Terra Cotta Warriors ‘revive’ in San Francisco (3)

（Xinhua）  15:27, February 21, 2013  

The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 B.C. and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.

The figures of Terracotta Army, dating from around the late third century B.C., were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers in Lintong district, Xi'an, Shaanxi province in China. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses.

Terracotta Army is estimated to include over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures found in other pits were figures of officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.