Terra Cotta Army
The Terra Cotta Army (兵马俑) is the greatest Archeological discovery of the 20th century. It is located near Xi'an, the ancient Chinese capital, also the capital of Qin Dynasty.[1]
The characters stand for:
- 兵-Soldier
- 马-Horse
- 俑-Wooden Figure
How the discovery was made
In China in the 1970's, one of the greatest discoveries of all time came about. In 1976, the province of Shaanxi (China) farmers were digging in the ground for water wells. Unfortunately not finding much success with water, farmers stumbled on something a little more solid then water.
In fact, the farmers found small bits of terra cotta buried in the ground. The farmers continued to dig and to their astonishment the small bits of terra cotta turned out to be human-size, ancient Chinese soldiers. The initial discovery of one soldier turned out to be hundreds and then thousands. Eventually the farmers passed this discovery over into the hands of professional Archeologists. This marked a change in the manner that ancient artifacts were handled in China. Before this the artifacts were taken and places in the Government warehouse and forgotten. But this time was different, General Mao Tse-Tung had just ordered Chinese history to be rewritten and had publically likened himself to the First Emperor. Archaeologists were dispatched and digging started. What they found startled and amazed the world. They had discovereed the resting place of Qin Shi Huangdi, the legendary First Emperor of China. Lost for thousands of years and now held as fable and rumor, the tomb had been found.
Who were the Terra Cotta Warriors
During the Qin Dynasty in China from 259 BC to 210 BC the First Emperor of China named Qin Shi Huangdi ruled the greater part of China. Qin Shi Huangdi became emperor at a young age, and as soon as he was in power he commanded the construction of his tomb. Unfortunately the construction of his tomb was one of the biggest most demanding constructions of all time and required an outrageous amount of man-power to construct.
Unfortunately, many lives were taken in the construction of his tomb. The Emperor believed that when he died he was crossing over to the after life, and therefore needed to be prepared with all the required needs to continue his journey. Aside from all his lavished goods he needed an army to protect him, but because he couldn't actually take the lives of his soldiers to the grave because if he indeed did do that, he would have no one to finish constructing his tomb.
Recent digs have revealed that in addition to the clay soldiers, Qin Shi Huangdi's underground realm, presumably a facsimile of the court that surrounded him during his lifetime, is also populated by delightfully realistic waterfowl, crafted from bronze and serenaded by terra cotta musicians. The emperor's clay retinue includes terra cotta officials and even troupes of acrobats, slightly smaller than the soldiers but created with the same methods.
"We find the underground pits are an imitation of the real organization in the Qin dynasty," says Duan Qingbo, head of the excavation team at the Shaanxi Provincial Research Institute for Archaeology. "People thought when the emperor died, he took just a lot of pottery army soldiers with him. Now they realize he took a whole political system with him." (Smithsonian.com)
What the emperor did was he created an army of clay. Every clay soldier was constructed in exactness, complete with clothes, armor, hair, real life weapons and even facial expressions. Every soldier even had a different face. The artizans used molds for the various body parts and assembled them. Then they were individualized by the finish coats, facial features, dress and weapons were finished to represent every individual in the Emperor's army. Every one different from the others. Then they found even more, animals, acrobats, priests, concubines, servants, everyone in the court had been populated in terra cotta for the Emperor's service and comfort in the after life. Arranged row after row as they would have been in real life court.Bill P (talk) 18:38, 27 February 2013 (CET)
What was discovered
What archeologists considered to perhaps be an average discovery, turned out to be a very large scale discovery. More and more soldiers were being dug out, it didn't seem to end. What is interesting is that not only were soldiers being uncovered, but horses and chariots were also found.
In addition, these soldiers were not just found at random but rather they were found in a precise order. The soldiers were found according to military rank and file. Many weapons were found alongside each soldier in which were kept in excellent condition rust-free. The weapons were rust-free due to the chromium oxide technique that they used with their metals.
Here is list of some of that weapons that were found:
swords, spears, battle-axe, scimitars, shields, crossbows, arrowheads, hoes, bows, knives
The Terra Cotta Army Pits
As archaeologists continued excavating the soldiers they understood that the soldiers were located in pits. The current number of pits that are excavated at this time are four main pits. The pits are 7 meters deep and 62 meters wide. Each pit contained different items.
