Terracotta Army

The Terracotta Warriors and Horses is the most significant historical and cultural site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum in Lintong, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13, Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had begun to work for his mausoleum.It took 11 years to finish.It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life.The terracotta figures are life-sized.They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank.Most originally held real weapons such as spears, swords, or crossbows.Originally, the figures were also painted with bright pigments variously colored pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac, and armed with weapons.Most of the weapons have rotted away, while the color coating flaked off or greatly faded.The terracotta army figures were manufactured in workshops by government laborers and local craftsmen using local materials.Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were created separately and then assembled by luting the pieces together.The faces were created using molds, and at least ten face molds may have been used.Clay was then added after assembly to provide individual facial features to make each figure appear different.Some of these weapons, such as the swords, are sharp and were coated with a 10-15 micrometer layer of chromium dioxide that kept the swords rust-free for 2,000 years.The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt.Some carry inscriptions that date their manufacture to between 245 and 228 BC.