Day 5: The Incredible Terracotta Warriors

Book signing with farmer
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Until recently, Xi'an was a forgotten city.  Once the capital of the Chinese dynasty, Xi'an had contented itself to being a small town with few tourists and a largely indigenous population.  All that changed about three decades ago when, in 1974, a group of farmers unearthed some historical relics while digging for a well.

It turns out that the where the farmers were digging was the burial site of China's first emperor and what they had discovered would completely change Xi'an's fortunes as a city and firmly place Xi'an on the world map as one of the 'must be visited' places.

The Emperor believed that life under the ground was a continuation of life on earth. This was why the Emperor wished to have a whole army of soldiers (cavalry, infantry with charriots and weapons) all built and buried with him in his tomb.

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Soon after the discovery by the farmers, professional archaelogical teams were dispatched from Beijing.  What lay below was beyond anyone's wildest imagination.  A whole army of soldiers sculpted to the very last detail.  The first pit unearthed had over 6000 of these soldiers. Two other pits were subsequently discovered and they housed charriots and horses.  The detail on these sculptures is mind boggling and they are all life size sculptures.

Historians say that Emperor QinShihuang (the first emperor of the Chinese dynasty) was obessessed with finding the elixir of life that would grant him immortality.  At the same time. he planned, with meticulous detail, the construction of his own mausoleum - which was a vast burial mound that concealed the tomb.  The Emperor believed that life under the ground was a continuation of life on earth.  This was why the Emperor wished to have a whole army of soldiers (cavalry, infantry with charriots and weapons) all built and buried with him in his tomb.

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This massive 'undertaking' took more than 700,000 workers and over 40 years to complete.  Today, we know of seven pits that have been discovered and we do not know how many more wonders lie below.  Of the seven, three pits are now open to the public making this the world's biggest on-site museum.

There is also much tragedy associated with the construction of this tomb.    In the HanShu (Book of Han), the Emperor's funeral is described as follows: "thousands of officials were killed and thousands of craftsmen were buried alive in order to keep the tomb secret."

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We were completely enthralled by our visit to this museum and at the same time also a bit overwhelmed by the personality of Emperor Qin.  He sure was one ruthless ruler.  This is the same emperor that unified China for the first time and also initiated the construction of the Great Wall of China.

At the end of our tour, we met with the only surviving farmer (who made the discovery of the tomb in 1974).  We purchased a book on the history of the mausoleum and on the terracotta soldiers and the farmer signed our copy for us.