Why the Terracotta Warriors Don’t Wear Helmet

Written by Clementine | Updated September 06,2025

No one traveling to Xian skip Terracotta Warriors and Horses. Quiet a few toursits would directly go to Terracotta army when their flight land at Xian Xianyang International Airport – which is briefed as Xian Airport, and is the nearest airport to Terracotta Warriors.

When you doing the Terracotta Warriors tour, have you ever asked why these terracotta soldiers don’t wear helmet? It seems there is just one main explanation: the heavy helmet and loricae made their body less movable so to some extent they were barrier when the soldiers fought with enemy. Follow this article to learn more details.

Content Preview

• Unusual Appearance of the Terracotta Soldiers
• The Culture Symbol of the Qin People
• The Martial Spirit of the Qin Soldiers
• The Suicide Squad of the Qin Army
• The Etiquette of Exemption From Armor
• Plan your Xian Terracotta Army Tour with China Xian Tour

Unusual Appearance of the Terracotta Soldiers

These terracotta soldiers are as tall as real person (1.75-1.85m) and each of them wears unique facial expression. The stransge thing is that these soldier figures not only don’t wear helmet but also wear very plain loricae. The main force of the troop – infantrymen wear loricae that just protect their chest and back. And the cross-bow soldiers wears no any kind of loricae. By observing all soldier figures excavated in the pits, one will find helmet of the Qin soldiers are all simple and protect only the most crucial part of their body. How could these happen? That was decided by the unique ethnic tradition and culture of Qin People.

The Culture Symbol of the Qin People

In Chinese history, culture and personality of Qin people is quite different from the well cultivated states lies to east of the Qin State. Qin people lived and developed in the northwest corner of China, they struggled in tough natural living condition and lived with nomad who were famous for the brave for hundreds of years. Though the Qin People worked hard to learn about the civilization of eastern states, they had never been educated with the mild and genteel ethics of the eastern states. In minds of Qin People, being warlike and fighting for interest was the principle of nature.

The Martial Spirit of the Qin Soldiers

The great thinker of the Warring Period Han Feizi recorded his first meeting with Qin People: When the Qin People got the order to face a battle, they were all exciting and seemed can not wait to fight the war. In the war, the Qin soldiers wore neither helmet nor the long sleeve cloth. The only thing they were eager to do was to charge and kill enemy. The troops of eastern states were badly scared. When the battle ended, the Qin soldiers collected heads of enemy soldiers they killed and brought them to their master.

Qin People thought life as the less important thing. Because only if they participated in a war, they would have chance to kill enemy and take the enemies’ heads. And only with these heads their behave in the war would be regarded as meritorious performance. And then they could raise to the nobility and rise in rank. And so their live will be bettered by the government.

The Suicide Squad of the Qin Army

In the Terracotta Warriors pit, there is a group of special soldiers. They have weapon in their hands but wears no any kind of protection. Among all the soldiers they appear quite out of common. The expert assume they are suicide squad of the Qin troop. When there were some extremely dangerous military task, the government offered much promising award to soldiers who’d like to take the task in advance. Most soldiers who took that cross the Rubicon task may died in the battle. And out of other consideration, they gave up all body protection.

The Etiquette of Exemption From Armor

Another famous opinion is that the terracotta army is not the regular troops of the Qin State used for warfare, but rather the imperial guards of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who will take off the helmets to show respect when they meet the emperor. And during the time the artisans were making the Terracotta Army thousands of years ago, the State of Qin had already accomplished unification of the country. In peacetime, the statues created by the artisans were all based on the imperial guards.

Plan your Xian Terracotta Army Tour with China Xian Tour

Xian Terracotta Army Tour is a hot historic attraction with abundant cultural relics. During your tour, a professional guide can explain the history and details of the scenic area and answer your questions in time, which will improve your travel experience greatly. And China Xian Tour can arrange a guide for you. Also, we can plan a Xian Tour with Terracotta Army or assign a driver based on your needs. So contact us to plan your tour now.