Terracotta Army: Qin Shi Huang’s Imperial Funerary Army in China
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History
Terracotta Army is an underground funerary army in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang at Lintong District near Xi’an, China. Built by the Qin civilization during the late third century BCE, its construction began in 246 BCE after Ying Zheng became King of Qin, and the army was buried in 210–209 BCE. Qin Shi Huang, the personal name and imperial title of Ying Zheng, unified China in 221 BCE and became its first emperor. The army formed part of a vast mausoleum intended to provide the ruler with a residence, attendants, possessions, institutions, and military protection after death.
Construction of the mausoleum
The mausoleum project employed a very large forced workforce. Sima Qian, a Han-period historian who wrote the Records of the Grand Historian about a century after the complex was completed, stated that approximately 700,000 conscripted workers were involved. Prisoners of war, slaves, former soldiers, and other forced laborers also worked on the site.
Two cemetery areas southwest of the outer mausoleum wall contained workers connected with the project. One investigation identified 93 shaft graves, usually holding two or three young men buried in crouched positions. Inscribed brick fragments referred to penal labor, while around 100 additional graves contained evidence of iron leg restraints. These burials point to the use of convicts and other forced laborers during construction.
The work was probably completed substantially within about ten years, rather than continuing for the 37 years given in one traditional chronology. The archaeologist Duan Qingbo based the shorter estimate on the uniform style of the pottery and consistent production marks on the finds. Work stopped abruptly when Qin Shi Huang died in 210 BCE. In the following year, earth was piled over the imperial burial place to form the tomb mound. The complex remained partly unfinished, and Pit 4 was built but left empty.
The army and the imperial afterlife
The warrior pits were arranged according to the organization of an ancient Chinese army. Pits 1 and 2 represent major troop divisions, while Pit 3 is generally understood as a command post. The intended third troop division may have been planned for the unfinished fourth pit, leaving the army incomplete when construction ended.
The arrangement reflects the belief that a person’s soul continued to exist after death and required a residence and provisions. The mausoleum therefore reproduced elements of the emperor’s world, including military units, officials, performers, animals, weapons, vehicles, and other attendants. Its wider funerary complex included facilities associated with the imperial court and the anticipated worship of the emperor as an ancestor.
Destruction and discovery
Later historical accounts state that Xiang Yu, the military leader who contested power after the fall of the Qin dynasty, looted and burned parts of the mausoleum complex. Fire damage, missing weapons, collapsed roofs, and broken figures support the occurrence of major destruction, although the sealed imperial tomb itself may not have been looted.
The Terracotta Army was discovered accidentally on 29 March 1974. Farmers Yang Zhifa, his five brothers, and their neighbour Wang Puzhi were digging a well about 1.5 kilometres east of the imperial tomb mound when they encountered terracotta fragments, a brick-paved floor, a bronze crossbow mechanism, and bronze arrowheads. Earlier reports had mentioned fragments and architectural debris in the area, but the well digging prompted a formal investigation by Chinese archaeologists, including Zhao Kangmin. The finds were first taken to the Lintong district cultural centre for restoration. Archaeological work in the pits began later that year, and the discovery was officially announced on 12 July 1975.
The mausoleum complex was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Excavation, reconstruction, material analysis, and conservation have continued, although only about one quarter of the wider complex has been fully excavated. The imperial tomb mound remains unopened because excavation could cause irreversible damage to its contents and surviving surface decoration. Since the 1990s, Chinese and German institutions have developed methods for preserving the figures’ painted surfaces, and some conserved warriors have been displayed at the excavation site since 2001.
Conservation remains difficult because drying soil, falling groundwater levels, changing temperature and humidity, fungal spores, and the rapid detachment of lacquer and pigment threaten the excavated material. Urbanization in Lintong and rising water consumption have intensified these risks. On 30 May 2025, a visitor entered the exhibition area of Pit 3 and damaged two statues by shaking them and causing them to fall. The excavation team received the Prince of Asturias Award in the Social Sciences category in 2010.
Remains
The mausoleum landscape
The Terracotta Army occupies the eastern sector of the much larger Qin Shi Huang mausoleum complex, near the foot of Mount Li. The principal warrior pits lie about 1,500 metres east of the imperial tomb mound, with the warriors facing east toward the states conquered by Qin. Reconstructions place the wider necropolis at approximately 56 square kilometres, while ground-penetrating radar and core sampling have produced an estimate of about 98 square kilometres.
The complex included the tomb mound, two rammed-earth enclosure walls, gates, watchtowers, a processional road, administrative buildings, halls, stables, residences, gardens, and numerous subsidiary pits. The outer wall measured more than two kilometres along its longer sides and almost one kilometre along its shorter sides. The inner enclosure was approximately 1.2 kilometres long and more than half a kilometre wide. Both walls were about eight metres thick and originally stood approximately eight to ten metres high.
