Earth / stone soldiers or Terracotta Army are terracotta statues found in the Tomb of the first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang. These sculptures, made in 210 BC, were found by chance in 1974 when a farmer from the local people was digging a well near Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. This army remained underground for two thousand years with horses, chariots, arrows and bronze swords. Because the statues are made of clay close to each other and are fragile, archaeologists have had difficulty studying them. The construction of stone soldiers is said to be related to the death of the former Chinese ruler Qin Shi Huang. Because during his dynasty, when the ruler died, he was buried with his wives, personal belongings, servants, war supplies and soldiers. But Huang did not want his soldiers and servants to die, he wanted terracotta and bronze soldiers and others to be prepared to accompany him in the afterlife.
The army is believed to be guarding the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, referred to as the" Emperor of the firsts". After defeating all the principalities in China and ending the Warring States Period, the ruler established the Qin Dynasty and declared himself emperor.
According to historian Si Maqian, the construction of the tomb, which was started in 246 BC when the ruler was alive, took 30-odd years and 700 thousand people were employed in this construction. The tomb is quadrangular in shape, 350 meters long from south to North, 345 meters wide from East to West and 76 meters high in pyramid shape.
Sculpted soldiers vary in height between 183-195 cm, and the facial expression of each of them is different. It is said that there are still 8 thousand soldiers,150 cavalry horses, 520 horses and 130 chariots under the ground at the excavation site. - The Tomb of Qin Shi Huang and the Terracotta Army were added to the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO in 1987
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