Xian Day 1.5 - China History 101 Ch 1 and lots of Clay Blokes
The next day we flew to Xi’an in Shaanxi province. Xi’an is the ancient of China - called Chang’an - at the time, being the administrative centre for 14 dynasties. From the Zhou (pronounced Jou) Dynasty in ~1100BC to the Tang in the 900AD, Chang’an was the greatest city in China, and for much of that one of the greatest in the world; it was the Eastern hub of the Silk Road and was a international metropolis that often hosted awestruck foreign dignitaries who passed through its wide busy streets came to pay homage and pay great tribute to the various Chinese Emperors.
It was the home of the Qin (pronounced Chin) dynasty, which spawned the first emperor, the tyrannical Qin Shi Huangdi, who first united China, started the Great Wall, standardised the Chinese Language, weights and measures, and legal and taxation system. Perhaps most famously in the West, he also commissioned the Terracotta Warriors. The dynasty only lasted 14 years from 221-207BC, falling apart on Shi Huangdi’s death, but it remains one of the most the most influential of the formation of the Chinese nation and culture.
History bit:
Following the slow decline of the Zhou, seen as a golden age of virtuous and benevolent rulers, China entered a turbulent time known as the Spring and Autumn Period, and the many fractured pieces of Zhou and other fiefdoms struggled for supremacy. A huge number of political allegiances and betrayals meant that the borders of each state were fluid at best, and loyalty, people and lands were bartered away to seal a truce or union. During this time the Qin kingdom in the west was able to capture Shu, the resource rich area now known as Sichuan. Sichuan had featured little in the embittered wrangling of the Warring States, peacefully isolated by the Qinling mountains and a harsher climate. This was done by a ploy of Trojan proportions; knowing that the emissaries from of Shu were visiting and being a veteran of warring states, the king of Qin created 5 stone cows with gold splattered behinds and placed them in his fields. The emissaries believed them to be real, and thought they produced cowpats of pure gold and the king did nothing to dissuade them otherwise. The emissaries returned to Shu, and reported the sight to their king who immediately requested that Qin send a herd of the beasts to Shu. The Qin king happily obliged but said that there was no easy way to transport the animals through the mountains without a better road which he would build if the king of Shu agreed. He did and the “Stone Cattle Road” was constructed of wooden, cantilevered out from the mountain side to allow the heard to be easily brought over the range to Shu. The cows were indeed delivered but much to the disappointment of the King of Shu they did not have the desired effect - this however was the least of his problems as a short while later the invading army of Qin, that flooded in on the same road were probably more worthy of his attention…
A century later the Spring and Autumn period degenerated into the Warring State Period, where political battles were no longer enough and real bloodshed was required; a huge number of people were thought to have been slaughtered as they now found themselves on the wrong side of the tempestuous territory demarcations. No nation did this with as much gusto as Qin; deciding that the Machiavellian business of democracy and treaties were inferior to outright and unilateral aggression. Their policy was simply to annihilate the competition, fuelled by the well spring of resources in Sichuan and their mastery of the horse.
Eventually all the kingdoms fell before the Qin, with their defeated kings bowing their heads in ‘guilt’ for having ever opposed King Zheng of Qin - who now declared himself the First August Emperor or ‘Shi Huangdi’ of all of the land. The Emperor was probably a megalomaniacal tyrant and a little obsessive; he introduced the ‘legalist’ system across all his acquired lands; the state had total authoritarian control over every aspect of life and a huge table of offenses and draconian punishments were laid out and a whole community was mutually accountable for the actions of any individual member, and suffered the same punishments if one should falter. He conscripted huge numbers of people first into the army and then into his vast building projects and seems prone to fits of vengeful rage. He also aggressively followed the Daoist, the native religion/spiritual belief of China (Buddhism had yet to come to China) teaching of the cycle of the 5 phases; as he had overcome of the Zhou, considered to be a ‘fire’ dynasty, the Qin must therefore be a ‘water’ dynasty. As black was the colour of water and winter the season for it, all official uniforms flags and banners were black and the calendar was re-aligned such that gave precedence to the winter. This together with the legalist system, the very strong willed personality of the Emperor must have made it very stern and sober times to live indeed.
