Film: Terracotta Warriors (China)

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Transcript

00:00:00: SOUND UP; [MUSIC PLAYS]
00:00:07: CHARLIE [NARRATING]: Emperor Qin [Ch’in] is also known for having built one of the other great historical sites in China—his own tomb. With its immense army of terracotta warriors and horses.; CHARLIE: Using a workforce of over 700,000 Chinese people, Emperor Ch’in built a terracotta army of over 8,000 soldiers. Each soldier you’re looking at was an actual soldier from his military. They’re all unique, they all have their own unique characteristics, and the point was his afterlife. His army would be here to protect him.
00:00:51: CHARLIE [NARRATING]: I spent some time with China’s leading archeologist.; DR. WU YONGQI [TRANSLATION]: The pits were accidentally discovered in 1974 by farmers who were digging a well. By studying the terracotta soldiers, we can learn so much about the Chinese society of 2,200 years ago. This is the most significant aspect of the discovery. In China, it was the country’s tradition that emperors started building their tombs as soon as they took over the throne. During his reign, Emperor Qin used slave labor excessively to build palaces, tombs, and even the Great Wall, to satisfy his personal ego, which eventually led to his downfall. Despite his harsh dictatorship, historians have also recognized Emperor Qin’s great achievements and his critical influence on Chinese history. After unifying China, he standardized the weights and measures, as well as the monetary, economic, legal and political systems. One interesting footnote: Qin was so obsessed that no one should know the location of his tomb, that his son had all the artisans and workers buried alive.
00:02:42: CHARLIE: The irony of the terracotta soldiers is this: In their hands were steel weapons. And there was so much unrest the peasants actually took the weapons that would be right here, and used the weapons to stage a successful rebellion. The Han dynasty would take over for the next 400 years.; END OF FILM

Terracotta Warriors

The explore team visits the tomb of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses — one of the most important archaeological findings of the 20th century. A ceramic army of 8,099 life-sized, intricately carved statues modeled after Emperor Qin's infantry men, officers, and archers stand at attention, ready to protect their leader in his afterlife.