As I said before, because I made assumptions about how the train system works, I had to get a last minute flight to Xi’an. Though it was affordable, especially considering I bought my ticket 12 hours in advance, it meant my day was spent travelling instead of sight seeing. Ugh.
The flight was 2 hours long, as opposed to the 12 hour train ride. From the airport I took a shuttle to the center of town and tried to hail a cab to my hostel, but was unsuccessful. It was the strangest thing, I couldn't get a cab for the life of me! They’d slow down just to shake their head when I tried to get inside. I looked for the city bus No. 63 that would eventually get me there, but no luck. Finally, a woman approached me and I was quoted 30Y. I tried to negotiate her down, but she wasn’t having any of it, so I relented. She led me and a Chinese woman with a child down a road and across the way to a van. This kind of shady encounter is all together common in China, but I was bolstered by the mother accompanying me. I showed the driver my trusty composition notebook that had the hostel’s address in Chinese, and within minutes I was dropped off at the front door.
I splurged a bit that night, and opted for a room by myself, and boy was I glad I did! It was a long day involving every kind of transportation imaginable, and the last thing I wanted was share my space with another person. My room had two beds, so I had to pay for both, which ended costing about $30. That was definitely the most I paid for any accommodation, most beds cost $10 a night. After getting settled some, I made my way to the common area and hung out with other like-minded traveller’s and ate some of the hot-pot the hostel provided for all their guests.
Energized by my brief nap, I connected my camera to the newly purchased tripod I had haggled for in Beijing, and walked around the neighborhood capturing some great images.
**As a side note, my pictures were rubbish due to a ridiculous no-tripod policy, and poor lighting, so these images were gathered online, but I figured that since I'm using them for educational purposes, I'm exempt from properly siting where I got these images.
About the Terra-cotta Army...
The Man Behind the Scenes
Before I get into the magnitude of the terra-cotta army, I want to first paint the picture of the man who envisioned such a project, Emperor QinShihuang. He was the first emperor in Chinese history and managed to unite the country in ways no one else has come close.
One way he did this was by establishing a centralized State and abolishing the feudal system. He divided the country into regions and appointed Ministers of State, this way he always knew what was happening without being stretched thin.
Qin also undertook immense construction projects that unified China, including an impressive road network so he could tour his great kingdom. If you remember the blog about the Great Wall, it was he who connecting the different sections making China virtually impenetrable. Everywhere he travelled he had stone tablets erected with inscriptions spelling out his many virtues and the laws of the State.
He was convinced he could find the elixer of life and used a great many resources to track it down. Despite all his attempts at immortality, he died at the relatively young age of 50.
Qin was so obsessed with death that even as he lay dying, his ministers didn’t dare whisper the word aloud. He died on his fifth tour of China, but not before elevating his eldest son to be his natural successor. But as what happens with the allure of great power, lies and deceit prevented this from happening, but that’s a blog for another person and has nothing to do with this subject.
As was the custom of the age, the emperor lived in the capital, then Xi’an. I had a theory that the word China could be traced to spelling Xi’an Chian and then rearranging the letters, but I was wrong. I later learned Qin’s name, which sounds like Chin, is the origin of the word China.
The Qin Mausoleum
This monumental grave took 38 years to build. It’s based at the foot of Mount Li, just outside Xi’an. He chose this location because the southern side of mountain is famous for gold and the northern side for jade, which makes for good FengShui. (FengShui is the art of positioning manmade structures in harmony with the cosmic energy coursing through the earth. The objective is to balance man, nature and spirit.)
Emperor Qin believed that life under the ground after death was a continuation of life on earth, which is why he created such a huge mausoleum.
Despite attempts to finish this grave in time for the inevitable, Qin died before the tomb was completed. According to the decree of the Second Emperor, women without children were ordered to follow the emperor to his grave.
In addition to thousands of dead concubines, 42 mass graves were unearthed with hundreds of skeletons in each pit, thought to be laborers and craftsmen of the Terra-Cotta Army. The skeletons were tossed together in simple graves, some appearing to be struggling, proving they were buried alive. They were killed in order to preserve the secret of Qin’s militia.
