I can safely say that my head feels a bit like it is going to explode. The Terra Cotta warriors are unbelievable. And, this happens to me when ever I view real antiquities, I aways feel my little self shrinking to microscopic size as I try to put the Entire World History into perspective. Ai.
For reasons that we have not worked out, I don't have access to my VPN, so I can't use Wiki to back me up. So forgive me if I get bits of this not quite right - I'm going from memory. Here's the basic gist: Over two thousand years ago, in 221 BC, the Emperor Qin Shin Huang united the mass of land that we now refer to as "China." He survived to reign for something like fifty years. At the age of 13, when he ascended the throne, he began building his tomb. It took 39 years and 700,000 laborers to complete. Apparently, the emperor believed that to be successful in the afterlife, he would need to be well equipped: the warriors were meant to be his fighting force. In addition, he packed, silks, food, animals, and, wives. When he died, his wives were put to death and buried with him. Something like 3,000. Only two of which had actually ever had the pleasure of meeting him. Such was life 2000 years ago.

The grandeur: this is Pit 1, the largest pit, containing the Infantry
I'd like to pause a minute, to let all of that sink in. First, here's a guy who thinks he's going to storm the after-life, probably to whatever the Qin Dynasty equivalent to Bohemian Rhapsody would have been. In some ways, you have to admire thinking like that. I wish I were a bit more academically inclined, as I would love to do research on various megalomaniac royalty who believed such things: the Egyptians and the Mayans, come to mind as fairly obvious. But I am sure there are lots of cultural pods where people are buried with "stuff" because they think they need it in the afterlife. But, really. The resources this guy put behind "insuring" that he would be successful after he died are just astonishing. I do wish him luck - wouldn't it be an interesting novel idea to create a world where this megalomaniacs all met up and had to duke it out??? Alas, for someone more research inclined than myself.
I did mention to our tour guide, the famous Rapheal, what he thought of the whole idea of someone who thought they need silks and grain and meat and and three thousand dead and decaying wives, plus an entire army of brightly painted clay warriors to prepare themselves for the afterlife. He shook his head, and said very seriously to me, "Rapheal(1) have to ask you a very personal question. In your country, where you come from, do people believe that there is some part of the body that lives on after death?"
I replied that indeed many, many people do believe in the concept of a "heaven." Not everyone, of course, but many people believe in a spiritual afterlife.
He shook his head in amazement, and said, "Rapheal cannot imagine such a thing. People really believe this??" Which I can totally understand. Life in China is very practical. Rapheal's early years occurred during the Cultural Revolution - his childhood memories are not exactly what you would call pleasant. And if one is not exposed to the concept of religion, well, why would you believe in an afterlife?
But, back to the Warriors. Each individual, and there are at least 7,000, is modeled on a real human. So each individual face is different. This is an amazing concept to think about, and even more astonishing to see. Row after row after row of clay statues, each formed by hand, fired in a kiln to astonishing temperatures - 2,000 years ago, each representing a real life human being who has been gone from this planet for 2,000 years. This is what gives me a headache about antiquities. My flimsy little brain gets all caught up in imaging not only the soldier that the clay warrior was modeled on, but his wife, his children, his dog, and then I start thinking about the people who made the clay figure of the real life warrior. All gone from this planet for 2,000 years. Ai! I could never have been an archaeologist - I would have ended up curled in a ball whimpering years ago.
These were all modeled on people who lived and breathed, and had wives and children, and ate and slept, and had the flu occasionally. And probably worried about how to best deal with their crazy in-laws. All dead for 2,000 years. Mind blowing.
But, back to the Warriors: here's something you probably didn't know. After each figure, each infantry man, each General, each standing archer, each kneeling archer, each horse, was built, fired, and assembled, they were painted. When the tomb was first discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well, the Warriors were all different, bright colors. After a few months exposure to air and light, the colors all faded away. The assumption is that there are acres and acres more of these things under the ground, but that until the technology exists to unearth them in a way that leaves them as they were found, they should remain safely underground.
No photo can communicate the power of seeing this in real life. From the incredible vastness of the tomb to the individuality of each warrior, words and photos are inadequate.
The interesting sort of problem with a day like this, however, is that while Jeff and I were lapping it all up, the children slowly melted down. In their defense, they are kind of small, and I can easily see how this sort of thing might be boring for little people. Jeff and I didn't do great advance planning on keeping them occupied, so by the end of the day, they were toast. Actually, by lunch time, they were toast, but we drove them on, in hopes of soaking up as much as we possibly could before they threw themselves down and refused to get up.
Toast. Well done. With butter and jam.
They did buck up a bit in the afternoon when we got them outside for a bit. For the horse people, this is an interesting photo. Any guesses as to what we are looking at?? Two hints: (1) each item is around 800 years old and (2) they have all been gathered here artificially - you can't use these items in the configuration they are currently in. The answer is below, so guess before you read further.
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Mounting blocks (the steps!) and hitching posts!! Aren't they lovely?? They have been gathered here from all over the area for preservation. I love that the gargoyles and dragons and evil spirit catchers are meant to guard the horses. Like horses need any help in seeing evil spirits <giggle>.
And then, after a rest at the hotel, a little Retail Therapy. For the first time in my entire life, I understand what this phrase means. It was sheer delight to bury ourselves in row after row after aisle after aisle after booth after booth of people selling all kinds of silks and shirts and pens and wallets and jewelry and knick-nacs and all sorts of lovely, mostly useless things. I bought a few (more) pashminas (one can never have too many pashminas - I may pay too much for them, but I get them for around $6 U.S.) and a few, um, shirts. The horse ones if you must know (also for around $6 US). And Pam, I got a pink one for you. Size XL - should fit just fine. ;-)
The market went on forever. Not in terms of time, but in terms of space. It was narrow, but it went on and on and on and on. Amazing, and really fun.
And in the midst of my first ever Retail Therapy Experience, I ran into these!! NQR (Not Quite Ralph) - on steroids??? Please, someone tell me! Does Ralph approve of this sort of thing??? Or is this a creative Chinese enterprise, assuming that a small logo is good, a larger logo must be gooder??? Inquiring minds need to know - please, someone, do tell!!!!
And then, just because it is kind of surreal and I feel the need to share:
Some Notes: I am a few days ahead on the writing of this blog, so by the time this post shows up, we'll have been in Chengdu for a few days, hugging panda's and doing our darnedest to stay out of harm's way. For some reason that we aren't quite sure of, my VPN is not accessible, so I can't see my blog page. Which means I can't reply to the comments section - please, do keep comments coming, and I will get to them once I can access them. I can reply privately, and will try to do that as time allows.
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(1) Rapheal speaks of himself in the third person. Just the facts, ma'am.
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