Fascinating History in Xi'an, China

In the early spring of 1974, local farmers - Peiyan Yang, Zhifa Yang, and Quanyi Yang - of XiYang village were drilling a series of wells in search of water. To their surprise, they discovered some pottery fragments and ancient bronze weapons.... no one ever expected that this accidental discovery would turn over a miraculous and brilliant leaf in history nor that it would unfold such a unique and majestic spectacle before the world!

After years of drilling, excavation and textural research, the site of the terracotta army proved to be one of the biggest attendant burial pits of Chinese feudal emperor Qin Shi Huang. By 1976, three pits had been discovered. They were numbered Pits 1, 2, and 3 (in order of discovery), and covered a total area of over 20,000 square meters. Nearly 8,000 terracotta armored warriors and horses, and more than 100 chariots were buried there. The pits, consisting of infantry, cavalry and other arms of services, were an enormous establishment!

In 1979 the Museum of the Terracotta Army was founded over the excavated pits of the warriors, and for the past 30 years, word of Emperor Qin's extraordinary display has spread worldwide. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, walking through the pits of the terracotta museum is an experience which gives you goose bumps as you consider the labor, sweat, and determination which went into creating such a masterpiece so many years ago.

Construction of the terracotta warriors is interesting and, considering they're over 2,000 years old, appears very high-tech for their period. Prior to Emperor Qin, Chinese pottery was relatively small and fired at low temperatures; however, studies of the terracotta army's life-size pottery figures (weighing between 242 and 660 pounds) indicate they were fired at much higher temperatures, between 950 and 1,050 C, in order to create the harder pottery figures. Constructed from local clay, all of the figures were essentially made using the same methods. The head, arms and bodies of the soldiers are all hollow, and the legs are solid pottery. The same is true of the horses - their head and body are hollow but their legs are solid. Archaeologists believe that separate molds were used to make the various body parts, and were then glued together before being fired. The human heads were made from a two-piece mold that was joined together later on. The eyes, ears, nose, hair and other facial features were individually sculpted and added prior to firing. In addition to the facial features the armor, belt hooks, shoe ties and costume details were also independently sculpted. As a result each warrior has is different and unique in appearance - no two are exactly the same. The names of the craftsmen creating each figure was inscribed on the warrior's robe, leg or armor. Every detail appears perfect!

In addition to the precision of the individual warriors, the placement of the infantries and chariots within each of the pits demonstrates the well-organized formation and skillful strategies of a powerful empire army. The Terracotta Warriors truly are a wonder of the world!

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Part of trip: The cushion between Japan and Canada

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