China's Terra Cotta Warriors

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The terra cotta warriors fascinate me. From the story behind their construction to the mysterious warrior emperor who built them, the entire area has an air of mystery about it. I couldn't wait to find out as much as I could about them. First, there is some important back round information that is needed, to understand the importance of the warriors.

475 BC : There was a period in China known as the "Warring States Period" where 7 states, named the Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin, were in a time where each wanted the other's land. War continuously broke out among the separate states.

A map of the seven states.

259 BC : A boy named Ying Zheng was born to the king of the Qin state.

246 BC: Ying Zheng's father dies, and leaves the throne to the now thirteen year old.

Once Ying Zheng turns 24 years old, he recognizes that he has two dreams. One is to unite all of China, and the other is to live forever. He now begins to fight with the other 6 states. Soon, he has complete control.

Once he had this control, Ying Zheng changed his name to Qin Shi Huang. Qin being the word that China derived from and Shi with Huang meaning first. Altogether, his name means first emperor of China.

While Qin Shi Huang was in power, he made many changes to China.

POLITICS: He made sure that China now had one ruler, and one set of rules to live by.

ECONOMY: He saw that both agriculture and commerce were extremely important to China's economy. He standardized a tax system, coinage and a measuring system. He allowed peasants to own land, as long as they could afford the taxes on that land, and maybe most importantly, he built more than 6,000 miles of roads and more than 1,000 miles of canals, allowing all Chinese people to communicate much more easily.

CULTURE: Qin Shi Huang realized how important the Chinese culture was and took many steps in preserving it. One step that he took was to uniform the Chinese charectors, so that when monks copied old manuscripts, all people would be able to read them.

GREAT WALL: Qin Shi Huang took separate sections of walls throughout China and connected them to form the Great Wall of China.

As good as he does sound, he also killed many scholars for disagreeing with his thoughts on the future of China, as well as he was known for burning many books that didn't have to do with things that he felt were important.

To try to live forever, which was his other goal, Qin Shi Huang made 5 journeys to sacred mountains in hopes of finding the elixir of immortality. He clearly never found it. But his complete obsession with living forever led him to build a replica of his own city, underground near his tomb. He also then built China's terra cotta warriors.

 
In 1947, two men were digging a well when they stumbled upon what looked to be a terra cotta head. It was not the first time that pieces of terra cotta figures had been found in the area, but this time it was different. Once archaeologists began to dig in the area, they began to realize the magnitude of their discovery. Rows upon rows of soldiers stood here many years ago, yet now, every one of them lay in shards of broken terra cotta. It was as if China's history was about to march out at them. When they repaired all of the terra cotta warriors, and put them back into their correct positions, they realized that they were facing east, where they were ready to ward off attacks for the Emperor. The real army of the emperor was said to be "a sea of warriors with the courage of tigers", and there were said to be one million of them.

This is a view of all of the terra cotta warriors lined up, waiting for battle. 		Each of the warriors is completely unique. The dress on each of them, down to the colors that they were painted varied according to the rank that you were in. The faces of the statues themselves is something that scientists have been studying. Each face has a different expression on it, and each face has a different shape, once again according to the rank that the soldier was in. In Chinese culture, your head shape indicates the type of personality that you have. For example, if a soldier had a broad forehead and a pointed chin, that would mean that he was watchful and alert, in which case they would place him in the front of the army, to watch for approaching danger. This was not only true for the terra cotta warriors, but for Qin Shi Huang's real army as well. The hairstyles of the warriors varied as well. It differs from braided hair, to tightly woven buns, to mustaches. This has told the archaeologists many things. First of all, because each soldier is so unique, they believe that each could have been modeled after a real warrior in the Emperor's army. The other thing is that the sculptors of these magical warriors had to be highly skilled in what they did.

The warriors were made out of a type of clay that is called terra cotta, which is mostly found in a reddish color. The warriors themselves were constructed using the "coil" method, where the potter took a long "snake" of the terra cotta clay and wound it around into the shape of the warrior. After about every 3 layers, they would go back in with slip and a wooden paddle and smooth out their work. After the basic form was built, they would go back in and create the unmistakable, individual characteristics of each warrior. After this, the warriors were fired in a kiln that could reach temperatures of more than 1,652 degrees and they had to stay in this kiln for sometimes up to 5 days. Scientists today tried to recreate this process, with trying to make their own terra cotta warriors using the same techniques, and during the firing process, one out of ten would be ruined. Making a whole army with this many mistakes would take years, and it did.

I am thoroughly amazed with the terra cotta army. To look at the pictures is one thing, but to actually be there will be a completely breath taking experience. One can only imagine the 80 or more potters slaving away to make more and more terra cotta warriors. Each one having to be different than the one before. Each one having to be at least 1.8 meters high, and each weighing about 400 pounds. There is a sea of warriors waiting to be seen. I certainly can't wait to see them.