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The year of 1974 was a witness to the most thrilling archeological find of the 20th century. A group of peasants digging a well accidentally led to the greatest archeological find when they discovered fragments of a life sized Terra Cotta Warrior. Further excavation led to revealing of the entire army of over 7000 life sized terra cotta soldiers. About 2000 years old and completely forgotten from the memory of the Chinese people, these statues were nothing short of any amazement.
The statue army has all the members of the army from a general to archers, horses, foot soldiers and more. The terra cotta warrior army was buried in front of the Emperor Qinshihuang's tomb in order to defend him in the afterlife. The emperor Qinshihuang has a strange history attached to him. On one hand he is known for his great contributions to the modern art while on the other hand he is also known for sacrificing the lives of thousands of laborers for accomplishing his visionary projects.
He was crowned as the king of the state of Qin at the age of thirteen and by the time he attained the age of thirty-eight, he had conquered the six neighboring states in order to unifyChinafor the first time .
Although emperor Qinshihuan is better known for his tyranny but at the same time he is also admired for many of his radical and insightful policies, which were employed by even the succeeding dynasties. He created a common script and even led to establishment of the uniform measurement and monetary systems in order to unify the different states. He also encouraged many agricultural reforms and constructed many roads. He was the first ruler to give orders for the construction of the firstGreat Wall of ChinaAlthough these policies were benefiting forChinabut many people were killed in completing these public works programs.
Despite having so much power in his hands, the emperor was a victim of many assassinations and constantly lived in the fear of his life. Obsessed with immortality, the Emperor ordered the construction of the tomb, which took the loves of about 700,000 forced laborers. The main tomb is still to be excavated, as the archeologists do not know the exact location of the tomb. When the emperor was laid to rest, an army of 6000 terra cotta warriors was also buried with him. These statues were unique in themselves. Although the wooden weapons, which were held by these statues in their hands, have deteriorated but then also these statues remain an amazing piece of art, given to us by a tyrannical ruler of the history.
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