Emperor Qin Shihuangdi (pronounced chin shir-hwong) had his laborers build a tomb.
He had his laborers and workers make the Terracotta Warriors during his brief time as emperor. His dynasty lasted only thirteen years. To prove he was in power, he had the workers begin building the Terracotta Warriors when he was still alive. Some believe it took seven hundred thousand people to build this tomb for more then thirty years! This is not all he accomplished as ruler during this time. Later in life, at the age of forty-nine, Qin began to obsess about life and death. He had always wanted to live forever. At one time he sent expeditions to islands looking for a magic potion to grant him eternal life. He feared for his own life and it is believed that he drank a poisonous potion in the hope that it would give him eternal life. He died shortly there after from what they believe to be mercury poisoning.
In this tomb Qin had his laborers build Terracotta Warriors to surround him when he dies. Qin actually died while touring his Empire. His ministers wanted to keep his death a secret until they returned the capital city, Beijing. (O'Connor 2002)The ministers did not need to worry where to bury him because his tomb was being built for the last thirty years. His tomb was to have all the pleasures he enjoyed on earth, so it is believed he was buried with jewelry, games, chariots and silk clothing. Qin believed that his tomb might be robbed so he had his workers construct warriors with crossbows and arrows built around him to protect him and his property. (O'Connor, 2002)
For many years this tomb was only a myth, until farmers digging in the province of Xian in central China discovered the great archeological find! The myth exists! Sima Qian (145-ca. 90 BCE) wrote Records of the Grand Historian describing Emperor Qin and the Chinese culture. Qian claims that Emperor Qin ordered the workers who built the tomb be buried alive so that the location would remain a secret today (Hansen 2009). For many years archeologists worked drilling and digging to discover thousands of clay warriors. This archeological find was discovered in 1974 and has been an amazing place to visit since. It is hard to believe that three farmers looking for water during a drought would come across such an amazing find. There are three museums near Mount Li where tourist may visit to observe these soldiers. The Museum is broken into three Pits. A fourth pit was found but it is empty. To this day no human bones have been found, but the archeologists continue carefully their excavation. (O'Connor, 2002)
Pit 1: Pit 1 is about 14,000 square meters or 3.52 acres making it the largest of the three pits. Inside this pit there are over 6,000 warriors and horses. To visualize the size imagine two football fields! These Warriors are the front line of defense. If anyone came to attack Qin in the afterlife, they would be attacked by the 6,000 warriors! The Warrior's faces are facing every direction with three rows guarding the rear. Those three rows are facing so as to stop any attack from the bake.
Pit 2: Pit 2 contains 1,000 warriors, 500 horses, 350 chariot horses, and 100 cavalry horses. Pit 3 is in an L shaped four square section. Some warriors are knelling while other warriors stand behind them with crossbows.
Pit 3: Pit 3 contains 68 warriors, four horses and one chariot. This pit is unusual because there is no battle formation. Several animal bones and deer horns were also found in this pit. Archeologists think this pit may have been an army headquarters because no one is in attack mode. (O'Connor, 2002) (www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/terra_cotta_army/)