Terracotta Army
Ancient site
Thousands of soldiers of clay, guarding an emperor's tomb.
In 1974 farmers in China were digging a well and struck a head of baked clay. It belonged to an army: about 8,000 soldiers, life-size, standing in rows under the ground.
They were made more than 2,200 years ago for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, to protect him after his death. Every soldier has a different face.
- soldiers
- 8,000
- found
- 1974
- years old
- 2,200
- 1
There are horses, chariots and real bronze weapons too.
- 2
The soldiers were once painted in bright colours, which faded soon after they were dug up.
- 3
The emperor's own tomb, close by, has never been opened.
Question 1 of 2
How was the army found?
- YangtzeThe longest river in Asia cuts China in two.
- Forbidden CityThe palace of China's emperors, closed to ordinary people for five hundred years.
- Great Wall of ChinaNot one wall but many, built over two thousand years.
- Ha Long BayA green sea dotted with more than 1,600 limestone islands.
It is in China.
Read about China