Terracotta ArmyTwo centuries before the birth of Christ, an army was being formed, a beautiful army that would protect the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi in his beyond. His elaborate mausoleum began the year he became emperor, 246 BC and continued for 40 years, even after his death. But why terracotta warriors and not human sacrifices as required by an age-old tradition? In 678 BC, funeral human sacrifice took place, a practice started by Duke Wu, which involved killing the entire court of the emperor, including his army. The violence of war put an end to human sacrifice. Thousands of people were wiped out by the ravages of war and could no longer afford to bury human sacrifices. This practice was abolished by Duke Xian in 384. Pottery figurines then took the place of human sacrifices but Qin Shi Huangdi took it to another level. Han Emperor Ling Di ascended the throne 53 years after Qin's death. He also had a terracotta army. His tomb was discovered 40 kilometers from Qin's mausoleum in 1990. Although these two emperors both had terracotta armies, there was a big difference between the two. From the size of the figurines, to the number of soldiers, to the differences between the objects found in each tomb. Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (259-210 BC) was responsible for unifying seven warring kingdoms into a single ruling empire, now considered China. What it is best known for is its terracotta warriors made 2,200 years ago, considered the "Eight Wonders of the World." He spent his entire life searching for the key to immortality. He believed that after death there was life after death, so he built an elaborate tomb to house him and everything he would need for his new life. It included a massive terracotta army of 8,000...... middle of paper...... not that big but what it had was naked pottery figurines, chariots, horses and weapons. He also had a royal kitchen pit, which included hundreds of dogs, sheep, pigs and articles of daily use. Its pits varied in size and length between 13 and 328 feet. Compared to Qin warriors, pottery figurines are one-tenth of the actual items and vary from warrior to civilian to male to female. ( )Qin and Han were both emperors of China who believed in the afterlife, which was a custom at that time in history. They both had a terracotta army. Qin had 4 pits with over 8,000 warriors while Han had 81 pits focused more on figurines from domestic and everyday life. Perhaps because Han had a more impartial style of government and was not afraid of the enemy like Qin who made several assassination attempts, Han did not focus much on his army. While both