Xi'an - Day 1 AM

Another tour highlight today - the Terracotta Army.

The museum is about a 45 min drive from Xi'an and so once again we had to set off fairly early to try to beat the worst of the crowds.  There was absolutely nothing of interest to look at/photograph en route.  Nearing the museum we saw this statue in the middle of a roundabout of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, which meant nothing to us at the time.

The following info is paraphrased from an article on National Museums Liverpool’s website written in 2018 when they housed an exhibition.

 
Emperor Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum was discovered by accident in 1974 when a farmer digging a well uncovered some fragments of pottery. The discovery was a complete surprise because there are no historical records of them, or of an underground army.  They had sat untouched underground for more than 2,200 years.

Excavations yielded 3 pits and over 7,000 soldiers:  Pit 1 contains the infantry, Pit 2 (still being excavated) is filled with cavalry and soldiers and Pit 3 (partially unexcavated) seems to be the command centre with 70 high ranking officers.  Incredibly, despite the vast number of warriors, each warrior has unique facial features and styles. The warriors of different ranks were buried in battle formation to represent a real army and are split into infantrymen, archers, generals, cavalrymen, charioteers, officers, and guards of honour - all different in their expressions, clothing, and hairstyles.
 
China’s First Emperor Qin Shi Huang wanted to live forever.  He spent a huge amount of resources building a magnificent underground empire, equipped with everything he would need for the afterlife. He had palaces, an army to protect him, chariots for travelling in, stables full of horses, entertainers and even his concubines. Covering an area of 56 square kilometres, it is the biggest burial site on earth.
 
More recent discoveries include terracotta acrobats and strongmen.  Another pit contained 15 terracotta musicians and 13 bronze water birds to entertain the Emperor in the afterlife.  There was also a pit full of stone armour and several pits full of horse skeletons.
 
Government labourers and local craftsmen created the warriors in workshops.  The warriors have the stamps or names of their makers, including administrators, craftsmen and foremen.   Each warrior was built from the ground upwards using different body parts made from thick coils of clay and the head was made and fired separately.  Sculptural details such as hair, facial features and costume were added by hand before the figure was dried and eventually fired in a huge kiln.

Originally the warriors would have been painted in bright colours.  After firing, each terracotta warrior was covered with lacquer before various bright pigments were applied with colours indicating different ranks.  After the warriors were painted, they were then placed in military formation in the pits and were equipped with real bronze weapons.  More than 40,000 weapons have been found in the partially excavated warrior pits including swords, lances, spears and arrows.  Recent studies have revealed they were never used in battle but were produced specifically for burial with the terracotta army.
 
Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s actual tomb remains a mystery to archaeologists and historians as it is still sealed up. There have been geophysical surveys of the tomb mound, but the mausoleum itself has not been excavated. The tomb was written about by Han dynasty historian Sima Qian, who describes ‘palaces and scenic towers for a hundred officials’, as well as many rare artefacts and treasures.  In addition, the two major rivers of China, the Yangtze and the Yellow River, were simulated in the tomb using mercury and the tomb ceiling was decorated with the heavenly constellations.  From here, Qin Shi Huang could continue to rule over his empire even in the afterlife.

Pit 1, which is roughly two football pitches (210m x 60m), from the outside. 

As predicted there were a lot of domestic tourists visiting and why not?  I have to keep reminding myself it is their history not mine and they have more right to be there than I do.  That said, the size of the crowds is very annoying and once again I think it contributed to me being less than overwhelmed by the initial view when we got inside Pit 1 - it should have been a jaw dropping experience and not a rugby scrum.

The pit consisted of nine parallel inner corridors each approximately 3m wide, along with a narrower perimeter corridor on each side.  At the ends of each corridor and along the sides ramps were constructed to allow workers to enter and leave the pits.  Each corridor contained four parallel lines of troops totalling over 6,000 clay figurines.  Interestingly all of the soldiers, besides the last row, are facing the same direction - East.  Historians believe that Qin Shi Huang faced them this way because he believed that evil was coming from the East.

A wholly excavated horse.

And one still partially buried.

The detail on the faces is quite amazing.

This area was definitely "work in progress"

They made me think of WWII evacuee children with their little box of precious belongings.

More restoration work.

This gives an idea just how big Pit 1 is.

Finally we've reached the far end of the pit with the last 2 rows of soldiers facing the other way, ie. West.

Outside Pit 2 was this very jolly hawker, desperately trying to sell me a set of Warrior coins.   It was all very good natured and he eventually accepted defeat with good grace.

Isn't his ice cream amazing, shaped like a Terracotta Warrior

This chariot was found in the centre of Pit 3, although the wood has disintegrated leaving only the chariot riders and its guards.

It certainly does appear that these Warriors are more protected and therefore more important.

Missing a limb, just have a rifle through and see if you can find one to fit.

There was also a small exhibition area with examples of the various different styles of warrior found.  It was particularly crowded here, mainly children, and I have to say that the oft held belief that the Chinese are deferential to age was absolutely not the case here.  The little s*ds pushed and shoved us even more than their parents.  Trying to take these photos was a real test of stamina and resilience!

It was a relief to get out into the fresh air - a lovely view of the hills behind.

And I love the symmetry!

We then had yet another incredibly long (maybe 3km) walk back to the coach, thoughtfully taking us past all sorts of opportunities to part with our cash.

Pearls

And Oysters

This is a nougat of sorts, we've seen it several times now.

I have no idea what this was all about, a huge pile of smouldering pieces of broken terracotta.

This was just an eatery.  I always try to be especially considerate to the rest of the group we are in when I'm taking photos, as there can often be the incorrect perception that because I use a "proper camera" (not my classification) that I consider my photo opportunities to be of more importance than other people's.  So I generally hang back, bide my time and let everyone else take their shots but this time I actually saw a shot I didn't consider others would want, so when one of the group ran in front of me I couldn't help but exclaim.  I have to say the response was disappointing as, given the same situation, I would simply have said "oh I'm sorry I didn't see you taking the shot" and not "don't stress there's plenty of time" but then again he was Scottish!

Almost back at the coach and I loved the colour of these taxis.

In the coach park were these guys making quite amazing decorative trees etc from metal rods.