terra-cotta army, life-size terra-cotta figures found in the tomb of the first Qin emperor, Qin Shi Huang (also called Shihuangdi), near Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China. The buried army faces east, poised for battle, about three-quarters of a mile from the outer wall of the tomb proper, guarding it from Qin Shi Huang’s chief former adversaries, who had come from that direction. The area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. Archaeologists expect it to take years to unearth the entire tomb complex.

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