After unifying the six states, the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, began constructing his mausoleum. Over 100,000 people from across the country were mobilized to build his tomb over a span of 39 years.
According to legend, Qin Shi Huang had a terrifying dream. Many nights he dreamt of the vengeful spirits of his enemies coming to claim his life, prompting him to use his sword to commit suicide.
Upon waking, the emperor was filled with fear. He worried that after his death, his enemies would seek revenge, so he immediately ordered the burial of a large number of warrior statues modeled after the generals of the Qin dynasty to protect him in the afterlife.
This miraculous army of terracotta warriors was first discovered in March 1974 when a few farmers in Shaanxi Province accidentally unearthed life-sized clay statues.
When first excavated, the terracotta warriors and horses were adorned with bright colors. The clothing, skin tones, and weapons of the warriors were painted to resemble reality. However, among the 7,000 statues unearthed, there was one warrior with green skin, dubbed the “green-faced warrior.” This anomaly puzzled archaeologists!
At that time, due to the lack of preservation technology, experts had not yet had the opportunity to investigate this mystery before all the statues oxidized to a brown color. Fortunately, specialists managed to capture a photograph of the green-faced warrior before its original color completely disappeared.
The only terracotta warrior with a green face. (Source: NetEase).
Using advanced technology from recent years, experts have managed to restore the paint and repaint the green-faced warrior. However, to maintain this green hue, the statue must still be wrapped in layers of fabric.
Why does this statue exist?
After the discovery of this statue, numerous theories were proposed to explain why the face of the statue is green, unlike thousands of other statues.
Some experts speculate that during the Warring States period, this figure represented a “sorcerer” in the army, designed to appear unusual to frighten enemies. Historical records indicate that the Chinese also painted soldiers’ faces in various colors on the battlefield to intimidate their foes, thus making this theory quite plausible.
Another theory suggests that the statue has a green face but pink hands, indicating that the craftsman who created this terracotta warrior might have been colorblind and mixed colors incorrectly during the process. However, the statue-making process for the Qin emperor was strictly managed, making this scenario quite unlikely!
Additionally, some experts explain that the green color could simply represent skin tone and does not hold any special significance.
The statue on a rare occasion being widely displayed. (Source: NetEase).
To this day, experts have yet to provide a convincing reason why this terracotta warrior has a green face. Currently, China has implemented policies prohibiting the green-faced warrior from being exhibited abroad.
China also limits the number of times this valuable statue can be displayed in domestic museums. As of now, the statue has been exhibited only three times and is currently housed in the Shaanxi History Museum with stringent preservation and protection measures.
