BEIJING, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Three Chinese farmers who chanced on the terra cotta army buried with China's first emperor, Qin Shihuang, want to be compensated for their discovery.
The three came upon the sculpted soldiers while digging wells in the Xian region in 1974.
Yang Peiyan, 75, one of the farmers bringing the suit, is familiar to tourists because he has been allowed to sign his name on souvenir booklets at the museum established at the tombsite of Qin Shihuang where the terra cottas were found.
The Art Newspaper this week said Yang and the other two farmers claim they were paid less than one U.S. dollar and given lifetime free entry to the museum for their historic discovery, whereas Zhao Kanghmin, director of the museum, received a government fee of about $75,000.
More than 7,000 slightly larger than life terra cotta warriors with individualized faces, together with horses and chariots, have been excavated so far at the site, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in China. They are believed to be only a small part of a magnificent array of military mannequins still buried in the area of the as yet unopened imperial tomb dating to the Second Century B.C.
