Fun in Xian — the Terracotta Soldiers

Finally… blogging the awesome vacation we had in Xian.

I decided to start with the BEST — the Terracotta Soldiers. It was truly amazing! We all three so excited to see in person one of the great wonders of the world! What a field trip for a child who is already fascinated by archaeology! She so wanted to jump into the pit and dig up her own artifacts.

What you see behind us in this picture is what the archaeologists have unearthed, reassembled, and stood in neat rows (probably like it was when Qin Shi Huang Di the emperor ordered it made). But some areas farther in back show broken fragments of soldiers and horses sticking out of the dirt, still not totally excavated. I think Sprite and I were more fascinated by those areas than the neat rows of soldiers.

You can see in this next picture the vastness of this pit. There are three of them open to the public. This one has the most soldiers and horses already excavated.

Why was this constructed? The emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered it made for himself. It is much like the purpose of the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Qin Shi Huang was very afraid of and concerned with death. These ranks of soldiers were to accompany him into the afterlife. I read in my research that in his efforts to avoid death, he took many elixirs of immortality. Ironically, it is believed that the high mercury content in the potions actually hastened his death at age 49. Below is a statue of the great ruler.

The tombs and statues were constructed mainly with slave labor. People convicted of crimes all over the country were brought to Xian to do the labor.

Why the angry face below?

DD spotted an empty water bottle in the pit with the artifacts. She was furious that someone would value this national treasure so little.  DH and I were greatly amused at her marching, evidence in hand, to the closest security guard to request that he more closely watch over his charge. In fact, we were very surprised at the lax security. I assumed there would be many guards watching the tourists very carefully. DH and I joked about jumping down into the pit to take a quick shot or two before the security guards noticed. It really would have been possible! But we were not sure what the penalty would be for such an act — maybe even criticizing (tee hee hee).
It was a great feeling to be there –  in person — to see a slice of Chinese history up close. I’ll post more of our vacation later.

More Posts Like This One:

1. Fun in Xian — the REALLY Great Pictures
2. Fun in Xian — Stele Museum
3. Fun in Xian — Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang Di
4. Funny English in XIAN

Tagged as: travels, vacation, xian