The Qin Mausoleum and the Terracotta Warriors：the Rise and Fall of the Qin Empire

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The mausoleum of the Qin Emperor is located at the foot of Li Mountains east of Lintong town，around 30 kilometers from the city of Xi’an.Qin Emperor Ying Zheng is a hero of great talent and bold vision.During the war between the seven states，he developed economy and military forces internally，while advocating inter-states alliance externally.After bloodyconquests，Qin（221-206 BC）destroyed the other six states and established a unified and certralized empire.He unified the law system，the measure system，the coin system，and the language.He organized road construction and established the county system，which contributed to the unification and economic development of China.On the other hand，he was extremely dominating and violent.He regarded the people as of no importance and the state as his ownwealth.He extorted excessive taxes and levies，carried out severe criminal penalty laws，led excessively luxurious life，not to mention that he burned books and buried scholars.During his reign，the governance is already under great danger as the people suffer from misery andconflicts intensified.After his death，his fatuous and weak son succeeded the throne and be-came the puppet of the guile and atrocious eunuchs.The political and economic situation wasgetting geopardized.Finally，the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out and it led to many responses from the opposing forces.The short-lived dynasty was thus overthrown.The Qin mausoleum began to construct when the Emperor was 13 years old.The Prime Minister Li Si organized the planning and designing.General Zhang Han supervised the engineering process，which took 3 8 years.The project exceeded all of the rulers’mausoleums in scale and luxury.The population of Qin was around 20 million，and 720 thousand men underwent the servitude of building the mausoleum.

Sketch map of the unifed coin.After the Qin Emperor unified the other six states，he changed the cloth coin，the knife coin，The height of the Qin Mausoleum is 43 meters，with the base perimeter of more than 1，700meters.There are two layers of clay city wall.The interior city is in square shape witha perimeter of 3，890 meters.There are two doors on the north side and one door for each of the other three sides.The exterior city is in the shape of rectangle with a perimeter of 6，294 meters.There is a door on each side.The mausoleum is located at the south of the cemetery.

The terracotta warrior pits accompany the mausoleum of the Qin Emperor.It is located 1，500 meters east of the cemetery.For some years，this used to be a grave yard.The peasantshave found figures like real persons when they dig up the graves.In March 1974，the village peasants at the east of the cemetery digged wells for water and incidentally discovered the grand pit of terracotta warriors.After achaeologists’excavation，the precious deposits of the terracotta warriors over 2，000 years are finally uncovered.The three terracotta warrior pits lie from west to east. The number one pit which was discovered first is in the shape of a rectangle.

The length is 230 meters, the width is 62 meters, and the deepness is around 5 meters, with an area of 14,260 square meters. There are ramp gateways to all four directions. To each of its side there are the number two pit and number three pit.

The terracotta warrior pit is the largest scale underground military museum in the whole world. The composition of the pits is well arranged and the structure is unique. At the bottom of the pit,a main wall is built from west to east every other 3 meters and the terracotta warriors are disposed between the walls.500 warriors are excavated in pit number one, among 6 chariots,24 vehicle horses, and bronze and iron weapons such as bronze swords, Wu swords, spears, arrows, crossbows, halberds, etc. There are 210 life size terracotta warriors at the east of the pit, with various expressions, garments, and hair styles. Each of them is lively and vivid, including generals, pommel horses, shoot warriors in kneeling position, etc. They line in three horizontal processions,70 in each. The three leaders wear armors and the rest of the troops wear short clothes with leggings and hairdo without helmets. All of them have bows and ar-rows and crossbows, appearing to be awaiting orders to depart as vanguard armies. Following behind is the main troop consisting of 6,000 armored warriors, each with three meter long weapons like spears, daggers, or harberds. Together in the pit are 35 chariots with four horses in 11 passages, lining in 38 columns. The vigour of the terracotta warriors is the artistic representation of the Qin Emperor’s mighty armies when he destroyed the other six states and united China.

The Qin Mausoleum is an architecture that the Qin Emperor built for his eternal blessedness. He spent the major portion of the country’s labor and resources. However, the wisdom and craftiness of the erectors have been highly represented in this great piece of architectural art. Modern visitors admire the ancient artisans’ creation, at the same time abhor the vio-

lence of the Qin Emperor. After the Qin Emperor’s death, his son Qin Junior carried over the construction of the mausoleum and the warrior pits. This further aggravated people’s burden.

Before the construction of the mausoleum is finished, peasant uprising lead by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out. The joint force of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang finally overthrew the Qin Dynasty. Pit number three was not finished and pit number four did not have the chance to put terracotta warriors inside, and they were filled up in haste with the entire project unfinished.

Tomb figure of a high rank soldier; head of a general; various kinds of teracotta warriors. The “eternal charm”of the terracotta warriors rests in thecreation of life size Qin figures of thousands of different status, personalities, and spirits.

The Qin Mausoleum is the largest in scale, oddest in structure, and richest in connotationamong mausoleums of kings and emperors all over the world. It is actually a luxurious underground palace.International leaders and scholars come to visit the terracotta warrior museum and regard the discovery of the pits as a significant discovery in archaeology and the eighth miracle in the world.It can be compared with the Egyptian pyramids and the Greek sculptures.

In 1961，the state Department of China nominated the Qin Mausoleum to be a national protected institution.In 1987，UNESCO approved the Qin Mausoleum and the terracotta warrior pits to join the World Heritage list.A vaulted exhibition hall was built above the No.1 warrior pit.The Museum of Qin Mausoleum and the warrior pits are open to tourists.