The Terracotta Warriors of Qinshihuang

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The Terracotta Warriors of Qinshihuang

• For a more detailed description of the tomb and
  the story of its discovery, check this link
  http//www.imperialtours.net/terracotta_warriors.h
  tm

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Qinshihuang ruled in the 3rd century B.C.

• One of the most important rulers in Chinese
  history, this ruler is very complex. He was made
  King of the state of Qin at the age of thirteen,
  by the time he was thirty-eight he conquered the
  six neighboring states to unify China for the
  first time.
• Although reviled for his tyranny, Qinshihuangdi
  is also admired for many radical and insightful
  policies which later dynasties used. He brought
  together seven separate states into one nation,
  he standardized a common script and established
  uniform measurement and monetary systems. For
  effective government, he codified a legal system
  and replaced hereditary rulers with a centrally
  appointed administrative system. To improve
  industrial productivity he encouraged
  agricultural reforms and constructed many roads.
  And in an effort to limit the inroads of
  barbarian tribes, he supervised the construction
  of a defense fortification along the northern
  frontier, the first Great Wall. (Though not the
  same one that will be constructed on a grander
  scale at a later time) Although China benefited
  from these policies, thousands of Chinese workers
  died in completing this far-reaching public works
  program.

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The Emperors Tomb

• 700,000 forced laborers were sacrificed to
  construct his tomb which was begun as soon as he
  ascended the throne. All workers and childless
  concubines were interred with him to safeguard
  its secrets. According to Sima Qian's "The
  Historical Records" written a century later,
  heaven and earth are represented in the tomb's
  central chamber. The ceiling, inlaid with pearls,
  represents the starry heavens. The floor, made of
  stone, forms a map of the Chinese kingdom a
  hundred rivers of mercury flow across it. And all
  manner of treasure is protected by deadly
  booby-traps.

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• The main tomb has still to be excavated - partly
  because archaeologists are still uncertain of its
  exact location. Often Emperors amassed huge
  burial mounds simply to divert robbers' attention
  from the true site of their tomb. So the
  artificial mound that today marks the Emperor's
  tomb does not necessarily indicate the location
  of its wondrous central chamber. However, because
  high mercury levels have recently been reported
  nearby, archaeologists think they may, at last,
  have discovered it. The Terracotta Warriors, that
  you will see today, form just one of the many
  barriers the ruthless Emperor employed to protect
  his tomb for eternity.

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Though not the first free-standing sculptures in
the world, the ingenuity of the Terracotta
Warriors' design and manufacturing process were
astounding. Even though the Ancient Greeks
meticulously carved individual statues out of
stone at an earlier date than the Qin, the Qin
dynasty project held all the problems of
production on a mass scale. Tens of thousands of
individual human and animal statues were
manufactured within a series of processes that
began with the molding of solid legs.
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Methods of construction

• It was by constructing each of the hollow statues
  upon solid legs that the Ancient Chinese
  craftsmen solved the perplexing problem of how to
  make a statue free-standing. Hollow heads, arms
  and legs, made of coiled earth, were joined
  together with strips of clay and set upon the
  solid legs. After this rough model was assembled,
  a fine clay slip was added, and details such as
  eyes, mouth, nose and details of dress were
  carved into the clay while it was still pliable.
  Additional pieces such as ears, beard and armor
  were modeled separately and attached, after which
  the whole figure was fired at a high temperature.
  

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Each of the 8000 figures is unique, with
different facial features for every figure.
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• The End