Terracotta Army

Terracotta Army (Simplified Chinese:, Traditional Chinese: Pinyin: bīngmǎ yǒng, "soldier and horse funerary statues" literally) or "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of clay sculptures describes the armies of the Qin Shi Huang, first emperor of China. This is a form of funerary art buried in the Empire, 210-209 BC, and whose aim was to help guard his empire in his afterlife.

The figures, dating from the third century BC, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong district, Xian, Shaanxi province, near the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Chinese:, pinyin: Qin Ling Shǐhuáng).

The figures vary in height according to their functions, with the largest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. It is estimated that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority still buried in mass graves. Other cooked non-military figures have also been found in mass graves and include other officials, acrobats,