Haha...eons later, I’m finally back to update on my xi’an trip... sorry I’m more than 2 months behind time! =P if you’re still checking this blog regularly, sorry for disappointing you dropped by, and congratz that you finally see a new post from me! =P
Anyway, back to xi’an on 1 oct... haha... through my xi’an friend, cui yichen, we employed a tour guide for the day, so that he could introduce and explain the history and background of the places of attraction as we tour around xi’an... =)
Well, first stop was the all-time famous historical attraction at xi’an – the terracotta warriors, 兵马俑! Whenever people mention xi’an, the first place that comes to mind is 兵马俑! In case some of you don’t know, the terracotta warriors, dating from 210BC, were buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, as a form of funerary art. The terracotta figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen and even musicians! The purpose of this terracotta army was supposedly to protect the tomb of Qin Shi Huang and to help him rule another empire in his afterlife. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the terracotta army, there are over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.
The terracotta figures are all life-like and life-sized. They vary in height, uniform and hairstyle, and were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty. Although all the figures now appear to be grey, they were actually painted in many bright colours in the past. However, due to prolonged burial underground, and oxidation after exposure to air, all the colouring has faded greatly. Some of the figures are yet to be excavated as archeologists hope to do so only when technology allows them to preserve the colour on the figurines, especially since air will oxidise whatever remaining paint that’s on the clay figure very quickly. Just wanna highlight one of the most important features about the Terracottaa warriors that we found out... every single one of the clay figures was crafted to have unique facial features, so no two warriors would look exactly the same! It was believed that the terracotta warriors were created after live model warriors then... gosh... can you imagine the amount of labour and skill involved in their construction, even during such ancient times... >_<
So anyway, here’re some of the MANY pics I took at the terracotta warriors museum...=)
the terracotta warriors museum... =)
Here’s pit 1...the largest pit housing the main terracotta army, estimated at 6000 figures... there are many corridors in pit 1, paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts... the ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, then mounded with more soil, making them 2 to 3m higher than ground level...
notice that no 2 terracotta warriors looks exactly the same... every one is unique!
hordes of terracota warriors...along with hordes of tourists...(golden week hols!)
terracota soldiers and horses...
the terracotta figures in the pits were actually mostly damaged, much of those you saw earlier were repaired or reconstructed... some of the terracotta warriors were burnt in a large fire after General Xiang Yu's army looted Qin Shi Huang's tomb, and some were also damaged during the cultural revolution... out of the many terracotta warriors, only a statue of a kneeling archer has survived intact (pic shown below)... =)
more pics of the terracotta warriors...
evidence that the terracotta figures used to be coloured...
As for pit 2, the smallest of the discovered pits, it contains mixed military forces in four arrays – archers, war chariots, cavalrymen and infantrymen... dont ask me why they're all headless... i dont know...>_< but from what i came across on wiki, the terracotta warriors were attacked by 9 different kind of moulds, believed to be from air and the breath of visitors... so this resulted in some headless, armless or legless warriors...>_<
The last pit we visited, pit 3, is believed to be the command centre of the terracotta army, with high ranking officers and a war chariot...but much of the pit remains mostly uncovered...
In addition to the 3 pits, the terracotta warriors museum has an exhibition hall containing various bronze chariots and horses, as well as many other historical relics...
the most intact terracotta warrior - the kneeling archer
middle ranking officer...
high-ranking officer...significantly larger in build....
cavalryman with war horse...
standing archer... on first glance, i immediately recognised the posture of the standing archer!! that's the lower double knife hand block in chiljang!! omg... spot the resemblance... 1 hand at solar plexus level, and the other 2 fists away from the thigh...even the stance is correct! back stance!! 2/3, 1/3 weight distribution on the back and front leg respectively!! oh, except that his body is not facing in the 45deg direction... it seems too square to the side! hahaha... am i crazy about tkd or what... =P
another thing that marvelled me during the tour of the exhibition hall was the fact that even though people today supposedly believe that chrome-plating technology was invented by the germans and americans in 1937 & 1950, the chinese had actually used this technology 2200 years earlier!! omg... pro... =P
chrome-plated sword typically used by a general in the qin dynasty that was also buried underground... when it was discovered, archaeologists found that it was still very sharp despite its age!!
another bronze statue at the museum... a carriage pulled by horses... =)
pic taken outside the terracotta warriors museum! from left to right: cui yichen, dad, me, william... =)
and this concludes the first part of our day 2 in xi'an!! =) to be continued... =)
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