So, after spending 4 days in Beijing visiting Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden Palace, the Beijing Opera, the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, and having Beijing Duck, we arrive in Xi'an, home of a very large "stationary" army.
The "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses" is a collection of terracotta (red fired clay) sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China (259 BC – 210 BC). The sculptures are a form of funerary art that were buried with the emperor in 210 BC–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his after-life. The Terra Cotta Soldiers are located about one mile east of the Emperor's tomb site and to the east of Xi'an. The figures date from the late third century BC but were only discovered in 1974 by local farmers. This discovery was then examined by Chinese archaeologists who unearthed the largest pottery figurine group ever found in China.
At the time of constructing the building that covers the soldiers, China didn't have the engineering expertise. The design and engineering of the building was done by a Canadian engineering firm in the late 1970's
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| The Terra Cotta Soldiers |
The figures vary in height according to their roles with the tallest being the generals and include warriors, chariots, and horses. Current estimates put the number of sculptures at over 8,000 soldiers, 520 horses with their 130 chariots , and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Non-military terracotta figures such as officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians were also found in other nearby pits.
Qín Shi Huáng, first emperor in Chinese history, is a pivotal figure in Chinese history, ushering in nearly two millennia of imperial rule. After unifying China, he and his chief advisor, Li Si, passed a series of major economic and political reforms. He undertook gigantic projects including building and unifying various sections of the Great Wall of China, a massive national road system, and the now-famous city-sized mausoleum guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army, all at the expense of numerous lives. To ensure stability, Qin Shi Huang outlawed and burned many books, even burying some scholars alive.
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| A Soldier & His Horse - The Terra Cotta Soldiers |
An entire man-made necropolis (city of the dead) for the Emperor has also been found around the Emperor Qin's burial mound located at the foot of Mount Li. Constructed in the form of an earthen pyramid, the necropolis complex was constructed as a microcosm of his imperial palace. It consists of offices, halls, stables and other structures placed around the mound. The mound is surrounded by two solidly-built compacted earth walls with gateway entrances. The site is covered with 16' (5 metres) of reddish sandy soil that has accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction.
Work on this mausoleum began in 246 BC soon after Emperor Qin ascended the throne at 13 years of age. Full construction involved 700,000 workers. Mount Li was a favoured location for a burial site due to its northern side being rich in gold, and its southern side rich in jade. It was rumoured that the Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artefacts and wonderful objects in his tomb. This included over 100 rivers with mercury simulating flowing water. The ceiling were supposed to have been decorated with stars, planets and other heavenly bodies that "shone down" on familiar features of the land. Recent investigations show a very high level of mercury in the soil around the tomb.
Tomorrow we take a train trip and travel to Luoyang and the Dragon's Gate Grottos, aka the Longman Caves.
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