Only the metal parts have survived. But they are the finest quality bronze weapons found anywhere in the world. One of the most incredible finds is a sword, perfectly preserved after 2,000 years in the ground.
This, um, this notch here in the sword shows us that this is a sword that was actually used. This was a sword that was wielded by an actual soldier. Professor Yuan has explained to me that this remarkable weapon is longer than any sword that existed before the Chin started, the Chin Dynasty started to make these, um, um, significantly longer.
Chin armorers managed to perfect the art of bronze making to give their soldiers 30% extra reach and cutting power in close quarter combat. And there is new evidence that shows quite how seriously the Chin took their ability to wage war.
Oh, a Chin halberd, part of the bronze assembly at the top of the halberd.
The sharpened bronze head was placed on the end of a ten-foot long staff, making a powerful weapon.
This has an inscription. What it says is that in the 5th year of the King of Chin’s reign, the prime minister of state, Lv Buwei, had this halberd made. That’s a guarantee of its quality, and that it was made to a standard, so that he himself was being held accountable for the effectiveness of the weapons that the soldiers were carrying into battle.
The well-trained highly motivated Chin Army, equipped with precision weapons and led from the front by a ruthlessly ambitious king, creates the perfect conquest machine. Within 7 years, Ying Zheng captures 13 cities from the State of Han, a further 20 cities from other states, and repels a combined force intents on stopping him in his tracks. But while foreign enemies are easily brushed aside...