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.