Pit number 1
There are more then 6000 thousand soldiers that lie there, many are and were found broken to pieces. Many soldiers await repair. Unfortunately the man power and the time to put back together a Terra Cotta Warrior is very time consuming, it is like putting together a massive puzzle.
Pit 1 is located 1.5 Km away from the emperors burial ground. It is on the East side of the tomb which is a location that would block an attack. According to scholars and archaeologists if there is an army on the East side of the tomb, it is likely that there is also a tomb on the West side and possibly all around the tomb. However, this is just a theory and many argue that because that amount of construction was too much work to complete, the emperor was not likely able to complete that much construction in addition to his palace.
Pit number 2
In pit number two, a big bulk of infantry soldiers were found. The soldiers were found in a singled file position. Also Cavalry and war chariots were found. The chariots had full battle regalia including horses and all tack associated with horses and chariots. The tack was real made of leather and wood which was significantly deteriorated from the time spent in the ground. When the soldiers were dug out of the ground they were colored, but as the soldiers were exposed to the air, the painted started deteriorating. Archaeologist initially were unable to preserve the original paint from the soldiers. Keeping and understanding the colors of the soldiers was important because this gave archaeologist a better understanding of what was used for paint and most importantly what the soldier actually looked like.
Pit number 3
Pit number three was an important pit because it was the location of a command post. The command post was a key part in the organization and strategy of the army. In addition to pit three, there was a great number high ranking officers, as well as war chariots.
Pit number 4
In pit number four there was nothing found. Because of this, scholars and archaeologist have the impression that the emperor was unable to complete his army.
How they were made
The construction of the Terra Cotta Warriors is an interesting method that can date back to modern China. Because there were so many soldiers required for the protection of the emperor but not enough actual human lives to facilitate his army and the workers that were needed to build his palace, he couldn't use actual lives to take to the grave with him. So he had to create large human soldier replicas made out of clay. In order to create a large amount of soldiers, a production line method was required to get the job done in time. The soldiers were made separately in parts; the arms, legs, mid-body and head went through an assembly line where they were put together. The most interesting part as mentioned before was that of the making of the soldiers, each had a different face. The faces and dressing were added after assembly. Each one different from the rest to represent each member of the army individually. This same technique was also used to construct the rest of the retinue for the Emperor. This facilitated the building of the court and protectors in a timely manner not hundreds of years. It still took a very long time to assemble, finish, and paint each figure and position in their exact place within the pits.
In addition to the terra-cotta figures are many animals, geese, birds, small animals and horses made out of bronze. These figures are finely crafted with minute and exacting details. Many other artifacts are also contained in the digs including tools, dishes and personal items for the figures found there. It seems that the Emperor had his entire court recreated, not just the army.Bill P (talk) 19:06, 27 February 2013 (CET)
Why the need of an army for protection
According to ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian the Terra Cotta Army is guarding the Qin Shihuangdi's tomb. The Army is positioned on the east side of the tomb, and according to records that is one of the entrances to the emperors tomb. The emperors tomb was not so much a tomb, it was more like an extravagant palace with the necessities that one would need to live and survive. It is said there are unknown luxurious treasures buried, also there are rivers at lakes composed of Mercury. To protect all these treasures and the emperor himself, the tomb has all sorts of booby traps set up to prevent deter robbers. To this day the actual contents of the tomb-palace are unknown, archaeologists have taken samples and discover sample deposits of Mercury. The discovery of Mercury gives backup support to what Si Ma Qian wrote about, therefore many believe more in the records of the emperors tomb.
No entrance into the actual tomb has been planned yet as efforts to preserve and protect the artifacts and workers have only been begun. While no-one knows what dangers may lie hidden in the tomb, protection must be made before entrance is begun.
What is known is that tomb robbers were aware of the location of this massive structure and some of the damage to the warriors outside the tomb is documented to them. Whether or not they actually gained entrance to the tomb itself is unknown. The whole area was intentionally flooded to prevent robbers access several years after completion of the complex and water and silt covered the area until no markers were left uncovered. It became lost to the world for thousands of years.
