Ancient Chinese
Technology and Art:
Terra Cotta Army
Susan Daly
Greece Central Schools
Arcadia High School
Rochester,New York
•
•
National Council for Social Studies National Conference in Kansas City
November 19,2005
My opportunity to travel and study in China,
came about through the NCTA’s program of
seminars for teachers. In 2002, I took a
seminar in Rochester, through the Five
Colleges Center for East Asian Studies at
Smith College and then applied for and was
then selected for the July, 2004 study tour of
China.
This opportunity allowed me to experience
China for three weeks with 23 other
teachers.
Our study tour took us across China to
9 cities and countless historical places.
Because China is such a huge country,
in 3 weeks , we only scratched the
surface by seeing many of the most
famous places. We stayed on the
campus of Beijing University where we
had several lectures by professors.
At the High School level,this
presentation is intended for
AP World history
Global History
,including inclusive classes.
It could also apply to some Middle
school content areas.
The Terra Cotta Army
of
Emperor Qin Shi-Huangdi
Founder of the Qin dynasty
221-206 BCE.
X’ian, China
Most of my students know about 2
things from China. The Great Wall
and the Terra Cotta Army. They are
fascinated by both because of the
scale of each.
X’ian , where the army is located ,
means western capital. It was the
starting point for the Silk Roads.
Pit Number One
In 1974, several farmers digging a
well found the Terra Cotta Army in
their field. They called in local
authorities to examine the pieces
they had uncovered. As they dug
into this field , the archaeologists
uncovered the army.They found 3
pits , each with different soldiers in
them.
This is the well which 3 farmers were
digging when they found the army in 1974
The farmers who found the site
in 1974, were paid about $500
for their land by the
government. Today ,they work
signing autographs for tourists
who visit it and are paid a salary
by the Chinese government.
There are 3 large pits at this site.
Pit 1 covers an area of 16,000 square
meters . It is covered in a huge dome.
Pit 2 covers an area of 7,100 square
meters and includes bronze chariots.
Pit 3 covers an area of 4,282 square
meters and is the least excavated.
Horses in Pit 2
Ramps to get the soldiers in.
A group of ceremonial guards
How long would it have taken to
create over 7,000 separate soldiers
out of clay ?
What fuel would have been needed
to fire these clay figures to make
them into terra cotta ?
Pit # 1 contains over 6,ooo soldiers
Putting the army back together
The army being reassembled
Tera cotta is a hard semifired
waterproof ceramic clay. When the
warriors were first found, they were
brightly painted. Since that time,
the paint has been slowly
disappearing. Archaeologists do
not understand exactly what is
causing the damage.
The bundles are missing pieces
When archaeologists work at putting
the soldiers back together, they find
potential pieces and create a bundle of
them for each one. Then the workers
searches for the location of a specific
piece. If they find ONE PIECE in a day,
they are very happy. Putting this
gigantic puzzle back together will be the
life’s work of many archaeologists.
Individual Faces
Every soldier has a unique face so
the potters making them were
probably modeling each one after a
specific person. What can we learn
2200 years later about China at this
time from these figures?
An enlisted man
An offficer and his horse
Clothing and hairstyles show us the
class differences which existed in
this army. An officer has a topknot
An archer without his bow
Seeing the army
Moustaches
• Archaeologists have found 24 different
types of moustaches on the soldiers faces.
They show the range of social classes
which the army came from. Individual
differences could indicate social status or
simply personal preference.
Another view
Archaeologists believe that
each figure would have been
fired at approximately 100 C in
a kiln for a week. The figures
were broken when wooden roof
beams collapsed on top of them
after a fire in antiquity.
Officers in the front in battle formation
This is how the army was found. It had
been broken into many small pieces.
Another view
Cavalry troops
Hairstyles show these were regular army
Armies under repair
Since few weapons of any kind
were found with the soldiers, it
is probable that they were
stolen in the past so they could
be used.
A Ming era tomb on top of warriors
Headless soldiers
Pit Number Three
The canvas covered areas are
protecting soldiers from
whatever environmental
damage is degrading their paint.
Continuing work here
A cavalry officer with his horse
A huge army being reassembled.
The Terra Cotta Army was
created in the neighboring
mountains. Chinese
archaeologists have found the
kilns used to bake the statues.
For the army, individual soldiers
can be used to identify the area
they came from through clothing
design.
What does this army tell us
about how much political and
military control the emperor had
in his kingdom ?
Bronze Chariot with umbrella
Since bronze was expensive, the
horses and chariot are smaller than
life size. This chariot was recently
shown in the movie “ Hero” . It
brought the main character to a
visit with Qin Shi Huangdi.
Horses Bridle
Silver and gold bridle
In 1987, the Terra Cotta Army
was placed on the list of World
Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
The site has been visited by
approximately 40 million people
in 20 years. It welcomes
1,500,000 visitors a year.
Terra Cotta Army
• 1. What is terra cotta ?
• 2. How much clay would be needed to
create an army of 7,000 soldiers?
• 3. How would these life size soldiers have
been fired ?
• 4. What would have been the
environmental damage done from
supplying this much fuel ?
5. How would these figures be moved from
the kilns in the mountains to the tomb site?
6. What happened to the final workers once
all of the army was in place?
7. Baked clay fires at temperatures ranging
from 500 C to 1150 C. How would this many
kilns have impacted the local climate ?
Chinese archaeologists know the
location of Shi Huangdi’s tomb.
They are waiting to open it, in
hopes that future technology will
allow more information to be
discovered once it is opened.It also
is supposed to have MANY
unpleasant surprises inside.