The reason why the Terracotta Army Warriors in the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang all have a single eye is something that the Chinese academic community has not yet found a common voice for, Zhu Sihong, the head of the excavation project at pit No. 2 in the archaeological excavation area of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, shared with the Global Times.
According to Mr. Zhu, there are two main theories: One eye and two eyelids may be related to ethnic or race characteristics, and most people at that time were considered to have one eye.
The remaining hypothesis is that the statue of a one-eyed earth warrior may be to convey a serious, serious look suitable for the position in the army, in contrast to the more friendly appearance of the double eyelid.
Over the past five decades, Chinese archaeologists have excavated more than 2,000 clay warrior statues as real people, along with bronze chariots, stone armor and other artifacts, in three pits carved into more than 20,000 square meters.
"Although we currently do not have an accurate number of terracotta Warrior statues, we can estimate based on the excavation area and findings from pit No. 1. About 6,000 terracotta and horse statues have been excavated from pit No. 1. If including pits 2 and 3, the total number of statues is expected to reach 8,000" - Li Gang, Director of the Qin Shi Huang Tomb Museum, informed.
The terracotta warriors in the tomb have very diverse facial expressions. Experts note that 2,000 years ago, creating a huge number of statues with diverse facial expressions was a huge challenge. However, the clay warrior sculptors overcame this obstacle, creating truly unique statues in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang.
China's state broadcaster CCTV said that the diverse expressions on the faces of the statues not only reflect the aesthetics of the times but also show the meticulous attention of artisans to every detail when creating the statues.
