An Army of Clay Guards China’s First Emperor

In the spring of 1974, agricultural workers digging a well near Mount Li outside Xi'an struck ancient fragments of baked earth, leading to the identification of an enormous subterranean funerary complex. Excavations soon revealed thousands of life-sized terracotta soldiers standing in battle formation eastward from the burial mound of Qin Shi Huang, the ruler who unified China before dying in 210 BCE. The figures formed an armed contingent positioned to shield the monarch in the afterlife. Four main pits dug roughly seven metres deep were eventually exposed, with the largest measuring 230 metres long and housing thousands of ceramic infantrymen alongside chariots and horses.

The broader necropolis covers roughly ninety-eight square kilometres, planned as a grand underground counterpart to the imperial court. Surrounded by double walls of rammed earth, the complex included stables, administrative offices, and a landscaped park containing bronze waterfowl. While historical writings by Sima Qian dating to the first century BCE described elaborate underground palaces equipped with mechanical rivers of mercury beneath a domed celestial ceiling, the central tomb chamber remains unexcavated. Scientists have detected elevated concentrations of mercury in the overlying earth mound, giving weight to parts of the ancient chronicle, though modern preservation concerns over fragile surface materials have kept the inner vault sealed.