In 1974, a group of farmers near Xi’an, Shaanxi, China stumbled upon a breathtaking archeological find: a vast collection of buried terracotta soldiers and other figures, numbering in the thousands. It was eventually discovered that these incredible statues were part of a massive necropolis built for the first emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang, who died around 210 BCE. Qin Shi Huang was a fascinating historical figure, one who abolished feudalism, unified various state walls into the precursor of the Great Wall of China, standardized currency, and established an extensive road system, but on the other hand, executed scholars, burned books, and was at the center of numerous coup and assassination attempts. He was also obsessed with finding an elixir that would grant him immortality, and though he obviously never found it, the unearthing of his protective terracotta army ensured that his name would be remembered throughout the world into the present day. Dig deeper underground and further back into the mists of history on this ancient artifact of an episode.

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