinterrednearby.InJuly2007itwasdetermined,usingremotesensingtechnology,thatthemausoleumcontainsa90-foottallbuildingbuiltabovethetomb,withfoursteppedwalls,eachhavingninesteps.Researcherstheorizeditwasbuilt"forthesouloftheemperortodepart."

Construction

Terracottadetail.Notwolife-sizedfiguresarealikeinthetomb.

Theterracottafiguresweremanufacturedbothinworkshopsbygovernmentlaborersandalsobylocalcraftsmen.Itisbelievedthattheyweremadeinmuchthesamewaythatterracottadrainagepipesweremanufacturedatthetime.Thiswouldmakeitafactorylinestyleofproduction,withspecificpartsmanufacturedandassembledafterbeingfiredasopposedtocraftingonesolidpieceofterracottaandsubsequentlyfiringit.Aftercompletion,theterracottafigureswereplacedinthepitsoutlinedaboveinprecisemilitaryformationaccordingtorankandduty.

Theterracottafiguresarelife-likeandlife-sized.Theyvaryinheight,uniformandhairstyleinaccordancewithrank.Thecoloredlacquerfinish,moldedfaces(eachisindividual),andrealweaponsandarmorusedinmanufacturingthesefigurescreatedarealisticappearance.Theweaponswerestolenshortlyafterthecreationofthearmyandthecoloringhasmostlyfaded.However,theirexistenceservedasatestamenttotheamountoflabourandskillinvolvedintheirconstruction.ItisalsoproofoftheincredibleamountofpowertheFirstEmperorpossessedtoordersuchamonumentalundertakingasthemanufacturingoftheterracottaarmy.Peoplebelievethattheterracottawarriorswerebasedontruepeopleaseveryfacehasdifferentfacialfeaturesandexpressions.

Destructionandgradualdecay

Terracottafiguresinvariousstagesofre-assemblyafterbeingunearthed.

ThereisevidenceofalargefirethatburnedthewoodenstructuresoncehousingtheTerracottaArmy.ThefirewasdescribedbySimaQian,whodescribedthemastheconsequencesofGeneralXiangYu,whoraidedthetomblessthanfiveyearsafterthedeathoftheFirstEmperor,asthattheeffectsofGeneralXiang’sarmyincludedlootingofthetombandstructuresholdingtheTerracottaArmy,aswellassettingfiretothenecropolisandstartingablazethatlastedforallegedlythreemonths,thoughnootherrecordedgreatfireinhistoryeverlastedmorethansevendays(othergreatnotablefires:GreatFireofRome,1871GreatChicagoFire,Londonfire,FireofMoscow(1812)).Becauseofthis,onlyonestatuehassurvivedintact:astatueofakneelingarcher.Despitethefire,however,muchoftheremainsoftheTerracottaArmystillsurviveinvariousstagesofpreservation,surroundedbyremnantsoftheburntwoodenstructures.

In1999,itwasreportedthatwarriorsweresufferingfrom"ninedifferentkindsofmold",causedbyraisedtemperaturesandhumidityinthebuildingwhichhousesthesoldiers,andthebreathoftourists.Inaddition,SouthChinaMorningPostreportedthefigureshavebecomeoxidisedgreyfrombeingexposedtoair,whichmaycausearmstofalloff,nosesandhairstylestodisappear.However,theofficialsdismissedtheclaims.InDailyPlanetGoestoChina,theTerracottaWarriorssegmentreportedtheChinesescientistsfoundsootonthesurfaceofthestatue,concludingthatthepollutionintroducedfromcoalburningplantswasresponsibleforthedecayingoftheterracottastatues.

TerracottaArmyoutsideChina

Warriors'horsesinarow

TheBritishMuseumhostsanexhibitionoforiginalandreplicawarriorstogetherwithcontemporaneousartefactsfromvariousChinesemuseumsfrom13September2007to6April2008.

SixofthewarriorsweredisplayedatSelfridgesdepartmentstoreinBritishColumbiain1981aspartofamarketingeventcalled'EastMeetsWest'.

FourterracottawarriorsandhorsesfromtheMausoleumweredisplayedat1982World'sFair;thiswasthefirsttimeChinahadparticipatedinaWorldFairsince1904.

In2004,anexhibitoftheterracottawarriorswasfeaturedat2004UniversalForumofCulturesinBarcelona.ItlaterinauguratedtheCuartoDepósitoArtCenteratMadrid.Itconsistedoftenwarriors,fourotherbigfiguresandotherp