Emperor’s New Army

Almost 2,000 years after it was first raised, the army of China’s first emperor has added more than 100 new conscripts. For the past three years, archaeologists have been working in a previously unexplored part of the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi in the city of Xi’an in northwestern China. The tomb, which was originally discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well, has thus far produced more than 8,000 life-size terracotta warriors, civilian officials, and horses, as well as bronze chariots, weapons, and musical instruments. According to Shen Maosheng, the chief archaeologist of this new excavation, these recent discoveries are important because the colorful paint that once decorated the warriors is particularly well preserved. Shen also believes the team has uncovered evidence of an ancient act of aggression aimed at the emperor’s ceramic army. Some of the statues were found toppled over, weapons appear to have been stolen, and this section of the tomb shows evidence of arson, suggesting that it had been at-tacked, possibly by Xiang Yu, the leader of a rebellion against Qin Shihuangdi in the third century b.c. —Jarrett A. Lobell