A blog about Travel.
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True or False? Audrey - thought you might like this joke! The Sacred Way, China Testing Terra Cotta Army - Xi'an, China No more squatters! New Comments Hey, where's Steve Swenson? Blogging The Great KC Fair June 06 July 06 August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 August 09 September 09 October 09 November 09 
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OK, here's the story. The moon and the planets were lined up, therefore, you could take an aluminum handled broom and stand it up on it's own and it will stay there, due to the gravity of the planets. I witnessed it, but is it true it can only happen at certain times or will it happen any time? Same thing for microwaving an egg and it will stand on the tip.
This was a post I had saved then lost due to the save draft problems formerly - so I'll post it now. Included are pics I took while in China back in November.
The Sacred Way – The Ming Tombs
Serene is the best word I can describe when walking down the path of the Ming tombs, from the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644.
Located here are the tombs of 13 of the 16 Ming Dynasty emperors. The Sacred Way runs for about a kilometer and is flanked on both sides by carvings of human and animal figures. There are 12 large stone human figures and 24 of animals, all carved from a single block of granite in 1435 during the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Xuan De.
Blogs - for the past week I've been trying to post a new blog with photos, but everytime I hit save draft, my blog disappears. Since it's the weekend, I know Jason's not around, anyone have a clue what's going on? So I went to China. Here is my first post, beginning with the Terra Cotta Army, since I see MSN.com has a video on it. This is just my interpretation, and I hope I have the facts somewhat accurate. But go ahead, and correct my errors, so I can do the same! There is so much history, it's hard to get it straight. Also see my photos of the soldiers!
Terra-Cotta Army, Xi’an, China
Not quite the story of the farmer in the dell, but in 1974, a local farmer was drilling a series of wells in search of water on his property. Rather than water, he discovered fragmented pottery and weapons, and notified authorities, who responded to the site and took possession of the farmer’s land (eminent domain to us) to begin excavation, leaving the farmer without a home or source of income. The site of the farmer’s land is now known as the Terra-Cotta Army Museum, in Xi’an, China. The farmer, left without a source of income for more than 20 years, is now at the museum most days for a small stipend from the government, and supplementing his income by signing books for the tourists.
What does the Terra-Cotta Army represent? The Terra-Cotta Army warriors are believed to be the soldiers from the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC) belonging to the First Emperor of China, YingZheng. He became the King of Qin at age 13 after his father’s death. Consisting of high ranking officers, officers, armored and unarmored soldiers, charioteer, cavalrymen, kneeling and standing archers, the Terra Cotta Army warriors were made of local clay and basically are hollow except for the legs which are solid. The heads of the humans were made in two piece molds, joined together. Ears, noses and hair were made separately then added on to each head. Facial features, such as the mouth, moustache, beards, and hairstyles were sculpted. No warrior has the same feature or expression, leading to the belief that each soldier faced one another and sculpted each other until the final clay warrior was completed. Horses were also constructed in the same manner. Their legs are solid, the head, body and tails are molded or modeled separately then attached to the legs. The facial details are sculpted the same as the human figures. In addition to the warriors, tens of thousands of weapons were unearthed from the pits, but many were reduced to dust as they were constructed of wood and did not hold up over time. Looking at the warriors, you can see their hands at one time held a wooden weapon but it disintegrated over time, leaving their hand void of their original weapon. Bronze swords survived and are displayed in the museum. Pits containing rare birds, animals, pottery, and more were discovered and are displayed throughout the museum.
Qin spent his life looking for immorality, and was obsessed with a fear of death. He ignored the fact he was a very sick man and died at the age of 50. During his obsession of immortality, it is thought that was his reason for his replicating his “army”. Emperor Qin believed that life under the ground after death was a continuation of life on earth. Upon his death, thousands were killed - the tomb builders, officials, craftsmen were either killed or buried alive – all in order to keep the tomb secret. Those that escaped death became angry and intent to destroy the mausoleum – thus, surviving craftsmen and others set about destroying the army of clay warriors by knocking them over and reducing them to broken bits of clay – to be discovered and pieced together some 2200 years later.
Excavation and restoration are done at night, leaving the museum open during the day to tourists. The warriors are carefully pieced together and if a piece is missing, it is not replicated, the warrior will stand as is, with parts missing. In the original days, these warriors had paint covering them, in bright colors, which have faded over the years. In the museum and store, you can purchase replicas of the warriors anywhere from inches in height to full size replicas.
Ha ha! I'm just back from China and boy am I glad! No more squatters ever! For those of you who have never been, the porcelain goddess (toilet) choice in China is a squatter. A porcelain hole in the ground in which you squat to pee in to. NO THANKS! In 12 days I only had to try it once, and then upon assuming the upright position, almost slipped and fell into the dang thing. YUCK. China is amazing. I saw the Terra Cotta Soldiers, the Forbidden City and Tinnamen Square (that's another story for another day), Shanghai, Wuhan, Wushan, Xian, and Bejing. Operas, acrobats, and the chinese market place. (another big YUCK). So much history I learned, so many notes I took, and I still feel I can only remember a small amount I learned. BUT NO MORE SQUATTER TOILETS. YES, I'M GLAD TO BE BACK IN THE U. S. A. !
OK, I want to SCREAM! I HATE BEING HIJACKED BY THE NETFLIX AD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone else agree??????? I just realized Steve hasn't been posting in the blogs for a while. Hope he's doing ok, and just wanted to say I miss his witty comments (along with Scary Mary's). I only blog here on TBC, but what are other sites you bloggers blog on? Anyone enter photos in the fair this year? I know Robinslost did, I saw 3 of her entries. Out of my four entries, I only received one honorable mention this year for the photo shown. Anyone else want to share their photos and whether or not they placed in the fair? |
