Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with other cultures and things older than I could ever imagine, both ancient and prehistoric. At the age of seven, I wanted to be a paleontologist. At eleven, I wanted to be an Egyptologist, memorizing facts about the different pharaohs, dynasties, and teaching myself how to read and write ancient Egyptian. Today, my focus is on the Vikings... not quite as ancient but still equally fascinating. Instead of faerie tales, I would read "Eyewitness" books about Mesopotamia, Pompeii, and the famous Terracotta Army in China.
A trip to Xi'an is incomplete without a visit to the Terracotta Army just 30 minutes down the road (and for the most part, the main reason why people travel to Xi'an at all is to see the warriors), so when Adam and I decided to go to Xi'an for the National Holiday, we knew we had to dedicate an entire day to the Terracotta Army.
The army was constructed over 2,000 years ago by Emperor Qin Shi Huang (and, boy, is he quite a character). Originally the king of the State of Qin, he ended up conquering all the other warring states and united China in 221BC and became the first emperor. During his reign, his generals greatly expanded the size of China taking over parts of Hunan and Guangdong. He also united a series of city walls and turned them into what we know as The Great Wall of China, today. He established a national road system, reformed the political and social system (which sadly resulted in book burnings and executions of scholars), and he searched all his life for the elixir of immortality. He seemed to fear death while he searched for the elixir... but his fears are made even more famous when we look at his Terracotta Army built to guard him even in death. He died in 210BC, buried with his treasures and his army... the terracotta soldiers and a river of mercury in his tomb seem to have done their job quite well because, even to this day, no one has entered his mausoleum.
Like so many cultures in ancient times, the Terracotta Warriors are a form of funerary art--some examples can be seen in King Tut's treasure, the Pyramids, the catacombs of Rome, and the Taj Mahal--and can even be traced back 50,000 years ago to the Neanderthal's burials. Funerary art can have many uses--a part to play in burial rites, an article for the dead to use in the afterlife, and to celebrate the lifetime accomplishments of the deceased. The purpose of the Terracotta Army was not to show how lavish the emperor's wealth had been in life (though it had been quite impressive), but rather, to protect him in the afterlife.
Construction of the Terracotta Army took thousands of artisans years to complete--the arms, legs, torsos, and heads all being made separately. The soldiers vary in height depending on their rank (generals are taller than archers), their hairstyles differentiate between the ranks, and each face is unique--no two men look alike. There are more than 8,000 soldiers along with 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses... That is, indeed, an army! Each one is more than 2,000 years old, constructed of terracotta or clay, and was once painted with bright colors.
The army remained hidden until (like so many archaeological discoveries) it was discovered by accident by a group of farmers digging a well in 1974. Archaeologists arrived on the scene, less than a mile east of Emperor Qin's famed burial mound and they were shocked to find the largest "pottery figurine group" ever found in China (and maybe even the world).
If that is not enough to get archaeology nerds and history buff's mouths salivating, I don't know what would do it! Either way, I had read books, seen documentaries, and heard stories about Emperor Qin's undead army and I knew I just had to go!
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It was our last full day in Xi'an and we decided that instead of trying to navigate our way outside the city to the most popular tourist attraction in the area, we would just sign up for a tour through our hostel that included transportation, admission, an English tour guide, and lunch. Adam and I piled into the van with a girl from Paris and a mother and son from London and we were on our way!
Now I will say that with this being probably the #1 tourist attraction in the area AND it still being the National Holiday, it was pretty crowded... However, I have a feeling that it is always that crowded [Just a warning if you ever find yourself there: A). Don't let the huge crowds take you by surprise and B). Don't let the pushing and shoving take away from the magnitude of what you are witnessing]. I will also say that, like Pompeii, it was nothing like what I expected it to look like and, just like when I was in Pompeii, I had to try and not feel a wave of disappointment.
In Pompeii, the history books make it look as though you can walk into different houses and buildings and see the figures of people lying in bed or sitting at the table which is not the case at all--all of the figures are under glass and behind bars in large warehouses scattered around the ancient city (right next to the cafe and gift shop).
Pompeii, August 2010: 18 year old pregnant girl removed from the site of her home.
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| NERD ALERT: 20 year old Amanda |
At the Terracotta Warriors, the history books make it look as though the archaeologists pulled away a layer of dirt and found this enormous army standing in regimented lines, perfectly preserved which is not the case at all. In truth, the warriors were buried with sloping roofs over them to protect them, but 2,000 years buried in the ground where earthquakes are common caused all of the warriors to crumble and break. When archaeologists found the army, it was in pieces and they have spent the last 40 years collecting the pottery and piecing them back together--the completed and standing soldiers you see in books and in documentaries have been put back together by hand over the last four decades (which might not be as incredible but I find that pretty damn impressive anyway).