When the figures were uncovered they were brightly painted and detailed, however the hot dry air of the region caused immediate damage. Paint began curling and flaking off in just a few minutes, leaving them all a mottled brown color. Preservation had to be done as quickly as possible to save these precious artifacts. Moisture and temperature controlled structures had to be build to keep the damage to a minimum. Special handling procedures instituted to protect the figures from harm during the unearthing process. This took a long time and great expense to put into place but the results were spectacular.(Terracottawarriors.com)Bill P (talk) 18:38, 27 February 2013 (CET)
Media:Terra_Cotta_Warriors.pptx
The Terra Cotta Army was discovered in 1976, the province of Shaanxi (China) farmers were digging in the ground for water wells.--Bpete49 17:51, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
Back in 1974, when the terra cotta head of a warrior turned up in Shaanxi Province as some peasants were digging a well, no one knew the discovery would be treated any differently than that of other local fragments of pottery figures, which had, at best, merely been stored away at the nearby center for cultural affairs. This time, though, a report connecting the head with the first emperor's mausoleum, about three-quarters of a mile away, surfaced just as Mao Zedong was launching an anti-Confucian campaign to rid China of what he deemed vestiges of feudalism. His campaign also promoted the example of the first emperor, who had established a centralized state that allegedly had burned books and buried Confucian scholars alive. Mao had long compared himself with the first emperor. Reportedly realizing the potential for political propaganda, Jiang Qing, Mao's wife, instructed archaeologists to look into the find, and, as they say, the rest is history.
The army of terra cotta warriors was found distributed within three clustered pits. Thus far, about a thousand warriors have been excavated, and it is estimated that there are another six thousand yet to be recovered. These life-size figures represent the army of the Qin, who united all of China by 221 B.C., and they are displayed in the pits in battle formation. There are officers, chariots, cavalrymen and infantrymen, the latter depicted with and without armor and originally armed with crossbows or long-handled weapons. They had held real weapons, most of which were removed from the underground pits before wooden supports were set on fire at the dynasty's end, causing the structure to collapse. All the figures broke in the fall, but because they were discovered where they landed, reconstruction — though tedious — has not been impossible.
The figures were originally constructed using molds to create their legs, arms, hands and heads, which were solid, while their torsos were modeled as if they were urns. Once the parts were assembled, a layer of fine clay was applied and details were added. The facial features include a variety of noses, ears and facial hair to individualize each figure. The hairstyles are particularly well articulated, almost down to each strand. The attention paid to this feature suggests that hairstyling may have been believed to ward off evil. The figures were then fired in a kiln at a relatively low temperature, 950 to 1,050 degrees centigrade, which is typical for terra cotta. Finally, the figures were covered with a coating of lacquer mixed with colors. The final effect must have been quite startling. Some of the colors have survived — enough to indicate what they were originally.
The State Council authorized to build a museum on site in 1975. When completed, people from far and near came to visit. The Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses have become landmarks on all visitors' itinerary.
Life size terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations are the star features at the museum. They are replicas of what the imperial guard should look like in those days of pomp and vigor.
The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. They were tagged in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public on China's National Day, 1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back.
Archaeologists have found the remains of an ancient imperial palace near the tomb of emperor Qin Shi Huang, home of the famous terracotta army, China's state media reported on Sunday.
The palace is the largest complex discovered so far in the emperor's sprawling 22 square-mile (56 square-km) second-century BC mausoleum, which lies on the outskirts of Xi'an, an ancient capital city in central China, an associate researcher at the Shaanxi provincial institute of archaeology told China's official news wire Xinhua.
It is an estimated 690 metres long and 250 metres wide – about a quarter of the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing – and includes 18 courtyard-style houses with one main building at the centre, according to the researcher, Sun Weigang.
Sun called the palace a clear predecessor to the Forbidden City, which was occupied by emperors during the later Ming and Qing dynasties. Both were built on north-south axes in keeping with traditional Chinese cosmology.
Despite wars soon after Qin Shi Huang's death – and more than 2,000 years of exposure – the foundations are well preserved. Archaeologists have found walls, gates, stone roads, pottery sherds and some brickwork, according to Xinhua.
They have been excavating the foundations since 2010. Qin's tomb is guarded by an estimated 6,000 life-sized terracotta warriors, including remarkably well-preserved cavalrymen, chariots and horses, each one unique.--Bill P 16:10, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
References: Xian Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum, Discovery Times Square, Smithsonianmag.com, Travelchinaguide.com, Terracottawarriors.com
References
[1] ...
- Ebrey, Patrica Buckley. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010 2d ed
- Discovery Times Square
- Smithsonianmag.com
- Travelchinaguide.com
- Terracottawarriors.com
Classroom Presentations
- Powerpoint presentation by Chris Ch. File:Terracotta.ppt
- Powerpoint presentation by Bill P. in 3 parts