That morning we had breakfast in the restaurant, there was a beautiful display of dumplings and breakfast items were the usual stuff
When traveling abroad we usually go for breakfast quite early maybe by 7 am, come back to the room and rest for a while and start for the tour for that day, this way we find the restaurants less crowded
We were going to see the world-famous Terracotta Army that day which was around 35 km from our hotel
We were first taken to a factory and store where we were shown the exact procedure of how these warriors were made which was very educative
We could see shuttle carts available for an optional fee but chose to walk
I was pretty much excited to be visiting the warriors because along with the great wall of China they were on my bucket list of things to see in China
The Terracotta army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the army of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, it is a form of funerary art buried with him in 210–209 BCE to protect the emperor in his afterlife.
The Terracotta Army is part of a much larger necropolis constructed as a microcosm of the emperor's imperial palace compound and covers 38 square miles around the tomb mound located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramidal shape
The construction of the tomb was described by historian Sima Qian (145–90 BCE)
Work on the mausoleum began in 246 BCE soon after Emperor (then aged 13 yrs) such a tender age I thought! ascended the throne, and the project eventually involved 700,000 conscripted workers.
Mount Li was a favored location due to presence of jade mines and gold found abundantly
Tomb itself had been looted by Xiang Yu, a contender for the throne after the death of the first emperor and is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances.
The warriors stand guard to the east of the tomb. Up to 16 ft of reddish, sandy soil has accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction
The tomb appears to be a hermetically sealed space roughly the size of a football pitch and remains unopened, due to concerns over preservation of its artifacts. It was found that after the excavation of the Terracotta Army, the painted surface present on some terracotta figures began to flake and fade.
The necropolis consists of several offices, halls, stables and an imperial park around the tomb mound
A museum complex has since been constructed there, the largest pit being enclosed by a roofed structure. The figures, dating from the late third century BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, outside Xian while they were digging for something else
Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits comprising the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits
The figures vary in height according to their roles, the tallest being the generals.
The figures include warriors, chariots and horses.
Other terracotta non-military figures found in other pits include officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians
The Museum facility is very large with four Terra-Cotta Army Pits 1, 2, 3 and the Relics Hall of Quin Shi Huang Mausoleum.
Because we had a guide, we found it easy to navigate around the necropolis and tickets were quickly arranged
We proceeded from one pit to the other, there were heavy crowds and I noticed that the Chinese also chatter a lot like us and they are habituated to spit which is said to be a cleansing act for the body
The 1st Pit was the largest -750 ft long and 200ft wide and was most impressive.
It was bigger than several football fields. It had eleven corridors and paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. It apparently contains the main army of more than 6000 figures
This design was also used for tombs of nobles. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay added for waterproofing, raising them about 6 ft to 10 ft above the surrounding ground level when completed
We saw stretchers, body scanners and the archeologists were trying to assemble the many terra-cotta soldiers and horses. I was reminded of our anatomy dissection halls where we put bodies for students to dissect
The 2nd Pit was an area of earthen ground partially uncovered by the archeologists who were painstakingly uncovering the small fragments of terra-cotta warriors and horses that have been destroyed by time and past rulers.
The 3rd Pit is where we could see most of the terra-cotta horses and a limited number of soldiers and extensive restoration work going on.
The Relics Hall of Quin Shi Huang Mausoleum was very impressive, we could see many of the different terra-cotta soldiers that either have been pieced together or found mostly intact. Foot soldiers, officers, archers and horses can be seen there.
Other pits that formed the necropolis have also been excavated. These pits lie within and outside the walls surrounding the tomb mound.
They contain bronze carriages, terracotta figures of acrobats and strongmen, officials, stone armor suits, burial sites of horses, rare animals and laborers, as well as bronze cranes and ducks set in an underground park
The terracotta figures were life-sized, their heights ranging from 5.74 ft to about 6.6 ft, the officers typically taller. They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank. Their faces appeared to be different for each individual figure which I found very interesting.
The figures were of these general types: armoured infantry, un armoured infantry, cavalry men who wear a pillbox hat, helmeted drivers of chariots with more armour protection, spear-carrying charioteers
We saw kneeling crossbowmen in original state and the recovered state too
Archers who are armoured, standing archers who are not, as well as generals and other lower-ranking officers.
Uniforms varied within the ranks, for example, some had shin pads while others didn’t , some wore long or short trousers, some of which may be padded.
Their body armours varied depending on rank, function, and position in formation.
We saw terracotta horses placed among the warrior figures.
Pigments originally used on the Terracotta warriors were ground precious stones, intensely fired bones -white, pigments of iron oxide (dark red), cinnabar (red), malachite (green), azurite (blue) charcoal (black), Chinese lacquer tree (brown)
I thought the colored lacquer finish and individual facial features would have given the figures a realistic feel, with eyebrows and facial hair in black and the faces done in pink.
However, in Xian’s dry climate, much of the color coating would flake off in less than four minutes after removing the mud surrounding the army.
The terracotta army figures were evidently manufactured in workshops by government laborers and local craftsmen using local materials.
Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were created separately and then assembled by luting the pieces together. When completed, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.
The faces were created using molds, and at least ten face molds may have been used. Clay was then added after assembly to provide individual facial features to make each figure appear different.
Over 40,000 bronze items of weaponry have been recovered, including swords, daggers, spears, lances, battle-axes, scimitars, shields, crossbows, and crossbow triggers. Most of the recovered items are arrowheads
The slightly alkaline pH and small particle size of the burial soil most likely preserved the weapons.
The swords contain an alloy of copper, tin, and other elements including nickel, magnesium, and cobalt.
Some carry inscriptions that date their manufacture to between 245 and 228 BCE, indicating that they were used before burial.
On seeing the museum we were reminded of Nagarjuna Konda in Nagarjuna Sagar where similar excavations were done and a beautiful Buddhist museum exists on an island on Krishna river which can be reached only by a motor launch
There were several exhibitions held all over the world with a small number of the warriors, there was one in Salarjung museum in Hyderabad too, a thrilling and proud fact for us
By the time we covered all the areas we were exhausted and were taken for lunch
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