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Terracotta Army

Qin dynasty artisans · 210 BC · Xi'an, China
Terracotta Army

The artist

Many skilled craftsmen for China's first emperor, around 210 BC.

What you see

Thousands of life-size clay soldiers standing in rows, along with horses and chariots, each soldier made with a different face.

The story

This clay army was buried to guard China's first emperor after his death, and it stayed hidden underground for over two thousand years.

The style

The figures are made of terracotta, which is clay shaped by hand and then baked hard in a very hot oven called a kiln.

Look closer

Look for the tiny differences from soldier to soldier: different hairstyles, mustaches, and expressions, as if each one is a real person.

Where to see it

You can see them near the city of Xi'an in China, still standing in the huge pits where they were found.

Fun fact

Farmers digging a well in 1974 accidentally discovered the whole buried army, one of the biggest surprises in history.