The Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses in Xi'an, China
Terracotta Warriors in Xian, known as the eighth wonder of the world, now is a museum to display the terra-cotta warriors and horses which were made in Qin Dynasty.
Qin terracotta warriors have guarded the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang for over 2000 years.
In 1987, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and Terracotta Warriors were approved by UNESCO to list in the World Heritage List.
The Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum is the first and largest mausoleum in China.
In 221 B.C., Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty established the first centralized feudal dynasty in China.
After his death, he was buried at the northern foot of Lishan Hill in the east of Lintong County.
The tomb has been reduced to half its size after 2,000 years of water and soil erosion, but still impressive - 76 meters high and a fundamental space of 120,000 square meters.
One unusual detail about the construction of the tomb is that the emperor had the building begin shortly after becoming king of Qin at the age of 13.
This action contradicted Confucian wisdom that a son should demonstrate respect for his father by building as impressive a memorial as possible and that a man should never plan his own funeral rites.
The tomb took 39 years and 700,000 workers to reach completion.
It had pearls embedded in the ceiling to represent the stars, and rivers and lakes were modeled with liquid mercury.
The tomb itself has not been opened yet.
Excavation of the Terracotta Warriors
On March 29, 1974, while a severe drought hit Shaanxi Province, villagers in Lintong County, accidentally discovered the terracotta fragments when they dug wells on their fields.
The villagers called the terracotta warriors “Wa Ye” as an immortal of underground world.
The first time they saw the terracotta warriors, the warriors’ clothes and weapons were still in very bright colors, after two thousand years buried underground.
However, when archaeologists excavated soil, affected by air oxidation, the color of the warriors gradually disappear within a few minutes, only leaving the clay color now.
From 1976 to 1978, the archaeological team added staffs to fully carry out the excavation work.
On October 1, 1979, Museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Emperor Qin Shi Huang began to exhibit to visitors from both d omestic and abroad.
Main Categories of Figures
There are four main categories of figures in this museum: chariot warriors, infantrymen, cavalrymen, and horses.
There are generals, middle ranking officers, lower ranking officers, ordinary soldiers, and armored warriors.
The latter can be further divided according to their headgear into warriors with a square scarf, a cylindrical bun, or a flat bun.
There are kneeling warriors as well.
Significance of Terracotta Warriors
Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum is the largest imperial mausoleum with most peculiar structure and abundant connotation.
In fact, it is a luxurious underground palace.
Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, both in terms of quantity, quality, or in the archaeological discoveries, are rare in the world.
It provides very precious materials for in-depth study of the Qin Dynasty military, political, economic, cultural, science and art in the second century BC.
It is not only the art treasures of the Chinese people, but also the common cultural heritage of the world's people.
Terracotta Warriors is a real-life theme art.
Its means of artistic expression is delicate, lucid and lively.
The gestures and facial expressions are different between two terracotta warriors, with distinct personality and strong characteristics of that age, showing peak clay sculpture art at that time.
Mausoleum
The warriors are even more impressive when you consider that they are just one small part of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.
Scientists have used remote sensing, core sampling and radar to discover that the tomb complex is almost 38 square miles (98 square kilometers).
They suspect it contains a replica of the city of Xi'an, as well as its rivers and streams.
In addition to clay inhabitants — warriors, acrobats, etc.
— thousands of real people were also buried with their emperor.
Many were craftsman and convicts who died building the mausoleum.
Hundreds of concubines were also buried there, possibly to accompany their emperor to the afterlife, or possibly as part of an elaborate court intrigue, according to National Geographic.
Sima Qian's writings describe the contents of the tomb complex: "The tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions and offices as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities."
Rivers and streams were made of mercury, hills and mountains of bronze, and precious stones represented the sun, moon, and stars.
According to National Geographic, tests on the dirt at the tomb reveal high levels of mercury, supporting Sima Qian's description.
But we may never know for sure what lies beneath the tomb.
Sima Qian warned that it was booby trapped, and modern archaeologists are kept away by the risk of damaging the site.
Some artifacts could disintegrate rapidly if the tombs were opened.
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