There are a total of four pits (but only three of them had anything in them and only three are open to the public) and each one holds different ranks in the Terracotta Army.
Our guide had us go from Pit 2 to Pit 3 to Pit 1 (from least impressive to most impressive hindsight tells me). She would give us a brief introduction and then send us on our way to explore ourselves (the complete opposite of a Chinese tour)!
Pit 2
This was our first glimpse at just how grand Emperor Qin's army was. This pit is thought to house the infantry and cavalry units of Qin's army. You walk into this huge building that is bigger than a warehouse and you look down into a pit to see these rolling waves of dirt and every so often, you would find a narrow path that might have resembled a hallway thousands of years ago and a pile of what looks like rubble. But upon further inspection, you realize that what you are looking at is not rubble, but rather, broken pieces of pottery--you see a leg, a head, part of a torso and you realize that this is Qin's great and terrible Terracotta Army.
It was here that I finally realized that the army was not how it was depicted in books--it was broken up in pieces--and I had to try to fight off the disappointment that I was starting to feel... a disappointment I hadn't felt since I visited Pompeii four years ago.
The pit is in the center of the building with walking paths all around it and on the perimeter of the building there are several completed figures--kneeling archer, standing archer, a general, and a horse--each of them life sized, each of them different, and each of them put perfectly back together.
I was a bit disillusioned with the warriors at this point, if I am being completely honest. I was worried that I would have to be okay with just looking at the reconstructed warriors standing behind the glass (not that that is a bad thing--I was still seeing the warriors but not at all how I had envisioned them).
Pit 3
We moved onto Pit 3 right next door, leaving the crowd of Pit 2 and replacing it with the crowd of Pit 3. This building was much smaller, you could easily take a rock and throw it over to the other side of the room (or drop your cellphone in the pit like one person did...::sigh::). In Pit 3, we have what was the command post of the army and it houses high ranking officers, horses, and even a chariot. And it is in Pit 3 that my disappointment began to fade away--it is filled with nothing but completed warriors, standing once more in the places they had been left to guard 2,000 years ago.
Pit 1
Pit 1 is the one that you will see if you go online and look up the Terracotta Warriors, open up a textbook, or watch a documentary. This is the site that is the largest and most impressive and has the most warriors reconstructed and returned to their posts in the ground. And it is this pit that made me a happy Amanda once more.
Pit 1 is the main pit with 6,000 warriors inside. It is still an active archaeological site where researchers are still piecing together the warriors. When you walk into the back entrance, you are greeted with, not the army, but a work space--tables, chairs, and computers are in the middle of the pit where archaeologists continue to put the warriors back together, even 40 years later. As you move down the pit to the main entrance, the warriors become more and more whole--there are some with no arms or a missing head or a piece of their chest is still open. But as you make your way further down, they become more and more whole and soon the pit is just filled with completed warriors. When the warrior is completely restored, they are returned to the area in which they were found--the result is narrow passageways dug out in the pit just filled with thousands of warriors (somehow China 200BC in a burial pit looks pretty similar to China 2014 on the street).
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| This is Pit 1 from the back entrance--you can see how big it is! |
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| You can see the work spaces, totes, and plastic wrap around the warriors |
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| Warriors in various stages of repair |
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| Still some missing pieces |
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| You can clearly see the different pieces put back together! |
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| Still in the early stages of reconstruction |
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| Completed for the most part |
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| Completed and returned to their posts |
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| THIS is what you expect to see at the Terracotta Warriors |
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| Despite my early disappointment, I did thoroughly enjoy the warriors! |
Like so many important archaeological discoveries, I do think that the Terracotta Warriors have become painfully commercialized. Hordes of crowds flock to the pit's, pushing past each other to try and get a good shot on their cameras. Things like cellphones are dropped into the pits, tampering with the site and potentially harming the artifacts. Gift shops and cafes have sprouted up everywhere--they see that there is a market. Just like Pompeii, it is sad to me that these sites--these time capsules of human history--now have price tags and an entrance fee on them. It makes you so much more appreciative of places like the Lascaux Caves where there are prehistoric cave paintings and very strict rules and regulations when it comes to visiting.
China is very good at seeing potential in something and running with it. The dozens of factories that produce warrior replicas, the amount of people who flock to the museums, and the warrior cartoon characters everywhere are proof enough. We are so focused on the warriors today--how we can get the best photo of them, what cute cartoon can we get, and what is the cheapest price we can find a replica soldier (Adam won that battle between the two of us). We don't really focus on the emperor's mortality and fear of what happens after death, instead we focus on something that we can still see--his Terracotta Army.
An emperor who was afraid of death tried to fight it off for as long as
he could and, in the end, he lost... but his army remained strong and
firm even 2,000 years later. And that is something to marvel at.
Up next is the epic (and exhausting) tale of our trek up to the summit of Hua Shan! Stay tuned!!
Until Next Time,
Amanda