The pyramidal tomb mound was made from artificially piled earth and has lost much of its original height. The unopened burial chamber is estimated to measure about 100 by 75 metres. Soil sampling has identified unusually high concentrations of mercury in the mound, consistent with historical descriptions of simulated rivers of mercury. More than 500 subsidiary pits around the mound contained or represented officials, attendants, animals, entertainers, horses, stone armour, and bronze vehicles.
Principal warrior pits
Pit 1
Pit 1 is approximately 230 metres long and 62 metres wide. It contains the main army, with more than 3,000 excavated figures arranged in eleven parallel corridors, most more than three metres wide. Brick-paved floors supported wooden roof structures, while rammed-earth partitions divided the corridors. The reconstructed formation includes about 204 archers in the vanguard, a main force estimated at roughly 6,000 warriors, flank formations, chariots, and a rear guard.
Pit 2
Pit 2 covers approximately 6,000 square metres and contains infantry, cavalry, archers, and chariot units. Its combination of mounted troops and chariots has led to its interpretation as a rapid attack or military guard formation. The pit was estimated to contain about 1,200 figures and 89 chariot teams.
Pit 3
Pit 3 is the smallest principal pit, measuring about 17.6 by 21.4 metres and following a U-shaped plan. Its figures are interpreted as a military command staff and include armoured guards and a command officer. The remains of a four-horse vehicle, or quadriga, were also found. Ceremonial weapons, deer antlers, and animal bones may have been used in a ritual intended to invoke victory.
Pit 4
Pit 4 was laid out but contained no figures. Its empty condition is generally understood as evidence that construction stopped before the mausoleum was completed after Qin Shi Huang’s death.
The four principal pits were excavated approximately seven metres below ground level. Wooden beams and posts supported their roofs, and corridors were separated by rammed-earth partitions. Reed mats and layers of clay covered the roofs before the chambers were buried beneath additional earth. Ramps at the front of the pits show how the figures were moved into the underground corridors. Wooden chariots largely decayed, but their impressions remain in the soil. Bronze bells and the military arrangement suggest that commands may have been transmitted by bells and drums.
The terracotta figures and their weapons
The army is estimated to include more than 8,000 terracotta soldiers, about 130 chariots with 520 horses, and approximately 150 cavalry horses. Most excavated figures remain in place, while some were removed for conservation, research, and limited exhibitions. The figures are life-sized or larger, generally measuring about 1.75 to 2 metres. Ordinary soldiers are at least about 1.85 metres high, while generals can reach approximately 2 metres. Height, costume, armour, hairstyle, headgear, and the position of the hands indicate rank and function.
Infantrymen, archers, crossbowmen, cavalrymen, chariot drivers, guards, generals, and other officers appear in the formations. Terracotta horses stand among the warriors. Faces, hairstyles, beards, clothing, and equipment vary, so that no two figures are identical in every detail. At least ten basic facial forms have been identified, with additional modelling used to individualize the figures. They were not portraits of particular people, although their realistic features may have drawn partly on contemporary soldiers or local populations.
The figures were made from locally obtained loess, a fine wind-deposited sediment. Heads, torsos, arms, hands, legs, and feet were produced separately and joined with clay slip. Moulds supplied standardized parts, while further modelling added individual faces, hair, beards, and other details. Specialized workshops used interchangeable components, and inscriptions and stamped marks identified workshops and craftsmen as part of a quality-control system. The hollow figures were fired at approximately 900–1,050 degrees Celsius. A standing warrior weighs about 150–200 kilograms and consists of seven principal sections, including the base, feet, lower legs, torso, arms, hands, and head.
The sculptures originally carried elaborate polychromy, meaning paint in several colours, over one or two layers of dark brown East Asian lacquer. Pigments included cinnabar, red and yellow ochres, malachite, azurite, lead compounds, bone white, carbon black, and Han purple. Surviving decoration includes geometric, floral, animal, and textile patterns, as well as diamonds, stars, birds, dragons, phoenixes, painted cords, and borders. Clothing combines Qin-period Chinese forms with elements associated with steppe and other non-Chinese peoples. Belts, footwear, hairstyles, armour, and headgear distinguish military and social rank.
More than 40,000 bronze weapons and weapon components have been recovered, including swords, daggers, spears, lances, halberds, axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, crossbow triggers, and arrowheads. Most surviving arrowheads occur in bundles of about 100. Some inscribed swords date to 245–228 BCE, showing that at least some weapons had been used before burial. The weapons were made in centrally organized state workshops and carried makers’ names and serial numbers. Their preservation probably resulted from the slightly alkaline burial soil, its fine particles, and the composition of the bronze, rather than from an intentional chromium coating.
Specialized pits and funerary features
Stone armour pit K9801
Pit K9801, inside the walled mausoleum area, contained collapsed stone armour and helmet components discovered in 1998. The armour consists of hundreds of perforated limestone plates joined with bronze wire. A single suit may contain about 600 pieces, and more than five million plates may have occupied the pit’s approximately 145 square metres. The armour was probably intended for officers, high-ranking officials, or a special protective unit. It was too heavy for active offensive combat and may have served for display or passive protection.
