Terracotta Art

Long ago, before the great land of China was united, it was separated into multiple kingdoms. Each kingdom ruled by a king. One king was not satisfied with the amount of people and land he ruled over, he wanted more. While King Qin Shi Huang ruled over his kingdom, he began to unify the rest of the kingdoms and turned it into the great Empire of Qin, which he ruled over, naming this period in history the Qin Dynasty. Along with many of his accomplishments, Shi Huang is known for his great art. Although he did not create the art himself, these "art" became trademarks for China. During his time ruling he ordered thousands of workers to construct what is known as the Great Wall of China. Along with one of the wonders of the world, he ordered his

When a person first look at the Terracotta Army as a whole, they can only see that there are thousands of what looks like giant toy soldiers made of clay. The Terracotta army are man made, life size clay statues of men, horses and chariots. When looking at the army, one may think that all the figures are identical and lack individuality. Looking iconographically closer, there are details that makes each statue more life like. Each warrior was created to look differently, with different expressions and stance. Archaeologist noted that through the years of studying the Terracotta Warriors, no two warriors were identical, each statue was created to look differently, as if they were real men, consisting of their own identities. The Terracotta Warriors greatly reflects the period in which they were created. The soldiers wore long armours that were inscribed with details. The armours depicts the rankings of the warriors through the scales, ribbons, buttons, and length. The Qin Dynasty was depicted within each of the warriors through their style and facial features. The warriors each had different styled hairs, also showing their ranking as a warrior. Their facial features consisted of facial hair groomed in different fashion. The faces of the statues also showed the ages of the men that most likely served in the real army. They also showed whether or not the warriors were happy, excited, or sad and tired. These were not the only details of the statues. Viewers of the statues today can no longer see one of the vivid details of the statues. What looks like gray, baked clay today, were once painted in vibrant colors. Long ago, "the horses were painted in brown and black. The sculptures were first covered with a dark-brown lacquer ground and then painted with pigments in one or two layers..."2. Along with the warriors were bronze weapons and "wooden chariots as used in real