Mia--Terra+Cotta+Army

__ The Terra Cotta Army: __ By: Mia

There have been many kings that have all had real armies. But have you ever seen a pretend army? In Ancient China there was an emperor who had an army made out of clay. Today it is known as the Terra Cotta Army.

The Terra Cotta Army is not important for being famous; it is famous for being important. The main reason its important is because the emperor, Qin Shi Huandgi, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, had thousands of clay figured Chinese soldiers placed in the tomb. (Green.)The reason is because they would be “protection” to his tomb (Life.) It was loaded with crossbows and could kill anyone (Armentrout.) What makes the army so important is that they aren’t real at all (Armentrout). They are just figures made out if Terra Cotta clay (Armentrout). They were designed to follow the emperor into eternity. Last but not least, the army is important because most of the stuff in the tomb is life sized figures (Armentrout).

In 221 B.C., King Zheng of Qin, proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huandgi, the first emperor of Qin dynasty (Green.) In 1974 farmers were digging a well near an Ancient Chinese city (Green). They came upon the tomb of the Emperor Qin Shi Huandgi (Green). That is when they found all of the valuable and rare items including the clay soldiers. The Terra Cotta army had been buried down there in motionless positions for more than 2,000 years. They also found rare animals and men were also discovered. They were slaves who built the tomb. Qin didn’t want them to tell anyone so he kept them down there (Green).

Around 8,000 men infantry and officers, 130 horse- drawn chariots, and 150 more cavalry horses were placed around the tomb. Some of them were grouped like they were in battle and others were on chariots with terra cotta horses. Most of the “soldiers were armed with bronze spears, swords, and crossbows” (Museum). Since then, Archeologist found broken and shattered men. Now they are trying to put the shattered and broken men back together (Life).

The army was found in three- underground timber lined vaults. There were at least three different pits. The first pit had chariots and ranks of six thousands soldiers. The second pit held 14 hundred figures of cavalry men, horses and fantryman, along with wooden chariots. The third pit held about 70 figures. (Museum.)

When the Terra Cotta Army was found, they were arranged with their back facing the emperor. The tomb of Qin was at least 25 football fields long and 10 wide. Since then, it has become a museum in China (Life).

The Terra Cotta soldiers have appeared in many exhibits around the world. Recently, the Terra Cotta Museum has made a new rule that the Army cannot be out of the country for more than a year. In January, they will be hitting the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada (Museum). In 2011, the Army was supposed to appear in the Glenbow Museum in Calgary in Victoria. The people of England were very disappointed to find out that it is cancelled. Due to the reason that it could only be out of the country for more than one year, they had to cancel the trip to Victoria (Museum).

The Terra Cotta Army has been fascinating ever since Archeologist have dug them up. They are still fascinating as archeologists learn more about them (Museum).

__ Works Cited: __

 Green, Robert. //China.// San Diego: Lucent books USA, 1999. Anderson, Hildegard. Wonders of the World: New York, 2009. Armentrout, David & Patricia. “The Terra Cotta Army.” //Treasures from China.// “Qin Terra Cotta Army Museum.” //China Culture.// 2009. Accessed on November 5, 2010 [] “The Warrior Emperor and China’s Terra Cotta Army…” //Heritage Key//. Accessed on November 5, 2010. < [|http://heritage-key.com] >