Perhaps the most famous landmark in China is the Great Wall. But this ancient amazing country has another cultural and historical value, which is considered the eighth wonder of the world, along with the Egyptian pyramids. This is a complex of the tomb of the first emperor of the country of the Qin dynasty - Shi Huang.
Discovery history
The burial was discovered quite by accident. The event took place in the Chinese province of Shanxi in the vicinity of Xi'an, east of Mount Lishan. The peasants gathered together to dig a well and, during excavation work, stumbled upon fragments of clay objects - parts of the bodies of people in the clothes of warriors, armor, weapons, figures of horses. People thought it was an ancient grave and reported the find to the authorities.
Thus, it became known about the greatest monument of antiquity - the burial of 8100 terracotta statues of armed soldiers in full uniform and with weapons, as well as horses, chariots and other items. It was part of the burial complex of the first emperor of China of the Qin dynasty - Shi Huang. This is rightfully considered the main archaeological discovery over the past 100 years!
Long-term excavations began, which were accompanied by numerous discoveries. In particular, it turned out that initially the soldiers had real weapons. But after the death of the emperor, a popular uprising broke out, during which the rioters took away all military weapons, opening the necropolis. They replaced it with tin, unsuitable for military operations. The mound, in which the army is hidden, has a height of 115 m.
The work was carried out in stages. During the excavations of the first period, which lasted from 1978 to 1984, skillfully made bronze chariots were discovered, consisting of more than 300 parts and decorated with precious metal.
At the very beginning of the 20th century, statues of acrobats and musicians were excavated - to date, 490 more figures representing people have been discovered. And also images of horses and birds, other animals.
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The area of the complex is about 100 sq. km, it keeps many unsolved secrets. It is known that many underground rooms have not yet been explored; perhaps no less unique exhibits will be found there.
Great emperor
The burial and the tomb were built by the first emperor of China from the Qin dynasty - Shi Huang. He was, on the one hand, a progressive ruler - he united the nearby lands (already at that time more than a million inhabitants lived in the state). Under him, a judicial system was introduced that was uniform throughout the entire Chinese territory, a single currency also appeared, roads were built and the construction of the first Great Wall was completed (not modern, it was built 500 years later).
At the same time, according to the ancient historian Sima Jian, he was a domineering and soulless tyrant, distinguished by great cruelty. During his reign, hundreds of thousands of people died - there were mass killings of prisoners of war, books were burned and there was the death penalty for the slightest criticism. Together with the emperor, after his death, were also buried alive, according to some information, up to 70 thousand people who took part in the work, along with their families, as well as 48 concubines.
From historical documents it follows that Ying Zheng (that was the name of the future emperor), ascending the throne at the age of 13, ordered the construction of a tomb. There are several versions of this decision of the young ruler.
Firstly, a huge army of warriors, called upon to accompany the emperor in the afterlife, must show all the power and strength of its ruler, satisfy his ambitions in the afterlife, as well as during life. According to another version - for protection in the afterlife from enemies.
There is another possible explanation - the emperor was terrified of dying and was looking for the elixir of eternal life. He even took drugs containing mercury (in those days it was believed that it helps to gain longevity). Not finding a miracle cure, Shihuindi decided to create an army in order to remain a full-fledged ruler with its help even after his death. As if for this it was ordered to create a Terracotta army and a grandiose tomb that amazes the imagination of contemporaries and descendants.
What is the tomb?
The complex was under construction for 37 years, from 246 BC, that is how many years the emperor ruled. The army is located in parallel rooms in battle formation on the east side of the magnificent tomb of the emperor.
The sculpture of each of the 8000 warriors is a work of art. In their production, various techniques were used and only manual labor was used. The figure of each person was endowed with individual features and different facial expressions.
The height of the terracotta man is from 190 to 200 centimeters, and the weight is up to 140 kilograms. Warriors differ in rank, among them there are officers and ordinary soldiers, each holding a weapon (crossbow, bow with arrows, spears or swords) in his hands. According to the analyzes carried out, the scientists came to the conclusion that all the exhibits were made and brought from different regions of the country. Horses were made from clay mined in the nearby Lishan Mountain (most likely due to the difficulty of transportation - their weight is almost 200 kilograms), and statues of people, judging by the composition of the raw materials, were delivered ready-made.
The Qin Shi Huang tomb complex was included in the World Heritage List in 1987. A visit to the complex is part of the official visit to China. Among them were Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, presidents and prime ministers of various states, and other guests of honor of the Celestial Empire.
The discovery of the terracotta army gave a complete picture of what weapons were used at that time, what uniforms were worn by soldiers, what chariots and horse harness looked like. There is practically no information about this, because the written documents were almost completely destroyed. For more than 2000 years, the burial has been underground in darkness and oblivion. Now it has been found, mostly restored and delights all people who are lucky enough to see this man-made miracle.