The Terracotta Army is rightfully considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as you will not find such a cultural monument anywhere else. The warriors, horses and chariots of Emperor Qin Shi Huang testify to his strength and power. True, it is believed that he was a very progressive ruler of his time, since, according to tradition, all the most valuable was buried together with the ruler, including people, and his grandiose army was only sculptures.
What does the Terracotta Army look like?
The found soldiers are located under the Lishan Mountain, which looks more like a buried city with a huge amount of valuable items of historical prescription. Among the sculptures, there are not only soldiers, but also horses, as well as ornate chariots. Each man and horse is made by hand, the warriors have special, unique facial features and figures, each has his own weapon: crossbows, swords, spears. Moreover, there are infantrymen, cavalry and officers in the ranks, which can be traced in the specifics of the attire, the details of which are worked out to the smallest detail.
Many people wonder what the whole stone army of terracotta sculptures is made of. It is made of clay, but the soldiers were brought from different regions of the country, since most of them differ in the composition of the raw materials used. The horses, according to the researchers, are made from a breed taken from Lishan Mountain. The reason for this is their high weight, which would greatly complicate transportation. The average weight of horses is over 200 kg, and the human figure is about 130 kg. The technology for making sculptures is the same: they were given the desired shape, then baked, covered with special glaze and paint.
The history of the appearance of the great burial
There can be no doubt as to which country the soldiers were found in, because in China of that period it was customary to bury everything that was most valuable to him alive with the deceased ruler. It is for this reason that the first ruler of the Qin dynasty, at the age of 13, thought about how his tomb would look like, and began a large-scale construction of the tomb.
His reign can be called significant for Chinese history, as he united the warring kingdoms, ending a period of brutality, plunder and fragmentation. As a sign of his greatness, he destroyed all monuments dating from the period before his reign, and burned manuscripts describing the course of early times. From 246 BC construction began on the Qin Shi Huang tomb and was completed by 210 BC, when the emperor was placed there after his death.
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According to legend, at first he planned to bury 4000 soldiers with him, but the population of the empire was already too small after many years of endless wars. It was then that he got the idea to place the Terracotta Army with him, while it was supposed to resemble a real army. Nobody knows exactly how many warriors were placed in the tomb. It is estimated that there are more than 8,000 of them, but there may still be many unsolved mysteries hidden underground.
In addition to his army, the great emperor buried his concubines with him, as well as about 70,000 workers who worked on the creation of the cultural monument. The erection of the tomb lasted 38 years, both day and night, as a result of which it stretched for about one and a half kilometers, forming a whole city buried underground. Many strange facts are encrypted in the manuscripts about this place, which may indicate new secrets that have not yet been revealed.
Research into the mystery of China
For many years, the inhabitants of Xian walked around the hilly terrain and did not even imagine that miracles with a thousand-year history, called the Terracotta Army, were hidden under their feet. In this area, clay shards were often found, but according to legends they could not be touched and, moreover, taken away with you. In 1974, the tomb was discovered by Yan Ji Wang, who wanted to punch a well near Lishan Mountain. At a depth of about 5 meters, the farmer bumped into the head of one of the soldiers. For historians and archaeologists, the find was a real shock and the beginning of long-term research.
The excavation took place in three stages, the last of which has not yet been completed. More than 400 soldiers of the Terracotta Army that were first found were sent to museums around the world, but most of them remained in China, where the emperor who created an amazing historical monument is located. At the moment, the guarded tomb is the most valuable treasure of the country, because the highest-ranking guests are invited here in order to appreciate the greatness of the first king of the Qin dynasty.
Every tourist can visit the buried city. To do this, you don't even need to know how to get from Beijing, because most tours include a visit to the Terracotta Army in the program. In the course of it, you can take a photo of a huge array of clay sculptures with different facial expressions, as if petrified for thousands of years.
