Xi’an (pronounced Shee an)

---

Xi’an (pronounced Shee an)



Xi’an is a city of eight million people and traces its history back 3300 years. It is the only remaining walled city in China. The wall was built 600 years ago. We learned that Xi’an is the centre for Fengshui. They used coal for heat as early as 1300. Xi’an is also the jade capital of China. Jade looks like a plain old rock until it is split open. It comes from the shore of rivers or from mountains. Quality is determined by hardness. The harder jade is the most translucent.



We can also thank China for paper (rice paper will last 600 years), gun powder, printing technology, silk and the compass.



Communism became a fact of life in 1949 because of great corruption. The just-elected president has vowed to deal with the corruption that has crept back in. At a lecture at the university, the professor told us that two things bring corruption to the public eye. First is the internet, because people will see, for example an expensive wrist watch and question how this could belong to a civil servant. The second is information from a former mistress!



The Xi’an area is best known for the Terra Cotta Warriors. In 1974, four farmers were digging for water and uncovered the first of the warriors. The story goes back 2200 years to Emperor Qin, the first Emperor of China—the same guy who started the Great Wall near Beijing for protection against invaders. He is also credited with standardizing weights and measures and abolishing the feudal system. He started his tomb when he was a teenager. It covers 56 square kilometres and took 720,000 people’s labour and took forty years. It is the largest tomb in the world. The inside of the tomb would be covered in gems. It was also loaded with mercury so anyone attempting to raid the tomb would be poisoned. It was buried thirty metres deep. The tomb’s architects were killed so that they could never reveal the location of the tomb. Today, the Chinese government has chosen to leave the tomb unopened. The warriors—8,000 of them along with horses and wooden chariots—were buried about a kilometre away. They all face east as this is the only direction that is not protected—the other three directions are protected by mountains. Each warrior is a little bit taller than average, but made in the image of real people—often the person who was sculpting them—so each one is different. They were made from clay and fired and then assembled. After 1974, each warrior was cleaned up and restored and returned to exactly the place where they were found. It has been declared the eighth wonder of the world.



再见



Donna

---

Photos

IMG_0908
Xi'an is the only walled city in China. It was built 600 years ago.

IMG_0854
This pot was found in a tomb from the Tang Dynasty-- 618 to 907 AD.

IMG_0865
Jade isn't just green. It can be lavender, yellow, red and many other colours.

IMG_0869
This amazing collection of 8,000 soldiers, horses and chariots was created to protect the Emperor's soul in the afterlife.

IMG_0873
Each soldier looks different--features, facial hair, shoes. They may represent actual soldiers, but more likely resembled the person who did the sculpting.

IMG_0900
This is a drum tower--not a bell tower. During the day, a bell tower would signal the time, but at night the signals would come from a drum tower. One hour in China equals two hours in North America--each hour represents one of the animals--same as years--and there are only twelve animals. By the way, China, only a little smaller than Canada, has only one time zone.

Comments

[Bob Pyke]

Great Pictures and Story
Hi Donna... So glad you're seeing this much of the country. I know you will be having a wonderful time.. hope the weather has warmed up(staying cold here) and it's sunny for you. I enjoy the blog...as there is so much I didn't get to see while there. Take care and keep the stories coming...all the best. Bob

[Gretchen Huntley]

Enjoying
Just want you to know that I am enjoying your blog and pictures and learning something new with each entry. Thank you for including me.

[Diana]

Thank you
Your blog was forwarded to me. I'm very much enjoying them. Diana