The first building I came to was the Museum, which houses many of the artifacts th
at have already been excavated, however, everything was behind glass and it was difficult to take photographs.
at have already been excavated, however, everything was behind glass and it was difficult to take photographs. I eventually discovered there was another huge building that covered the actual excavation site, which was some distance away.
My taxi driver seemed unaware of it, so I had one the guides from the museum come out and explain to him where to go, otherwise I would have had to wait for a bus and I had little time.
The building itself, was embedded partially in the ground and it reminded me of the T. Rex Discovery Museum in Eastend, Saskatchewan. The landscape surrounding the complex was similar too. Inside though, everything was very dark and visitors walked over thick glass to see the relics down below. It was impossible to take photographs,so I only have a few taken in the museum.
The burial site, constructed over nearly three decades (from 153 to 126 BCE), extends over some 20 square kilometers. Excavations have unearthed naked, armless terracotta figures, which are about 70-90 centimeters high.
"In 1990, when constructing the road from Xi'an to the new airport, the builders stumbled upon this tomb of Jing Di (reigned 157-141 BC), the fifth ruler of the Han dynasty. It lies on a burial site where more than 800 more graves were traced. Some 70,000 workers were forced to labour for 37 years to build the mausoleum.
Investigations indicate that the mausoleum complex contains 24 graves in all. Eight of these have been unearthed and they contain 700 naked terracotta figures. These warrior figures have fifteen different facial expressions.
They originally had movable wooden arms which have rotted away and were dressed in silk uniforms. They are equipped with bronze weapons, and large stores of grain as well as various items in miniature have also been found, for example herds, corn-measures, arrowheads and other items for military and civilian use." http://www.planetware.com/xian/mausoleum-of-jing-di-chn-sn-xmj.htmausoleum-of-jing-di-chn-sn-xmj.htm
The discovery of such clay armies around China suggests that, for a long time, emperors were habitually escorted to the afterlife by a huge entourage.
Despite the ongoing excavation work and efforts to preserve the site, several figures similar to Jing Di’s soldiers recently appeared on the New York art market, indicating continued grave robbing.
This was quite an amazing site as well, but I would recommend seeing it before Emperor Qin's Terra Cotta Warrior army, as the latter is far more impressive.
