Ghost Armies

A few years ago, some of the statues of the Terracotta Army were on loan here in Virginia, so we went to see them in person. These were clay sculptures that were buried with China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang around 2200 years ago.

Original image by Shawn Kinkade. Uploaded by Mark Cartwright, published on 03 November 2017

These soldiers were incredible to see up close. Each one was a little different, with unique, individual traits like wrinkles, eye positions, the shape of the nose each being a variable. Each soldier has their own clothing style and hair preference.

If you were under the impression that these soldiers were designed to fake out a far-off enemy, those up-close details might change your mind. In fact, the Terracotta Army was built to protect emperor Qin in the afterlife, not in this one.

On the other hand, there have been some really interesting ghost armies built for exactly that purpose—to deceive one’s enemies on the battlefield. There isn’t a more famous example than…