Journey to the Terracotta Warriors

Where do you start?

When you have been gone for more than a week and there is so much to post about.  Just WHERE do you jump in to pick up where you left off?

I’m not sure I can!

My head and my heart are so full of experiences, ideas, sights, sounds, smells --

I walked through my front door at about 5pm last evening, and yet I felt like a different person visiting a distant memory.

Traveling will do this to you.  You come back a different person with wider views than when you left.

So I’ll start here.  With the funny Terracotta Warrior photo ops that Jill and I had outside of the Terracotta Factory outside of Xi’an.

Do Jill & I have our fierce warrior faces on or what?

Entrance to the factory store.

Replicas in production.

Since the discovery of the warriors, replica making has been in high demand.  You can even order one for your back garden with your own face on it for a few thousand dollars.

The cool thing though, the warriors were being made in much the same way as the original ones were.  Fired clay.  Life size.  And we could touch them.

And in miniature!

Kiln.

I can’t imagine how they made these statues more than 2,000 years ago –

Farmers digging a well in a field approximately 20 miles east of Xi’an stumbled upon a pit containing 6,000 life-size terra cotta statues in March of 1974. The site was soon identified as the burial place of Emperor Qin, and excavations began almost immediately. Historians now believe that some 700,000 workers worked for nearly three decades on the mausoleum. 

So far, archaeologists have uncovered a 20-square-mile compound, including some 8,000 terra cotta soldiers, along with numerous horses and chariots, a pyramid mound marking the emperor’s tomb, remains of a palace, offices, store houses and stables. 

In addition to the large pit containing the 6,000 soldiers, a second pit was found with cavalry and infantry units and a third containing high-ranking officers and chariots.

A fourth pit remained empty, suggesting that the burial pit was left unfinished at the time the emperor died in September, 210 BC. He was 50 years old.

Our first glimpse of pit 1

By decree of the 2nd Emporer, Qin’s son – all of his father’s concubines and ladies who had no children were ordered to follow the emperor to the grave.  Many of the tomb builders were also buried alive to preserve the secrecy of the tomb.

Oxen.

In the HanShu (book of Han) the emperor's funeral was described as follows: “Thousands of officials were killed and thousands of craftsmen were buried alive in order to keep the tomb secret.”

(My mind can not wrap around this at this time!)

Zooming in for a closer look.

Even the animals were amazing in detail.

The archer – behind glass.

The incredible thing is that  these were all so individual.  Wrinkles in the sleeves, every hair on the head, eyebrows, different beards, mustaches and expressions – you just can’t put it into words.

One thing I found interesting is that all of the heads are separate from the bodies.  So they could be turned and positioned as the emperor wanted. It also made quite of the few “headless” warriors look exceptionally creepy!

Check out the hair and the detail on the sole of his shoe.

Horse & rider behind glass.

You can see every muscle in the horse’s body.

Pit of pieces and parts.

The saddest thing of all was the piles of terracotta parts – arms, legs, bodies, heads – that had crumbled over the centuries.  The place is still a work in progress, and there are teams still carefully excavating, working at night to keep the dust down so that the tourists and view during the day.  We were happy that our admission helps fund the research.

The Emporer’s mausolem is about 1.5 kilometers away, a mountain in size, and unopened.  We were told that they are waiting for technology to improve to the point that fine relics would not be lost or damaged when exposed to air and elements.

Such an incredible day!

I’ve put together my video clips and more photos in the slide show below.  Totally amateur, but there are too many to post one by one here in the blog.

I'll never forget this day.

Remember to use your pause button to stop, spend more time, really look, rewind, play again.

If you are unable to view the video here, try a different browser (Explorer is a problem culprit, I use Chrome) or view on my YouTube Channel.

The 8th wonder of the world.

Autumn splendor walking to the pit area.

Persimmon tree.

SO glad for color and blue skies after a day of terracotta grey.

Today I begin putting my life in somewhat of a normal order!  Starting with unpacking suitcases and getting laundry going.  Settling in to getting copious amounts of mail order out.

Word from Idaho regarding my Father-in-Law is that things are winding down and his organs are starting to fail.  After much talk with The Hubster, who was there all last week and will be staying all of this week as well, as long as needed through this process, we have decided that I will head out to Idaho when we know the time has come for me to do so.  Hospice is there.  Many other family members are there.  I was able to video chat with my Father-in-Law while in China and I am glad for that.  I will go for the funeral when the time comes.

My heart is twisted with so many feelings, but there are already “too many cooks in the kitchen” there right now so to speak, and I will wait until I hear word that I should come.

If you missed that we are having a Quilty Box Gift-Away during my time gone, there is still time to join in by entering ON THAT POST.  The drawing is this evening.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Shut out the chaos and noisiness of other voices and opinions and listen to your own heart!

My mantra for today.

Have a peaceful Monday, everyone!