Terracotta Warriors

Introduction

In 1974 a farmer accidentally discovered the terracotta warriors while drilling for water. After being hidden underground since 221 B.C., the terracotta warriors who were supposed to protect the first Chinese emperor’s tomb in his afterlife revealed the greatness of Chinese old civilization to the world. Nowadays, a modern complex welcomes tourists to a small fraction of the tomb that has been excavated so far. This amazing discovery not only shows the Chinese commitment and devoutness to their emperor during Chinese Dynasties, but it also exposes the complexity and precision that characterized Chinese constructions. The Terracotta Army was constructed mainly as part of the mausoleum for the first emperor of China with the main purpose of protecting, guarding, and accompanying him in the afterlife. Qin Shi Huang’s obsession to acquiring immortality made him order to build the stunning army. Although over Chinese history human sacrifices were common in mausoleums, the Terracotta Warriors was an exception to these cruel rituals. They were made just of local materials. After the Qin period the burying of figurines as a substitute for human victims had become widespread in China.

Greatness & Integrity

Although some warriors have collapsed because of time, the Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum has a high level of integrity. Jackie, our tour guide in Xian, mentioned that the preservation level of the site revealed the technological advances that Chinese civilization had on those days. Two thousand years after the construction of the warriors, almost all of them are still standing. As Gifford mentions in his book China Road, “they stand in the long corridors in which they were found, their heads in line with the tops of the trenches, some of which are up to ten feet wide.” In addition to the terracotta army preservation, the number of warriors reveals the greatness of the pit 1, which is bigger than a football field. Pit 1 has more than 8,000 life-size soldiers while the pits 2 and 3 have just higher ranked officers and chariots.

Color and Complexity

Unlike the identical mass-produced figures, every single terracotta warrior has unique facial features that characterized Chinese citizens of that time. The complexity of the sculpture process and the realistic facial expressions not only reveal individual characteristics but also reflects artisans’ acute observation of life. In addition to the distinct faces, hardly anyone knew that all the warriors were brightly colorful. Some remains let us appreciate the vivid colors that characterized the army in the old times. Along with the color and unique facial expression, nearly 40,000 bronze weapons were unearthed from the pits, most of which are arrowhead along with swords, spears, dagger-axes, and crossbows. All the soldiers were holding weapons and were standing up in military formation.

Chinese Perspective

What are the different perspectives between Chinese tourists and other tourists when they visit the Terracotta Warriors? On one hand, we visit it because of the history behind it. It was made over 2,000 years ago and was built just to protect the first emperor in his afterlife. On the other hand, Chinese people visit it because for them it is a direct connection with heaven. First, knowing what an emperor represents for Chinese is really important to understand why they are fascinated with the Terracotta Army. Emperors were not dictators who took power by force and abuses. They were chosen to be the son of heaven. This gave them authority, power and divine knowledge to rule China. Secondly, religion plays a major role in the Chinese admiration to this site. Unlike western religions heaven is a vague idea in Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism; the three major religions in China. They do not pray to any specific god. Without any one to admire in heaven, the emperors became the closest relation between heaven and people, which led to their attraction to emperors’ life.

Having Power

The site is controlled by the Chinese government. Its ideas suggest that all citizens should be equal no matter which social class they belong. No one has priorities or higher rankings in the society. After a century without dynasties and a government with different statuses, Chinese citizens are still fascinated with the idea of having power, which is shown by the vast amount of Chinese tourists who visit the tomb daily. Although the government uses this site to show its ancient civilization supremacy in the world, most of the tourists are from China.