The emperor was also determined to find the secret to eternal life, even going so far as to send 300 young girls and boys and 100 of the finest craftsmen in a boat to a mystical island as an offering to the spirits in return for a elixir of life, at the suggestion of a Daoist holy man. The boat never returned and it is said they colonised Japan. The emperor was furious and had 400 Daoist priests buried alive in his anger. And so the emperor turned to other ways to gain immortality.
Journal Bit:
The following morning we met our guide George, for the drive to the east of the city into the massive 56sqkm area for Qin Shi Huangdi’s mausoleum complex. In this area a farmer dug up a terracotta head of a solider in 1974 while digging a well, and stumbled upon the terracotta armies.
There are 7000 of them that have been excavated, any probably as many as 3 times more that are still uncovered. Built around 210BC they are have all been individually crafted, using a number different moulds for general head, hair style and body shape to allow for many different ranks and type of solider such as well as 8 different facial types for the different types of soldiers of the now-united China. Expressions and fine detail were then added by hand, making every solider a one of a kind.
There are 3 pits that have currently been excavated; first is rail way station like large hall that hold the bulk of the soldiers 6000 in all; they are mainly infantry men of both light and heavy armour. It is thought that lighter protected were skilled in martial arts while the other were well versed in weapons. A few charioteers also sit among them, pulled by 4 horses each. Within the ranks you can see that they are organised into smaller platoons with leaders/officers being differentiated by slanted headdresses and upturned shoes. You can get a whole army view from a raised platform and then proceed down to get a closer view where you can make out the personalised details. At the back you can see where restoration work is in progress to repair those smashed and burnt by tomb raiders not long after the interment of the emperor and the fall of the Qin dynasty.
The second is much smaller and contains the command centre of the of about 68 senior officers and honour guard, while the third pit contain about 900 soldiers spilt between archers in both kneeling and standing position, and a small Calvary regiment of about 116 horses and 89 chariots. This pit is largely still covered as it was discovered that the bright lacquer pigment of the soldiers decays away in contact with the air and so they have been left until better archaeology techniques allow for them to be kept intact. It also contains a smaller exhibition of the finest specimens of each class of soldier in cases so that you can get up really close to appreciated the minute detail that went into them; you can see the 8 knotted ribbons awarded to the general, 1 for each 100 of enemy slain by his hand; the young fresh faced archer probably no more than 18 and the bridal and saddle of the unmounted horse and cavalry man. The kneeling archer is particularly popular with locals; as his shape and features closely mimic those of Shaanxi province itself; the head being the oil-rich desserts of the north, his torso is the flat plains of the centre while the knees are the mountainous south.
Finally you can also see two bronze chariots found a little way from the armies, closer to the foot of the Emperors tomb itself. Complete with 4 horses apiece, one to forge the path with the rider covered by an umbrella, while the emperor travelled in the one behind in a ‘turtle shell’ carriage.
The umbrella is a rather nifty piece of design, doing the swiss army proud with its multiple uses; it can be tilted to shade in any direction, removed and driven into the ground for impromptu picnics and even hold a sword within its handle to defend against attacker.
The army is to the east of a large burial mound, 50m high thought to be the tomb and it is thought that 3 other such armies will lay in the other cardinal points. The tomb itself is described in Chinese historical classics, and is said to be so large that is represents the whole of China in such extravagant opulence that the ancient author, Sima Qian, did not even see fit to mention the terracotta warriors in his account! The sky is a galaxy of diamonds, while the mountains are peaks of gems and precious metals, the rivers flowing channels of mercury - all protected by a highly complex Indiana Jones style arrangement of booby traps and automated defences. This together with the political and archaeological problems means the site has yet to be fully explored, but sonar surveys seem to suggest that it is structurally intact and as yet unbreached by robbers. Soil samples of the area shows 10 times the normal quantity of mercury within them, offering tantalising hope that the seemingly far-fetched stories may be more than a mere fantasy.
The terracotta armies are awe inspiring both in their size and beauty, however there is a somewhat darker side to them; it is estimated that 700,000 people, conscripted from the general population, took 38 years to create the whole complex - this at a time when the whole population of China was estimated to be about 3 million. It must have been an enormous drain on resources - this at the time the same emperor was also commissioning work on the great wall to the far north. Obviously this took a huge number of people away from agriculture as well as must of near-starved the population as well. Even this wasn’t the worst of it for the common people; following completion of the mausoleum many of the workers were then buried alive to prevent them telling of it jewel-encrusted secrets as a grisly mass-grave not far from the mound can attest, many of them showing rather violent ends.
