In 1974, Chinese farmers digging a well near Xi’an broke into the tomb complex of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, dead since 210 BCE. Excavations so far: over 8,000 life-sized terracotta soldiers, 130 chariots, 520 chariot horses, 150 cavalry horses. Thousands more remain buried.

Each soldier is unique. Distinct faces, hairstyles, expressions—possibly modeled on real individuals. Heights run by rank, from 5’9″ infantrymen to 6’5″ generals. The bronze weapons they carried were still sharp after two millennia.

The main tomb chamber has never been opened. Ancient texts describe an underground palace with rivers of mercury and crossbow traps. Soil samples from the mound show mercury concentrations far above normal. The texts may be right. Chinese authorities have declined to dig, citing preservation concerns.

The human cost is in the records: 700,000 workers over 30 years. Many were buried alive with their emperor to keep the tomb’s secrets. The clay army itself may have been the humane substitution—the alternative being actual human sacrifice.

The manufacturing is its own story: mass-produced bodies from molds, hand-crafted faces attached after. An assembly line with interchangeable parts, two thousand years before Detroit.

I’ve worked the Terracotta Army into a trilogy I’m writing with Jennifer Crusie about art fraud. Yes, someone tries to sell what they claim is a real Terracotta statue.

This is one of 100 entries in The Little Black Book of Ancient Mysteries. https://amzn.to/4pSLpH6