The Seven Chinese Brothers

Ch’in Shih Huang First Chinese Emperor BC

The Great Wall of China was built over 2000 years ago by Ch’in Shih Huang, the first emperor of China. The wall was built as a defense against nomadic tribes north of China. It is about 4000 miles long. The wall can be seen from space by satellite. More than 500,000 men were forced to work on building this wall by hand from stones, bricks and mud.

Large parts of the wall have fallen into disrepair.

Other parts have been repaired and opened for tourists.

The Great Wall of China can be seen from space. The photo was taken by a satellite circling the earth.

In 1974, while digging a well, a farmer found the tomb of Emperor Haung. Inside were found thousands of terra cotta (pottery), life sized soldiers and horses. The soldiers and horses and weapons are standing in battle formation. There are 6 to 8 thousand soldiers, as well as horses, and chariots. Weapons are as sharp as they were 2300 years ago. It was the custom to bury slaves and animals alive when an important person died, but the emperor broke with tradition and had replicas made for his tomb. He spent most of his life creating his tomb.

This is a model of the mausoleum area. Archeologists think this is what the area might have looked liked when it was first completed. Today the excavated tomb area has a large building over it to protect the statues from the weather and from thieves.

The soldiers have different hair styles, facial expressions, and clothing styles. All men had to serve in the army and they came from all areas of China.

Some of the horses were made of pottery like the soldier. Others were made from bronze metal.