It was just a usual day for a bunch of Chinese farmers digging for a well outside the city of Xi'an, China back in the day on March 29, 1974. Until it wasn't. Suddenly, they stumbled upon a life-size clay model of a soldier. When Chinese archeologists reached the site, they found 8,000 such terracotta soldiers. What's more? Each of them had different expressions. What craftmanship, we say! This is now dubbed the Terracotta Warriors Museum. But what's the history behind it?
This huge army of soldiers is but a part of the grand mausoleum dedicated to the first emperor of unified China Qin Shi Huang Di. The very same emperor who built The Great Wall of China. These soldiers were to assist the great emperor into the afterlife, said several archeologists. It was Qin himself who ordered the construction of this mausoleum. Over 7,00,000 labourers were assigned to work on this massive project of clay soldiers who were armed with arrow tips, swords, weapons as well.
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If you think why all this rings a bell, here's a reminder. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his visit to China in the year 2015, had paid a visit to these terracotta soldiers and there was a viral meme about it. You remember now?
