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| Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Pits
(Qin dynasty, 221-206 B.C.) |
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In 221 B.C., Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty established
the first centralized feudal dynasty in China. (Centralization was
particularly important in the Yellow and Yangtze regions because flooding
periodically wiped out years of work and coordinated planning was
required to build canals and avoid political as well as geographical
fragmentation.) 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. Presumably, the king of Qin did not consider
himself a mere man! In fact, he ordered the burning of books of history
and philosophy as well as the death of 460 Confucian scholars who
had had the temerity to continue teaching principles drawn from the
past. 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.
In 1974, when digging wells about a mile west of the mausoleum,
some peasants made the sensational discovery of the Terra-Cotta
Warriors and Horses; these figures were distributed over three large
underground platforms and formed part of the emperor's burial objects.
Likely numbering more than 7,000 warriors if the site were completely
excavated, the figures are cultural assets of considerable quality.
In order to avoid the risks of weather damage, a giant hall has
been constructed over the first excavation site to provide protection.
Although the faces of the individual warriors all have different
expressions (lifelike and colorfully painted), it is known that
some were mass produced in large workshops.
In 1978, a fourth pit was discovered; it is shaped as the Chinese
character zhong (middle). In 1980, two bronze chariots with four
horses were discovered.
There are four main categories of figures: 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.
For all its grandeur, the Battle Formation of the Terra-Cotta Warriors
and Horses is acclaimed by many as the Eighth Wonder of the World. |
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