China plans to excavate more of the life-size terracotta warriors at the famed ancient tomb of the country's first emperor.

中國計畫在遠近馳名的秦始皇陵墓陪葬坑挖掘更多真人真馬大小的兵馬俑。

Archaeologists hope to uncover more of the elaborately carved officers to add to the 1,000-plus statues already excavated, the official China Daily newspaper said. Special care will be taken to preserve the figures' painted details, which have faded almost entirely in those already taken from the earth and exposed to air.

據官方《中國日報》報導，考古學家希望能在已出土的1,000多尊陶俑之外，再挖出更多雕刻得栩栩如生的武俑，這次會特別注意保存兵馬俑的細部彩繪，那些已經出土並暴露在空氣中的陶俑彩繪，幾乎已經完全褪色。

China said thenew excavation was set to find more terracotta warriors in a bid to unravel themysteries which surround the ancient figures buried in the tomb of the firstemperor. "This time, the excavation could open many unresolved mysteries, such aswhether there are civil servant officials in the pit as well as soldiers," the State Administrationof Cultural Heritage said in a statement on its website.

中共方面表示，這次新的挖掘工作是為了找出更多兵馬俑，以解開環繞始皇陵中所埋葬這些古老陶俑的謎團。中共國家文物局並在其網站上發表聲明說：「這次挖掘工作可以解開更多未解之謎，例如，除了武俑之外，坑內是否可以找到文官俑。」

The work began June 13 in the site's largest pit which is believed tobe still hiding around 5,000 of the life-size figures.

挖掘工作於6月13日在中國最大的坑洞展開，據了解坑內仍藏有約5,000個真人大小的陶俑。

The new dig is the third undertaken since the tomb was first uncovered in 1974 outside the western city of Xi'an and will focus on a 2000-square meter patch within the tomb's main pit that holds the bulk of the warriors.

這是在古都西安城外秦俑一號坑，自1974年首次開挖以來第三次新的考古挖掘工作，重點將放在秦陵大部分兵馬俑散布的主坑2000平方公尺的坑洞內。

The tomb and its accompanying museum are among China's biggest tourist draws, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

秦陵及附設的秦俑博物館是中國大陸最熱門的旅遊景點，每年吸引數十萬計的觀光客。

Exhibited where they were found and protected inside a massive shed, the fierce figures with enigmatic expressions are among the best-known images of China.

在他們出土的地點展示，並在大棚架保護下，這些氣宇軒昂、面帶謎樣神情的武俑，是中國大陸最廣為人知的意象。

Reproductions in sizes ranging from midget to full size are sold in gift shops around the country and an exhibition of 20 figures and dozens of artifacts from the tomb broke ticket sale records when it traveled last year to London, California, Houston, and Washington, D.C.

從小型到真人大小不同尺寸的秦俑複製品，全國各地禮品店均有售。去年，20尊秦俑和數十件始皇陵文物到倫敦、加州、休士頓和華府巡迴展時，票房均破紀錄。

Tomb museum deputy director Cao Wei said maintaining the figures and ensuring their paint does not oxidize would be far more challenging than the relatively simple task of excavating them.

秦俑博物館副館長曹瑋表示，維護保存這些兵馬俑並確保其彩繪漆不致氧化，其挑戰和難度要比相對單純的開挖工作要高得多。

“The only difficulty lies in how to preserve them afterward,” Cao said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, adding that would be the responsibility of the Shaanxi provincial antiquities bureau overseeing the excavation.

曹瑋在接受美聯社電話專訪時表示：「唯一的困難在出土後如何妥善保存。」他並表示，這是由主管秦陵開挖工作的陝西省文物局負責。

In all, the tomb's three pits are thought to hold 8,000 life-sized figures of archers, infantry soldiers, horse-drawn chariots, officers and acrobats, along with 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses.

一般認為，秦陵三大坑總共有8,000個真人大小的陶俑，包括射手俑、騎士俑、戰馬車、步兵俑及雜技丑俑，外加130輛戰車，配備520匹戰馬和150匹騎士坐的鞍馬俑。

It is believed they were created to protect the immortality-obsessed emperor in the afterlife.

咸信當初創造這些陶俑，是為了來世仍能保護始終迷信長生不死的秦始皇。

At 183-195 centimeters tall, the statues weigh about 180 kilograms each and are intricately detailed. No two figures are alike, and craftsmen are believed to have modeled them after a real army.

這些秦俑高183至195公分，重180公斤，每一個都精雕細琢，沒有任何兩個陶俑是一模一樣的，據信雕工是以一支真正的軍旅為範本。

The tomb was looted less than five years after Emperor Qin Shihuang's death by a rival army that set a fire that destroyed the wooden structures housing the warriors, damaging most of them. Since their discovery, the figures have suffered perils ranging from mold due to humidity to decay from exposure and coal dust produced by local industry.

秦始皇去世後不到5年，始皇陵曾遭敵營士兵劫掠，並放火燒毀安置這些軍俑的棚架，大部分兵馬俑因此遭到損毀。自從這些陶俑出土後，又慘遭種種危害，從潮溼發霉到因暴露於空氣和當地生產的煤灰而腐朽風化不等。

A fourth pit at the tomb was apparently left empty by its builders, while Qin Shihuang's actual burial chamber at the center of the complex has yet to be excavated.

當初建陵墓者顯然刻意讓第四號坑內空無一物，位於秦陵中央真正的秦始皇陵寢迄未開挖。

An official at the Terracotta Army Museum, who refused to be named, toldAFP he did not know how long the dig would last. "We have applied for a dig period to the end of this year, and if wehaven't finished it, we will apply for another period from then," he said. Tourists will still be allowed into the pit while the excavation is under way.

秦俑博物館一名不願透露姓名的館員告訴法新社，他不知道這次挖掘工作會持續多久。「我們申請挖掘的工期到今年底，屆時如果尚未完工，我們會再申請延長一段時間，」他說。開挖進行期間，遊客仍可到秦俑一號坑參觀，

The Terracotta Army is one of the greatest archaeological finds of modern times, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

兵馬俑是現代最偉大的考古發現之一，1987年被列為世界遺產。

Photo shows newly-made replicas of China's Terracotta warriors standing before they are painted at a workshop in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, June 12, 2009. Archaeologists started the third large-scale excavation of China's terracotta warriors on June 13, China's fourth Cultural Heritage Day, after a halt of over 20 years.

圖（路透）為站在陝西西安一家工作坊外一尊尊剛複製完成、尚未彩繪的軍俑。考古學家於6月13日第四個中國文化遺產日，展開第三次大規模開挖兵馬俑工作，中間總共停頓了20餘年。