Discovery and Excavation
In March of 1974, local farmers were drilling for a well and found large pottery fragments about a mile away from the mausoleum. This led to the discovery of Qin’s army buried over 2,200 years ago. Since then, continual archaeological work excavated another two pits housing an estimated 8,000 life-size pottery warriors and horses.
This is one of the farmers who found the warriors, and if I bought the book, which is where I got all this information from, he'd sign it for me. Touristy? Yes, but definitely worth it!
Over time, these hollow figures had collapsed and shattered due to the weight of the surrounding dirt. With painstaking work, the men and horses were exposed and put back together one piece at a time. Each restored figure takes about 5 months to resemble, which is why 30 years later there is still a huge amount of figures waiting to be reconstructed
Each pit was built similarly and I think you’ll soon agree that the obsessive attention to detail is inspiring. They had paved roads, which were covered by what we would call a garage, with wood beams and roofs, and the men and horses were placed inside. These structures where constructed to totally conceal the army, which was then covered in dirt. Each pit varies in size and purpose, but they all had their backs to the tomb, serving as guardians to protect the entrance of the Emperor’s grave.
Pit 1 is the largest pit with roadways full of terra-cotta warriors and horses arranged in a practical battle formation. At the frontlines are 3 rows of guards equipped with bows and crossbows. Behind them are 30 chariots, each drawn by four horses, armored and unarmored solders each holding spears and other weapons. Around the outer edge is a row of soldiers with crowssbows facing each direction. Even though 8,000 guards have been uncovered, because of the shear size of this pit, it’s estimated that more than 6,000 more will be discovered, most of which are infantrymen.
Pit 3 is the smallest of each excavation sites, with only 68 pottery figures and one chariot. It’s the smallest because it’s the command center of the entire army. It’s positioned in the far corner so it would be well protected by the armies of the two larger pits. The soldiers are more ornate, the chariot is painted more colorfully, indicating this area was for higher ranking officers.
Unlike the other pits, each figure is fully armored and has different weapons, including bronze swords that should seniority.
Construction and Craftsmanship
It’s hard to fully grasp just how impressive these figures are in photos. Each warrior weighs between 200 and 600 lbs and averages 6 feet tall. The same method was used throughout the entire production. In general, the bodies, heads and arms were hollow and the legs were solid to keep from collapsing under the enormous weight. Clearly such large figures couldn’t have been made from a single mold, but created by separate pieces later fitted together before firing.
The heads of the human figures were made in two-piece molds. Ears, noses and hair were hand-made separately and added later. No two figures so far unearthed have had the same features or expressions. Some experts think that real soldiers served as models. In addition to different faces, belt hooks, shoe ties and costume details were also individualized.
After each statue was made, the craftsmen were ordered to inscribe or paint their names on the backs of the robes, legs or armor. The names of over 80 craftsmen have been discovered so far.
The same principles of construction was employed for the horses. Cavalry horses had long, plaited tails and the chariot horses had shorted tied tails to keep it free from the harness and shaft.
After the terra-cotta warriors and horses were made, they were put into the kilns to be fired. The heads of the humans were fired separately from the body, so the necks were left with holes. The horses have round holes on each side of the body so gas could escape and prevent the figures from deforming or exploding in the kiln.
Colorful Characteristics
There are seven main categories of army personnel: high-ranking officer, officer, armored and unarmored soldier, charioteer, cavalryman, kneeling archer and standing archer. The officer class is identified by their greater size, ornate armor, headgear and sashes that relay emblems of rank. Cavalrymen are distinguished by tight fitting helmets tied under the chin, along with tight fitting armor and flared robes to facilitate riding. The charioteer is identifiable by fully armored sleeves and the position of his hands, which are held out in front to hold the horse’s reins.
This is an infantryman, which you can see has considerably less detail.
Archaeologists have determined that originally the figures were completely painted, but floods, fire and time have erased most of the pigment. Luckily there were enough paint flakes to give us an idea of what they originally looked like.
