The excavation of a large number of terracotta warriors in the Emperor Qin Shihuang Tomb has provided us a complete set of visual images of the Chinese armor suits of that time. The unearthed soldier figures included foot soldiers, army clerks, riders and archers, all with armors that strictly reflect their rank and status. Generals and riders wore hats, while ordinary soldiers did not. Although tbey were not real artifacts of armor suits, the fine artisanship put into these clay figures were so meticulous that the structure of the armor was dearly seen. The most common armor style, the style for common soldiers, had one distinct feature - all metal chips were covered like fish scale by the piece on top of them at the chest, and in the reverse direction at waist level, a design intended for easy movement. Looking from the central line, all chips cover tile next outwards. Construction of shoulder chips was similar to the waist. Chips at the shoulders, waist and below the neck were connected with belts and nails, from two nails to four and no more than six. The length of the armor is equal at front and back, rounded at the lower edges with no additional decoration. Materials we have today on Qin armor indicate that armor of the same type is similar in style, measurement, construction and number of chips. This can be seen as the result of measurement unification promoted by Emperor Qin Shihuang, and shows that the production of armor was centralized instead of privately done.
