Arts and Culture ( destination two : China)
AAALLL ABOARD!! come on hurry, were about to sale off to China you don't want to miss it, do you?!
what are we doing in China? well we're specifically headed to Lintong District Shaanxi to visit the GREATEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIND OF THE 20TH CENTURY !
Haven't a lightest guess? I'm talking about the Terra-Cotta warriors !!
A terra-cotta army of more than 8,000 life-size soldiers guarded the burial site of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
The Terra-Cotta Warriors were only discovered in 1974 in Xian, China. and the funny thing is they were found completely by accident !!
The Terracotta Army was discovered when a farmer uncovered fragments of pottery when digging a well. This pottery led to the discovery of the first warrior of the famous Terracotta Army. Quite the find isnt it ?
The discovery of the Terracotta Warriors was a shock to everyone because there are no historical records of them, or of an underground army.
They sat untouched underground for more than 2,200 years! This only adds to the mystery, as it is now the largest and most important tomb site in China.
There are a lot and I mean a lot of burial pits.
6000 of these soldiers are estimated to still be buried underground. it caught the world with such a storm leading people to start describing the warriors as the 8th wonder of the world!
but what's the purpose of these warriors ? well let me tell you a story....
The army of life-size terra cotta soldiers, archers ,and even horses! was stationed in military formation near Emperor Qin's tomb in order to protect the emperor in the afterlife. (sort of like the tuts in Eygpt )
the horrible emperor killed many people who opposed him when he was launching wars to the other states.
One day, he dreamed that those who had been executed by him came to revenge. He thought the powerful army could protect him when he was alive, but what would happen after he died? Who could protect him? and so the warriors came to be :)
(how smart is he 😒, just look at his mustache )
But if you think it ends there, you're mistaken. After the emperor ascended the throne, he became more and more obsessed with power and wanted to rule the country permanently, so he tried many ways to become immortal.
In ancient China, it was said that people would go to another world underground in the afterlife. Qin Shi Huang believed that the sculptures such as animal and human statues would come to life in the underworld, so that he could still enjoy the emperor’s life and rule in the afterlife. ( thats one way of thinking ahead i guess... ).
And that served the purpose of the Terra-Cotta warriors. (interesting right?).
some people began wondering is it possible that these were real people? The emperor wasn't the nicest after all. 😥
those who built the monument were killed to keep anyone from revealing its location. The craftsmen were buried alive.
But the terracotta warriors themselves were crafted from real portraits intended to constitute a real army.
which is pretty messed up .
After the warriors were painted, they were equipped with real bronze weapons! like actual real handy dandy weapons !
More than 40,000 weapons have been found in the warrior pits including swords, spears and arrows.
Recent studies have revealed they were never used in battle but were produced specifically for burial with the terracotta army.
and its not just soldiers !
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.
You can see some of these amazing objects in the exhibition.
More and more warriors are being discovered everyday and its truly one of the most epic stories on earth with a bunch of mysteries that remained unsolved.
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