Pictures bit:
Terracotta Armies
Xi'an Day 2 Continued in next post.
It was the home of the Qin (pronounced Chin) dynasty, which spawned the first emperor, the tyrannical Qin Shi Huangdi, who first united China, started the Great Wall, standardised the Chinese Language, weights and measures, and legal and taxation system. Perhaps most famously in the West, he also commissioned the Terracotta Warriors. The dynasty only lasted 14 years from 221-207BC, falling apart on Shi Huangdi’s death, but it remains one of the most the most influential of the formation of the Chinese nation and culture.
History bit:
Following the slow decline of the Zhou, seen as a golden age of virtuous and benevolent rulers, China entered a turbulent time known as the Spring and Autumn Period, and the many fractured pieces of Zhou and other fiefdoms struggled for supremacy. A huge number of political allegiances and betrayals meant that the borders of each state were fluid at best, and loyalty, people and lands were bartered away to seal a truce or union. During this time the Qin kingdom in the west was able to capture Shu, the resource rich area now known as Sichuan. Sichuan had featured little in the embittered wrangling of the Warring States, peacefully isolated by the Qinling mountains and a harsher climate. This was done by a ploy of Trojan proportions; knowing that the emissaries from of Shu were visiting and being a veteran of warring states, the king of Qin created 5 stone cows with gold splattered behinds and placed them in his fields. The emissaries believed them to be real, and thought they produced cowpats of pure gold and the king did nothing to dissuade them otherwise. The emissaries returned to Shu, and reported the sight to their king who immediately requested that Qin send a herd of the beasts to Shu. The Qin king happily obliged but said that there was no easy way to transport the animals through the mountains without a better road which he would build if the king of Shu agreed. He did and the “Stone Cattle Road” was constructed of wooden, cantilevered out from the mountain side to allow the heard to be easily brought over the range to Shu. The cows were indeed delivered but much to the disappointment of the King of Shu they did not have the desired effect - this however was the least of his problems as a short while later the invading army of Qin, that flooded in on the same road were probably more worthy of his attention…
A century later the Spring and Autumn period degenerated into the Warring State Period, where political battles were no longer enough and real bloodshed was required; a huge number of people were thought to have been slaughtered as they now found themselves on the wrong side of the tempestuous territory demarcations. No nation did this with as much gusto as Qin; deciding that the Machiavellian business of democracy and treaties were inferior to outright and unilateral aggression. Their policy was simply to annihilate the competition, fuelled by the well spring of resources in Sichuan and their mastery of the horse.
Eventually all the kingdoms fell before the Qin, with their defeated kings bowing their heads in ‘guilt’ for having ever opposed King Zheng of Qin - who now declared himself the First August Emperor or ‘Shi Huangdi’ of all of the land. The Emperor was probably a megalomaniacal tyrant and a little obsessive; he introduced the ‘legalist’ system across all his acquired lands; the state had total authoritarian control over every aspect of life and a huge table of offenses and draconian punishments were laid out and a whole community was mutually accountable for the actions of any individual member, and suffered the same punishments if one should falter. He conscripted huge numbers of people first into the army and then into his vast building projects and seems prone to fits of vengeful rage. He also aggressively followed the Daoist, the native religion/spiritual belief of China (Buddhism had yet to come to China) teaching of the cycle of the 5 phases; as he had overcome of the Zhou, considered to be a ‘fire’ dynasty, the Qin must therefore be a ‘water’ dynasty. As black was the colour of water and winter the season for it, all official uniforms flags and banners were black and the calendar was re-aligned such that gave precedence to the winter. This together with the legalist system, the very strong willed personality of the Emperor must have made it very stern and sober times to live indeed.
The emperor was also determined to find the secret to eternal life, even going so far as to send 300 young girls and boys and 100 of the finest craftsmen in a boat to a mystical island as an offering to the spirits in return for a elixir of life, at the suggestion of a Daoist holy man. The boat never returned and it is said they colonised Japan. The emperor was furious and had 400 Daoist priests buried alive in his anger. And so the emperor turned to other ways to gain immortality.
