Terracotta Army
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| Many more to follow |
March 2011
Xi'an City Walls
The city wall of Xi'an are still intact. They form a 9 mile rectangle around the city center. Built in 1370 from rammed earth, quicklime, and glutinous rice extract. We rented bikes and rode about a quarter of the way around.
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| Jacqueline, Libby, Guards, Katie, Alison |
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| Tandum |
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| Kite flying Lessons |
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| And away she goes. |
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| A view looking outside the wall |
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A view looking inside the city from the wall
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Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army was only just discovered in 1974 by peasants digging a well. The warriors are modeled from yellow clay and were made to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi a ruler who unified China over 2,200 years ago. Three pits, in various stages of excavation, have yielded more than 7,000 soldiers, archers and horses. Each warrior was originally hand painted and individually crafted to express unique warrior characteristics. Most of the paint has faded after exposure to the air. A large hill, yet to be excavated, is believed to contain the tomb of emperor Qin Shi. He had "enlisted" 700,000 people over 36 years to construct the tomb. The complex is also said to contain 48 tombs for his concubines who were buried alive with the dead emperor along with the workers. He evidently wanted to prevent the location and design of the tomb from becoming known. As you can see from the pictures, many of the figures have been crushed and are in the process of being restored. There are replicas of the terracotta warriors everywhere in the city. We visited a factory that specializes in these figurines that range in size from a couple of inches to life size.
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| Alison, a High Ranking Officer |
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| Jacqueline, The Emperor, yet to be excavated. |
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| Hand sculpting replicas |
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| Pit #1 |
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| Restoration work. Because of the amount of dust the process of unearthing these warriors produces, the work happens in the evening hours after the museum has closed. |
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| The actual site of the well where the initial discovery was made in 1974. |
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| A model of the site and surrounding country side. |
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| A close up of the model. |
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| Excavation in process. |
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| Pit #2 |
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| Replica of an archer's bow. All remains of weapons are locked away at the present time. Much of the wood has obviously deteriorated. |
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Pit #3
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Two bronze chariots, originally housed in wooden coffins, wer unearthed near the burial mound, and laboriously reassembled. They are 1/2 actual size. One is made up of over 3600 metal pieces.
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A photo of the excavation site of the chariots.
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