The Terracotta Warriors were buried to serve and protect the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, in his afterlife. They were discovered by local farmers in 1974 after remaining hidden underground for over two thousand years.
The purpose behind the burial
To understand why these thousands of life-sized soldiers were created, you have to look at the beliefs of Qin Shi Huang. He unified China and became its first emperor in 221 BC. During his life, he was obsessed with finding immortality. When he realized death was inevitable, he prepared his final resting place to be just as powerful and complete as his living empire.
In ancient Chinese belief, the afterlife was a continuation of your time on earth. The emperor needed his army to protect him in the next world just as they had during his reign. He also wanted to maintain his status and authority. By commissioning an entire army made of clay, he ensured that he would command a massive force even after he died. The soldiers were placed in pits surrounding his massive tomb, facing east toward the states he had conquered, ready to defend him against any threats from the afterlife.
How they were forgotten and found
After the emperor died in 210 BC, his burial complex was sealed. For centuries, the site was hidden beneath the earth. Over time, the wooden roofs covering the pits collapsed under the weight of the soil, which crushed many of the figures and buried them deep. Because the location of the tomb was kept secret and the records of the exact layout were lost, the world forgot about the army for over two millennia.
The discovery happened entirely by accident in March 1974. Farmers in the Shaanxi province were digging a new water well during a drought. Instead of hitting water, they struck pottery fragments and bronze arrowheads. When archaeologists arrived to investigate, they uncovered the massive scale of the pits. This finding is considered one of the greatest archaeological achievements of the twentieth century.
The biggest misconception about the colors
Many people assume the warriors were always the earthy, gray-brown color you see in museums today. This is a common mistake. When the warriors were originally crafted and placed in their pits, they were painted in vibrant, bright colors. They featured life-like skin tones, detailed clothing in shades of red, blue, green, and purple, and even individual facial expressions.
The tragedy occurred the moment they were brought into the light. The figures were covered in a layer of lacquer, which protected the paint. As soon as the workers dug them up, the dry air reacted with the lacquer. Within minutes of exposure, the protective coating curled up and the paint flaked off, leaving the clay underneath exposed. Modern scientists now use special chemicals and techniques to preserve the remaining flecks of color, but most of the original paint was lost almost immediately during the first excavations.