Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Xi'an's Terra-cotta warriors: What to know before visiting
Have you been to Xi’an, China? It is located in the northwest of the country
and the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Zhou, Qin, Han,
Sui, and Tang, may be better known as Chang’an before the Ming dynasty. Xi'an
was the starting point of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army of
Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who first unified China 2,200 years ago.
The first bodies of the army was discovered by chance by local farmers
about four decades ago. Since then, China has put great effort to unearth over
8,000 life-size Terra-cotta figures, horses and chariots. All but a few bodies
were intact, so they have been restored by experts.
The most amazing part of this Terracotta Army is the figures of the
soldiers. Their faces and bodies, even their hairlines, are all unique. It took
over 20 years by hundreds of thousands of craftsmen. Who were the models? They
don’t look cheerful but sad.
But that’s not yet. There are still 400 more pits waiting to be
unearthed. It’ll take years and decades to uncover the ancient mystery for the
fastest growing country, modern China.
Enjoy reading and imagining how those craftsmen sculpted such unique
soldiers and objects in that scale.
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