Terracotta warriors, Xi’an

Before we went to see the terracotta warriors, we ate at a restaurant nearby. They had lots of warrior copies. Clarence, the guy who rented us the apartment was our tour guide.

The Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, are life-size terra cotta sculptures in battle formations, reproducing the imperial guard troops of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 – 210BC), the first emperor of the first unified dynasty of Imperial China. He conquered the 6 warring kingdoms in the east and took them over to unify China. He was a brutal emperor. Each warrior was different and resembles his army.

It was a funerary project started at the time at the age of 13 to protect him in his afterlife. He became emperor at 22 and resigned for 37 years. He ordered the construction of the Great Wall and his 100 km high mausoleum in the mountain.

Found in 1974 by farmers digging a well, it is considered the most important archaeological find of the 20th century. They were discovered many times before but since this area was originally Taoist, many thought that it would be bad luck to dig it up as they thought it was a temple or were afraid something would happen to it. There were too many farmers in 1974 there to keep it quiet and as the cultural revolution had happened there was less chance that it would be destroyed.

All of the warriors have their hair in a bun. This is characteristic of Taoist people.

The figures vary in height depending upon their roles, with the generals being the tallest. Flowing rivers were simulated by using mercury in his tomb. The soils there do show mercury contamination.

Originally the warriors were half under ground and then a roof was put on. They took the forest away to make pits. After they were buried, the erosion of clay over time buried them deeper at 8 meters. 72,000 slaves were used to build this.

Xiang yu created an uprising after he died and broke into the mausoleum. However there are other theories. The weapons, chariots, and roof were made of wood and generally you burn the body and things for the afterlife. Some believe that they were burnt first then buried. The flank guards face out to protect the guards and they were the statues more intact. Theory is that the clay is harder on the outside than the inside and therefore did not collapse over time like other areas. If it had been broken into and destroyed, those flank men would not have stayed in such good condition.

Imprints of the wood beams in the clay. Chariots were made of wood and not survived. Warrior with hands holding in front are holding weapons.

The vanguard is along the front of Pit 1. They are the archers. Others are holding spears. Those that have the armor is the infantry.

This cutout area is where coffins were buried long before 1974. Heads are missing around where the coffins were. When they dug, they would cause damage to the warriors. Back then when they found a piece they thought it was from a temple because of Taoist past beliefs. They did not mention what they found.

Coffin inside still in this one part. The wood is gone, but the bones remain.

All the warriors were broken this way and then restored.

Area of restoration as they search for pieces. All of the warriors are numbered by GPS.

Each warrior is 150 to 300 kg.

Remains of the burnt wooden ceiling from 2200 years ago. But maybe burnt as Taoist burial first then buried.

Imprint of wheel from a chariot though the wooden wheel is long gone.

Print of crossbow.

Horses.

Workers scanning pieces.

Pit 3 was found in 1976. This is the original ground level. The picture below shows how they were found at the beginning.

Bodyguards of the emperor.

4 horses with 4 people for a chariot. They used colors and sounds (drum, gong) to tell movements like retreat and direction to move.

Given the area, it would have been better to bury so if these in a cave. It would make sense why they would create a wood city as there is a burning ritual for burial.

This tomb is from the Han dynasty. Holes in the chat were created with an auger to determine the she and whether there were warriors present.

Kneeling Archer was one if the most interact pieces. It was preserved better as since it was lower to the ground there were less forces from the top.

Officer.

The representation if the horse show they had saddles back then but not stirrups. This was an archer.

To small bronze chariots were found and signify the carrying of soul back to palace. This was found on the other side of the tomb and they face westward as the sun sets to the west.

Xi’an had been the capital of many dynasties as this was the seat of power after this first emperor reigned.