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What happens after death?

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Is there a restful paradise?

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An eternal torment?

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A rebirth?

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Or maybe just nothingness?

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Well, one Chinese emperor thought[br]that whatever the hereafter was,

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he better bring an army.

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We know that because in 1974,

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farmers digging a well [br]near their small village

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stumbled upon one of the most important[br]finds in archeological history:

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vast underground chambers[br]surrounding that emperor's tomb,

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and containing more than 8,000[br]life-size clay soldiers ready for battle.

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The story of the subterranean army[br]begins with Ying Zheng,

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who came to power as the king[br]of the Qin state at the age of 13

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in 246 BCE.

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Ambitious and ruthless,

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he would go on to become[br]Qin Shi Huandgi,

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the first emperor of China[br]after uniting its seven warring kingdoms.

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His 36 year reign [br]saw many historic accomplishments,

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including a universal system[br]of weights and measures,

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a single standardized writing script[br]for all of China,

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and a defensive barrier that would[br]later come to be known as the Great Wall.

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But perhaps Qin Shi Huandgi[br]dedicated so much effort

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to securing his historical legacy

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because he was obsessed [br]with his mortality.

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He spent his last years[br]desperately employing alchemists

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and deploying expeditions[br]in search of elixirs of life

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that would help him achieve immortality.

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And as early as the first year [br]of his reign,

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he began the construction of a massive[br]underground necropolis

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filled with monuments, artifacts,

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and an army to accompany him[br]into the next world

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and continue his rule.

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This magnificent army is still standing[br]in precise battle formation

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and is split across several pits.

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One contains a main force[br]of 6,000 soldiers,

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each weighing several hundred pounds,

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a second has more than 130 war chariots[br]and over 600 horses,

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and a third houses the high command.

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An empty fourth pit suggests[br]that the grand project

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could not be finished [br]before the emperor's death.

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In addition, nearby chambers contain[br]figures of musicians and acrobats,

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workers and government officials,

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and various exotic animals,

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indicating that Emperor Qin[br]had more plans for the afterlife

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than simply waging war.

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All the figurines are sculpted[br]from terracotta, or baked earth,

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a type of reddish brown clay.

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To construct them, multiple workshops[br]and reportedly over 720,000 laborers

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were commandeered by the emperor,

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including groups of artisans who molded[br]each body part separately

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to construct statues as individual as[br]the real warriors in the emperor's army.

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They stand according to rank

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and feature different weapons [br]and uniforms,

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distinct hairstyles and expressions,

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and even unique ears.

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Originally, each warrior was painted[br]in bright colors,

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but their exposure to air[br]caused the paint to dry and flake,

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leaving only the terracotta base.

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It is for this very reason that another[br]chamber less than a mile away

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has not been excavated.

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This is the actual tomb of[br]Qin Shi Huangdi,

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reported to contain palaces,[br]precious stones and artifacts,

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and even rivers of mercury[br]flowing through mountains of bronze.

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But until a way can be found to expose it[br]without damaging the treasures inside,

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the tomb remains sealed.

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Emperor Qin was not alone in wanting[br]company for his final destination.

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Ancient Egyptian tombs contain clay models[br]representing the ideal afterlife,

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the dead of Japan's Kofun [br]period were buried

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with sculptures of horses and houses,

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and the graves of the Jaina island[br]off the Mexican coast

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are full of ceramic figurines.

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Fortunately, as ruthless as he was,

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Emperor Qin chose to have servants[br]and soldiers built for this purpose,

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rather than sacrificing living ones[br]to accompany him,

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as had been practiced in Egypt,[br]West Africa, Anatolia,

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parts of North America

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and even China during [br]the previous Shang and Zhou dynasties.

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And today, people travel from all over[br]the world to see these stoic soldiers

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silently awaiting their battle orders [br]for centuries to come.