The Terracotta Soldiers in Xi'an are an exquisite example of realism in sculpture and are one of China's archaeological crown jewels. Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE-210 BCE), the First Emperor of China, commissioned the funerary statues to accompany him into the afterlife for his protection and placed them within his 38 square mile mausoleum. Discovered in 1974 in the Lintong district by farmers digging a well, each of the roughly 8,000 life-sized soldiers and horses bears unique hair, face, and regalia down to the most minute details. Amazingly, China had never crafted anything like these before, so exactly how were the Terracotta Soldiers made?