Emperor's Ghost Army

Gr 7 Up—The first pieces of these larger-than-life terra-cotta warriors were a mystery to historians and researchers when they were accidentally uncovered in an orchard in the early 1970s, but 40 years later, a wealth of information has been discovered. The 8,000-man army of soldiers, horses, and chariots was originally created to serve China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di, in the afterlife, but were buried and forgotten for well over 2,000 years. This program uses techniques from many different academic specialties to reveal the evidence of Qin's tyrannical rule, upsetting the traditional view of the era. Archaeology, computer modeling, military strategy, photography, 3-D modeling, and sculpture techniques are all used to get a better understanding of how the Chinese of this time worked, lived, and even died. Detailed video reenactments are done well, depicting actors in daily scenes of the workers' lives. They effectively emphasize how important the workers and artisans were to the formation of this amazing sculpted army. In addition, most of the terra-cotta soldiers were equipped with bronze weapons that were manufactured using surprisingly accurate technology and engineering for the times. Replicas of these weapons are tested through a series of experiments that add further interest and depth to this production.