And so, in a remote field an hour outside of Xian, China, a team of Chinese archaeologists are painstakingly putting together pieces of pottery- some as small as your little finger, back together again to rebuild the smashed and vandalised terracotta army. To date, some 1800 have had their broken bodies glued back together to stand proud for the 3 million tourists a year that fly to this pollution smogged industrial town for the day to get their photos taken alongside a warrior or ride the chariot (all replicas of course).
Little Qin Shi Huang, the very first Emperor of China, started this project of his after unifying China for the first time when he was 12 years old. Some 720,000 workers took 38 years to assemble this incredible cast from foot soldiers to horses and chariots, archers and workers, acrobats to musicians.
All replicating what lies nearby- the Emperor’s actual mausoleum filled with human bodies of the soldiers, archers, musicians, acrobats, horses and generals he wanted in his afterlife….not to mention a rumoured 20,000 concubines and his wife. Gruesome!!! No wonder the mausoleum is actually a rather large hill to cover all those bones.
Dating from 210 BC, the army was found by a farmer in 1974 when digging for a well and 5 metres down hit terracotta fragments and called in the Government. Now this is one country where treasure hunting does not pay. The poor soul was given 30RMB by the Government for this discovery- that’s £3-which at that time was one month’s salary of a worker. Now the find would be worth 3000 RMB (£30)…still the monthly salary of a worker.
My guide told me (and she really was being straight) that “this was good- because all the ground belongs to the Government. And he is now rich from signing autographs.” When I queried just how many RMB it needed in order to be deemed “rich” in China she obliquely replied with an explanation that there is many ways to be rich. “With money you never have enough, so it is better to be rich with life.” Mmmm. Anyhow, I later witnessed the farmer signing books for the tourists…..Im in the wrong country really to say “he had a gold Rolex, raybans and was wearing Gucci loafers so must be doing well for himself.” Suffice to say the Government now has him on a salary to sign books and he’s upgraded his farmer’s overalls for a black suit and shirt and sunglasses on indoors. A celebrity!! Presumably when he passes away, his son then inherits the mantle and continues the signing tradition.
Anyhow, back to the Army.
A large number stay entombed awaiting excavation as well as the technology to better restore them given that the local unbaked clay cant be used and thus they are relying on developments in epoxy resin to put their humpty dumpty bodies together again.
No amount of epoxy however can hide the fact that a number of the soldiers do not look that happy. Turns out the Emperor demanded no two were to be alike so after the bodies and blank faces were made they were all personalised. Initials of the artist were put in the foot of the soldiers and any statue the Emperor wasn’t happy with….well…”off with his head.” Not exactly the best environment to work in never knowing if you’d be the next bag of bones consigned to “Mausoleum Hill.”
And then there is the issue that a century after the mausoleum was completed, a Chinese poet wrote about it talking of “palaces, riches and 100 rivers fashioned in mercury”. Poor misguided workers pouring that stuff in thinking they were safe from ending up in the mausoleum pile- not realising of course that they were destined to die shortly anyhow from mercury poisoning. Interestingly test work has shown high levels of mercury in the soil on and around Mount Lishan, underwhich lies the mausoleum,which remains unopened…apparently for fear of damage to the valuables buried with the Emperor. More likely no sucker wants to excavate and breathe the fumes given that mercury is completely non-biodegradable, is the most potent free radical known to humans and can only leache away. More bodies for the Emperor’s afterlife!
His afterlife of a huge army to maintain his empire proved to be a waste of time, money and energy anyhow. Shortly after he was buried vandals broke in, stole all the bronze CHECK weapons from the warriers, torched the place causing the wooden beams above their heads to burn away and bring tons of soil on their heads smashing them to smithereens.
It’s rather eerie when you first enter and look down to see an entire army- in precise military formation according to rank and duty- some in lines, some facing outwards looking for threats, in full battle regalia according to their roles. While Im sure the travelling exhibition that is currently going around the world is worth seeing on account of most people never getting to Xian….but all I can say is seeing some 20 warriors in a museum pales into significance when looking at thousands, line after line, of the real thing.
Life size, full uniform, all with different faces and exact replicas of mankind down to fingerprints. Sadly due to the fire when it was vandalised, the colours on their uniforms also disappeared and they are now a chalky and black soot covered bunch of men.
There are three main areas to see- the first being the army- some 8000 figures (about 2/3 still not excavated and glued together) stretching about 230 metres long with 11 corridors over 3 metres wide each.
The second pit a short walk away contains the chariots and cavalry riders.
And the third is the command post room with people standing around and four horses ready to gallop up a chute.
Described as the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century (and found for the price of a Big Mac meal in Beijing) it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Talking of which, I’m off to investigate visiting another UNESCO Cultural Heritage site and a fitting tribute I think to compare to my blog on Christ the Redeemer in Brazil…….the Leshan Giant Buddha. This is the world’s tallest and largest Buddha standing at 71 meters high and 24 meters wide with a head over 14 meters long and 10 meters wide. To put this into a perspective you can understand- his toenail alone can accommodate a seated person, 100 people can fit in his instep and a dining table can be placed on one of his toes alone.
As the local saying says, "The Mountain is a Buddha and the Buddha is a Mountain."
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