The dense brown-grey to dark-grey foliated limestone could be split into sheets about 3–5 millimetres thick. Tool marks, unfinished pieces, and a mould for casting connecting wires indicate specialized manufacture involving sawing, grinding, drilling, polishing, and casting. Some armour imitates leather lamellar armour, while other examples use thin plates or fish-scale designs. Stone armour for horses was also identified.
Entertainers’ pit K9901
Pit K9901 contained eleven terracotta figures standing on bases and wearing decorated loincloths. Some raise an arm, lift a heel, or adopt other positions suggesting movement. Seven were sufficiently preserved for substantial reconstruction. They may represent acrobats, dancers, strongmen, or other performers, but their exact function remains uncertain. Their partly exposed bodies show unusually detailed muscles, joints, ribs, tendons, and proportions. The pit also contained horse equipment, weapons, armour fragments, and a decorated bronze vessel weighing 212 kilograms.
Bronze waterfowl pit K0007
Pit K0007 was built about 900 metres northeast of the eastern corner of the outer wall. Its underground space covers nearly 1,000 square metres and recreates a park-like stream landscape, including a branching watercourse about 60 metres long and 1.4 metres wide. Forty-seven life-sized bronze waterfowl had been found there by 2002, including cranes, geese, and swans. The hollow-cast birds stood on bases and carried multilayered paint. Detailed modelling depicts their feathers, poses, head positions, and actions.
The birds were damaged by early destruction, fire, vandalism, roof collapse, and groundwater. Some were restored between 2003 and 2005. Analysis identified lost-wax casting, original pigments, and surface treatments imitating down and flight feathers. The cranes were painted white, the geese black, and the swans in both white and black forms, with traces of red around their heads. The pit also contained fifteen terracotta musicians, including kneeling and seated figures. Wooden instrument remains and a small plectrum suggest that some may have played zithers.
Civil officials’ pit K0006
Pit K0006, found in 2000 near the southwest corner of the inner enclosure, contained eight terracotta figures interpreted as four civil officials and four chariot drivers. The figures carried a knife and sharpening tool used to correct writing on wooden or bamboo strips, and no military weapons were found. The pit is five metres deep and runs east-west, with front and rear chambers divided by rammed-earth walls about 2.7 metres high. A wooden chariot impression occupied the western section, while nine adult horse skeletons were excavated in the rear chamber. The burial may originally have contained about 20 horses.
Bronze chariots
Two bronze chariots were discovered in 1978 in a pit about 20 metres west of the imperial tomb mound. They had been enclosed in a wooden shrine that later collapsed and damaged the vehicles. Each chariot is about half life-sized, weighs more than 1.2 tonnes, and contains over 3,000 parts. Their manufacture involved casting, carving, soldering, riveting, inlay, filing, grinding, welding, and jointed connections. Gold and silver ornament enriched both vehicles, and the second chariot alone carries 1,720 ornaments made from more than three kilograms of gold and four kilograms of silver.
The front vehicle, known as the High Chariot or Inspection Chariot, is drawn by four horses and carries a standing officer, a decorated parasol, a sword, a bronze shield, a crossbow, and two bronze quivers containing 50 and 12 arrows. The rear vehicle, called the Comfortable Chariot, is a covered passenger vehicle with a seated driver, a divided cabin, windows with diamond-shaped openings, and a turtle-shell-shaped roof. The pair was probably associated with the emperor’s travelling entourage and may have represented vehicles for his soul in the afterlife.
Other burials and surviving structures
Animal-burial areas contained 31 birds and rare animals in clay coffins, together with feeding vessels, bronze rings, and kneeling terracotta keepers. Another pit held more than 300 horse skeletons, some showing that the animals were killed before burial. Ceramic inscriptions associate some of the horses with palace stables. A separate burial containing 17 men and women in wooden coffins included gold, silver, jade, and finely worked silk fragments. Some bodies had severed limbs, but their precise fate remains uncertain.
A large rectangular audience hall once stood north of the tomb mound inside a covered corridor. Measuring approximately 57 by 62 metres, it was associated with the emperor’s robes, crown, arm support, walking stick, and a large ceremonial bell chime. The hall provided an architectural setting for the emperor’s anticipated ancestor cult. Other facilities in the enclosed mausoleum included a horse stable, residences for officials and guards, and installations associated with scholars, scribes, musicians, animal keepers, strongmen, and other attendants.
Ancient destruction affected much of the excavated material. Wooden roofs and corridors were burned, figures were crushed by collapsing earth, and wooden chariots, weapon shafts, roof structures, and reed mats survive mainly as impressions or carbonized traces. The first approximately 1,100 warriors removed for Museum Hall 1 were taken out and reassembled too quickly, causing extensive loss of lacquer and pigment. Later conservation has stabilized paint-bearing soil blocks, embedded them in plaster, and preserved fragments for study. Protective buildings now cover the excavated pits, including a principal hall about 200 metres long and 70 metres wide with an aluminium roof.
