China's Terracotta Army

China's Terracotta Army

China 一 2, 000 years ago Over 2, 000 years ago, China looked very different from today. The country was divided into seven states, each with its own king, laws and language. These seven states had been at war with each other for over 200 years, fighting for land and power. The seven states of China in 246 bce

When the king of Qin - one of the seven states 一 died in 246 bce his son, Ying Zheng, became the new king. He was 13 years old. Ying Zheng was a successful ruler. He was a king and a soldier with skilled generals, disciplined troops and better weapons than the other six kings. However, it still took him 25 years to conquer the other six states. In 221 bce, when he was 36 Ying Zheng made himself Emperor. Ying Zheng became the First Emperor. The First Emperor's army had sharper swords than anyone else's.

China First Emperor The Emperor wanted to unify all seven states into one country - what we now call China. He made everyone in China use the same coins, weights and measures, write in the same language and obey the same laws. He made travel easier by ordering over 6, 000 kilometres of new roads to be built and he visited all parts of his empire in his horse-drawn chariot. a bronze coin from the state of Qin

The Emperor wanted people to remember him long after he died, so he ordered a grand tomb to be built, where he would be buried. It looked like a flat-topped pyramid, covered with earth. It was over 55 metres high and took thousands of workers over 30 years to make. When he died in 210 bce the Emperor was buried in this tomb. Guarding the tomb was an army hidden for 2, 000 years. This is what the tomb looks like today. It's now covered with trees and bushes.

The terracotta army In March 1974, farmers digging a well near the city of Xi'an, less than a kilometre from the Emperor's tomb, uncovered a life-sized clay soldier. When archaeologists dug deeper, they discovered three large pits containing thousands more clay figures.