There were some distinctive characteristics that made me chuckle, like, Ancient China considered men with moustaches and potbellies to be attractive. Also, the soldiers that had shoes pointing upward at the tip indicated rank, the higher the point, the higher the rank. Another indication of rank was the amount of detail on the sole of the soldiers boot.
I took this picture to show the potbelly the Chinese so revered.
Bronze-work and Unique Weapons
I’ve never been particularly impressed by gigantic bronze work... until China. The Forbidden City was riddled with colossal lions, which were definitely striking, but they were nothing compared to the bronze chariots and horses built to defend Emperor Qin.
In 1980, archaeologists discovered two sets of painted bronze chariots and horses, which were originally placed in a big wooden coffin. Over time the wood rotted and dirt collapsed inside. The chariots and horses were found in thousands of pieces, but luckily the pit was not robbed. After eight years of painstaking restoration, two complete sets of bronze chariots and horses are on display in the museum, though they often travel as exhibits to world-renowned museums.
Theses chariots were the deluxe sedans were meant for the emperor when he inspected his kingdom during his afterlife. They were modelled after the real chariots, horses and drivers, but were half size. Obviously bronze was used in the construction of these pieces, along with large amounts of gold and silver. The chariots and horses were cast in perfect proportion and where named the ‘High Chariot’ and the “Comfortable Chariot.’ An interesting detail: the teeth engraved in the mouths of the horses indicates the horses were all six years old, the best age for drought conditions.
Both chariots were originally painted with bright colors ranging from vermilion, pink, green, blue to white but the basic color was white. The Chinese of that time believed in the ‘YingYang’ theory and Outer space and Earth were divided into five directions represented by five colors.. The colors represented south, north, the center, east and west. The bronze chariots used white to indicate west, which suggests there are four other sets of bronze chariots and horses yet to be discovered that symbolize the other directions.
Many-a-Famous...
There have been many-a-famous spectators, including:
Queen Elizabeth II
But I think we can all agree, these clay figures were in awe when I walked into their created universe. And let’ face it, who can blame them?
A few things are self-evident when I visited this treasured archaeological dig, such as, there is no task too difficult for the Chinese, and, we’ve only seen a fraction of what is really here. Pits have continued to be discovered as recently as 2002, the pits that have been unearthed for 30 years are still providing more specimens. I know I joke about China’s massive factory-line productions, but once you see these relics in real life, you get a new found respect for Chinese tenacity.
Sitting on one side of me was a group of Chinese men, probably around 45 years old. They were all talking rather animatedly, and the guy next to me would lift one butt cheek and fart as loud as he could, which would be followed by boisterous applause and encouragement. His friends or co-workers, or random strangers he befriended, would laugh so hard, he’d do it again as soon as possible. I was worried if he kept up his pace there would be a serious accident!
On the other side of me was a retired couple, and I caught a few of their words, which they spoke in French. I’ve not had many dealings with the French, inside France or out of it, but the accent always catches my ear and lulls me into a feeling of serenity no other accent does. It turned out we were waiting for the same flight, and we got to talking some. This was their first time in China too, and they were continuing on to Vietnam once they met up with their daughter who lived in Shanghai. Their command of English was respectable, though I had to speak much slower than I usually would. Every time I said something that surprised or impressed the gentleman he would say, ‘ooh la la’ with his thick French accent, which made me want to giggle. In my head I would follow his words with, ‘shakla bleu’ in a voice very similar to that of the candlesticks from ‘Beauty and the Beast.’
Speaking with them only reminded me of the innumerable advantages speaking English has given me. It’s true I am adventurous and seek to expand my world, but I don’t consider my gallivanting across the globe to be all the courageous when you compare it to those who speak English moderately well and engage in the same journey. There is no other language that can unite so many different nationalities as English does. Incidentally, I just taught a lesson on how English is obliterating the world’s language diversity because it’s the main way to earn a competitive wage. That lesson was delivered in English of course.
So after a 2 hour flight, I landed in the heart of Karst Country, also known as Guilin.
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