Xian
Facts (西安)
MY Favourite Places to Visit
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Terracotta Warriors (秦始皇兵馬俑)
November 2005
The terracotta army is part of an elaborate mausoleum created to accompany the first emperor of China into the afterlife.
Workers digging a well outside the city of Xi'an, China, in 1974 struck upon one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in the world: a life-size clay soldier poised for battle. They found not one, but thousands of clay soldiers, each with unique facial expressions and positioned according to rank.
Though largely gray today, patches of paint hint at once brightly colored clothes. Further excavations have revealed swords, arrow tips, and other weapons, many in pristine condition. The soldiers are in trenchlike, underground corridors. In some of the corridors, clay horses are aligned four abreast, behind them are wooden chariots.
It is most unfortunate that a lot of the terracotta armies were destroyed during the earlier battles during the Han dynasty, and also when the terracotta army was discovered and exposed to sun and moist. Nevertheless, one can never imagine how in the Qin dysnasty, how an army of this size of this quality can be built and buried under the soil for so many years.
This is definitely one of the Wonders of the World !!
Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum (秦始皇陵)
November 2005
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was constructed over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BC, and is situated underneath a 76-meter-tall tomb mound shaped like a truncated pyramid. The layout of the mausoleum is modeled on the Qin capital Xianyang, divided into inner and outer cities. The main tomb chamber housing the coffin and burial artifacts is the core of the architectural complex of the mausoleum.
The tomb itself has not yet been excavated. Archaeological explorations currently concentrate on various sites of the extensive necropolis surrounding the tomb, including the Terracotta Army to the east of the tomb mound.
The tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions and offices as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities. The tomb contains replicas of the area's rivers and streams made with mercury flowing to the sea through hills and mountains of bronze. Precious stones such as pearls are said to represent the sun, moon and other stars. Modern tests on the tomb mound have revealed unusually high concentrations of mercury, thus the tomb cannot be easily excavated until the issue of mercury concentration can be taken care of.
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Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (大雁塔)
November 2005
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. It was built in 652 during the Tang dynasty and originally had five stories. The structure was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, to add another 5 stories. A massive earthquake in 1556 heavily damaged the pagoda and made the structure leans very perceptibly (several degrees) to the west, and reduced it by three stories, to its current height of seven stories.
One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by the Buddhist translator and traveler Xuanzang.