Terracotta Warriors

 



Qui Shi Huang was the founder of the Qin Dynasty. He ruled over China from 247 to 221 BC. He took the throne at just 13 years old. Qin Shi Huang molded the Chinese empire by dividing the land into 36 different areas, each with a governor, a military leader, and an imperial inspector. He moved multiple families from their homes to the capital of China so that he could keep a close eye on them. He also confiscated all weapons, and the currency changed. Also during his rule there were hundreds of thousands of men who were building border defenses along the Yellow river that stretched over more than 3,000 miles. This was the start of the Great Wall of China. 

One of Qin Shi Huang's life goals was to conquer death. He wanted to achieve immortality so he decided to build himself a tomb. He started the construction on his tomb shortly after he took the throne. His reasoning for building the tomb was to have an army to protect him in the after life. His tomb was discovered in 1974 by farmers who were tilling the land. His tomb contained an underground city that was guarded by a life size terracotta army that included over 7,000 warriors, infantrymen, horses, chariots, and all of their attendant armor and weaponry. The terracotta warriors each appeared to have distinct features. Gardens and stables, jade jewelry, and gold and silver ornaments were also unearthed in his tomb. The tomb has over 600 pits over a 22 square mile area. Some of the pits are hard to get to but 3 major pits are easily accessible. 

The artwork is important because it is a piece of history from the Qin Dynasty that didn't last very long. It is interesting because Qin Shi Huang was trying to figure out how to achieve immortality and his thoughts on how to do that was to build himself a tomb with thousands of terracotta warriors. The imagery on each of the warriors is very detailed and complex so I think that shows that the workers who made them cared about what they were doing and wanted to put their best into each one. 

Sources: 
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/south-east-se-asia/china-art/a/terracotta-warriors-from-the-first-qin-emperor-of-china

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/terra-cotta-soldiers-on-the-march-30942673/ 


Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 22, 2020 at 12:16 PM

    Hi Lily, great post, its crazy to think that he was ruling at 13 and right away wanted to plan for his death. I think its interesting how many soldiers he thought he needed to have for his afterlife.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Luna VelarOctober 23, 2020 at 9:49 AM

    Hi Lily!

    I learned a lot from your post, it was very informative and wonderfully written. I didn't know much about the history of the Qin Shi Huang, but it was very interesting that he confiscated all weapons. I wonder why? Maybe fear of revolts? It's amazing how large his tomb was. I never realized it had an area of 22 square miles. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ChloNovember 27, 2020 at 1:53 PM

    I did this b log post as well. I found it very interesting that there was so much detail in all of the elements of the warriors. He was such an inspiring leader at only the age of 13. I think it's crazy that he was that young. It's weird to think that if in the United States we had a president that ran the country at the age of 13.

    ReplyDelete

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