Journal Bit:
The following morning we met our guide George, for the drive to the east of the city into the massive 56sqkm area for Qin Shi Huangdi’s mausoleum complex. In this area a farmer dug up a terracotta head of a solider in 1974 while digging a well, and stumbled upon the terracotta armies.
There are 7000 of them that have been excavated, any probably as many as 3 times more that are still uncovered. Built around 210BC they are have all been individually crafted, using a number different moulds for general head, hair style and body shape to allow for many different ranks and type of solider such as well as 8 different facial types for the different types of soldiers of the now-united China. Expressions and fine detail were then added by hand, making every solider a one of a kind.
There are 3 pits that have currently been excavated; first is rail way station like large hall that hold the bulk of the soldiers 6000 in all; they are mainly infantry men of both light and heavy armour. It is thought that lighter protected were skilled in martial arts while the other were well versed in weapons. A few charioteers also sit among them, pulled by 4 horses each. Within the ranks you can see that they are organised into smaller platoons with leaders/officers being differentiated by slanted headdresses and upturned shoes. You can get a whole army view from a raised platform and then proceed down to get a closer view where you can make out the personalised details. At the back you can see where restoration work is in progress to repair those smashed and burnt by tomb raiders not long after the interment of the emperor and the fall of the Qin dynasty.
The second is much smaller and contains the command centre of the of about 68 senior officers and honour guard, while the third pit contain about 900 soldiers spilt between archers in both kneeling and standing position, and a small Calvary regiment of about 116 horses and 89 chariots. This pit is largely still covered as it was discovered that the bright lacquer pigment of the soldiers decays away in contact with the air and so they have been left until better archaeology techniques allow for them to be kept intact. It also contains a smaller exhibition of the finest specimens of each class of soldier in cases so that you can get up really close to appreciated the minute detail that went into them; you can see the 8 knotted ribbons awarded to the general, 1 for each 100 of enemy slain by his hand; the young fresh faced archer probably no more than 18 and the bridal and saddle of the unmounted horse and cavalry man. The kneeling archer is particularly popular with locals; as his shape and features closely mimic those of Shaanxi province itself; the head being the oil-rich desserts of the north, his torso is the flat plains of the centre while the knees are the mountainous south.
Finally you can also see two bronze chariots found a little way from the armies, closer to the foot of the Emperors tomb itself. Complete with 4 horses apiece, one to forge the path with the rider covered by an umbrella, while the emperor travelled in the one behind in a ‘turtle shell’ carriage.
The umbrella is a rather nifty piece of design, doing the swiss army proud with its multiple uses; it can be tilted to shade in any direction, removed and driven into the ground for impromptu picnics and even hold a sword within its handle to defend against attacker.
The army is to the east of a large burial mound, 50m high thought to be the tomb and it is thought that 3 other such armies will lay in the other cardinal points. The tomb itself is described in Chinese historical classics, and is said to be so large that is represents the whole of China in such extravagant opulence that the ancient author, Sima Qian, did not even see fit to mention the terracotta warriors in his account! The sky is a galaxy of diamonds, while the mountains are peaks of gems and precious metals, the rivers flowing channels of mercury - all protected by a highly complex Indiana Jones style arrangement of booby traps and automated defences. This together with the political and archaeological problems means the site has yet to be fully explored, but sonar surveys seem to suggest that it is structurally intact and as yet unbreached by robbers. Soil samples of the area shows 10 times the normal quantity of mercury within them, offering tantalising hope that the seemingly far-fetched stories may be more than a mere fantasy.
The terracotta armies are awe inspiring both in their size and beauty, however there is a somewhat darker side to them; it is estimated that 700,000 people, conscripted from the general population, took 38 years to create the whole complex - this at a time when the whole population of China was estimated to be about 3 million. It must have been an enormous drain on resources - this at the time the same emperor was also commissioning work on the great wall to the far north. Obviously this took a huge number of people away from agriculture as well as must of near-starved the population as well. Even this wasn’t the worst of it for the common people; following completion of the mausoleum many of the workers were then buried alive to prevent them telling of it jewel-encrusted secrets as a grisly mass-grave not far from the mound can attest, many of them showing rather violent ends.
Pictures bit:
Terracotta Armies
Xi'an Day 2 Continued in next post.