What are the historical stories of Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warriors and Horses?

1. The First Emperor built a mausoleum:

It is said that after Qin Shihuang unified China at the age of 22, he ordered a large-scale construction of a mausoleum for him. Because of the beautiful scenery of Lishan Mountain, and the fact that Shanyang produces jade and Shanyin is rich in gold, and both gold and jade are in line with his superstitious thoughts, he chose the cemetery at the northern foot of Lishan Mountain. He not only transferred more than 700,000 "prisoners" from across the country, but also recruited a large number of civilians from Shandong, Henan and other places.

2. Pottery substitution:

Qin Shihuang also issued an edict to Li Qi to recruit thousands of pairs of boys and girls in advance to prepare for his burial. Li Si was stunned when he saw the edict. He thought that recruiting so many people to die for burial would definitely be strongly opposed by the people. Once the people rise up in rebellion, the Qin Dynasty will not be able to protect the country. But if you don't follow the instructions and offend Chun Shihuang, you will definitely die.

After much deliberation, I had no choice but to write: "Your Majesty, Li Si, risked his life to say it bluntly. If you bury so many boys and girls, it will cause chaos in the world. It is better to use Tao as a sacrifice to protect the peace of the Qin Dynasty." Qin Shihuang thought it made sense, so he changed his mind and immediately ordered Li Si to recruit skilled craftsmen from all over the country to bake a large-scale patrol honor guard. He also required that the pottery figures and horses fired should be the same size as real horses.

3. Firing is difficult:

Li Si selected hundreds of craftsmen who made bricks and tiles from among the people, read out the imperial edict to them, and ordered them to bake the pottery on time, Pottery horse. If not, he will be killed without mercy.

But these craftsmen only know how to make bricks and tiles, and no one has ever made pottery figures or horses. They tried many times without success. More than a hundred craftsmen were beheaded. Among the craftsmen who were killed, an old craftsman came up with a way and told his son before he died that he should bake in sections in a single kiln. After the son buried his father with tears, he followed his father's instructions during his lifetime, and fired the figurines in separate sections in a single kiln, and then assembled them after firing. After adopting this method, the pottery horse was finally successfully fired.

After the test was successful, the craftsmen worked together, day and night, to finally fire thousands of pottery figures and pottery horses on schedule, and arranged these pottery figurines according to Li Si’s requirements. into a neat formation.

4. Craftsmen were buried:

After the death of Qin Shihuang, Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, succeeded to the throne. He was afraid that the craftsmen would reveal the secrets of the tomb, so he secretly transported Qin Shihuang's Lingshu into the tomb, and then ordered all those who participated in the construction of the tomb to go to the tomb to watch the show and receive the reward. Poor craftsmen, civilians and prisoners who shed blood and sweat to build Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, they were all fooled by Qin II. As soon as they entered the tomb, they were sealed alive in the tomb and became burial objects.

5. Escape from death:

Legend has it that only one young man escaped, and he was the first person to bake pottery figurines. Because he built the waterway in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, when he saw that the situation was not good, he got into the waterway and did not escape until dark. Later, he wandered in Zhongguan and made a living by making earthenware basins, pots and urns (the utensils used to put noodles in Guanzhong). To this day, these pottery products are still very popular in rural areas of Guanzhong.

Extended information:

1. Architectural structure:

The burial pits of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang sit from west to east, and the three pits are arranged in a "pin" shape. The earliest discovery was the No. 1 Terracotta Warriors Pit, which is rectangular in shape. There are more than 8,000 terracotta warriors and horses in the pit, with slope doorways on all sides. There is a terracotta warriors pit on the left and right sides of Pit No. 1, called Pit No. 2 and Pit No. 3.

The Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit is an underground tunnel-type civil structure building, that is, a large pit about 5 meters deep is dug from the ground, and parallel earth partition walls are built in the middle of the pit. Wooden columns are arranged on both sides of the wall, and crossbars are placed on the columns. Sheds are densely covered with crossbars and earth partition walls. A layer of reed mats is laid on the sheds, and then covered with loess to form the top of the pit. The top of the pit is about 2 meters higher than the surface of the ground at that time. rice.

The bottom of the pit is paved with blue bricks. The height of the space from the top of the pit to the bottom of the pit is 3.2 meters. After the pottery figurines and horses were put into the pit, the surrounding doorways were blocked with standing timber, and the doorways were filled with rammed earth, thus forming a closed underground building.

2. Artistic value:

The Qin Terracotta Warriors have richly and vividly created a variety of characters with certain personalities.

Its style is rich, concise and full of touching artistic charm, which is a symbol of the maturity of ancient Chinese art. It not only inherited China's ceramic sculpture tradition since the Warring States Period, but also laid the foundation for the prosperity of sculpture art in the Tang Dynasty. It served as a link between the past and the future and was hailed as "the eighth wonder of the world" and "a treasure of ancient human spiritual civilization."

3. Discovery story:

In March 1974, farmers from Xiyang Village, Lishan Town, Lintong County, discovered several broken wells while digging a well 1.5 kilometers east of Lingdong. The terracotta warriors and horses are life-size pottery figurines made of clay. After exploration and trial excavation by the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Team, the terracotta warriors and horses have been rediscovered.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Terracotta Warriors