Terra cotta Warriors and Horses Museum is located about 1.5 km
east of Emperor Qinshi Huang's Mausoleum.
In the early spring of 1974, a number of peasants
accidentally discovered some ancient bronze weapons and pieces
of broken terra cotta armored warriors while sinking a well at
the northern foot of Mt. Lishan, 35 km from Xi'an, the famous
cultural city in China's history.No one ever expected that this
accidental discovery would prove to be one of the most significant
modern archaeological finds, adding greater understanding to China's
history and at the same time unfolding a unique and majestic spectacle
before the world: the Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum,
the underground army of terra cotta warriors
Among the three pits, No.1 pit is the largest one. More than
6,000 clay warriors and horses could be unearthed from No.1 pit.
All of them are life-like. The terra-cotta warriors and horses
are arrayed in an oblong battle formation of the Qin Dynasty,
facing east, they look healthy and strong and have different facial
expressions, showing Emperor Qingshihuang's Strong determination
of wiping out the other six states and unifying the whole country.
It is the most magnificent archaeological discovery in this century.
It is also a reflection of Chinese people's wisdom and artful
skill two thousand years ago. Thousands of real weapons were unearthed
from these terra-cotta army pits. These weapons were exquisitely
made. Some of them are still very sharp since their surface were
treated with chromium. They are as bright as new, though buried
underground for more than 2,000 years. This indicates that Qin
Dynasty's metallurgical technology and weapon-manufacturing technique
already had reached quite a high level. In 1980, two teams of
large painted bronze chariots and horses were unearthed 20 metres
west of the mausoleum. Together with Terra cotta Warriors, they
are called the eighth wonder of the world.
|