16. The Terracotta Warriors

Fri, Nov 14 Xian

Prior to the advent of power drilling equipment to tap underground aquifers for wells, humans dug down with picks and shovels until they had success. As the aspiring well progressed, the walls were lined with spirally descending, interlocked, and cemented stones to maintain the integrity of the deepening hole. Such was the activity in a poor famer’s field, in 1974, just outside the ancient city of Xian, or more properly, Xi’an - pronounced She-Ann – and meaning Western Peace.

Xian is one of the oldest settled areas of China, with 3,100 years of recorded history. At various times it was even a dynastic capital, and currently is just a medium sized city with a population of a mere 8.5 million.

In any event, 2 labourers were excavating a well when they came across many shards of what looked like pottery, and then as they dug deeper, looked like cast figures! Work was stopped and a friend at the local university was consulted. This serendipitous finding turned out to be one of the top tourist attractions in China today: the famous Terracotta Warrior Army.

The egomaniacal first Emperor, Qin (pronounced Chin… [which led to “China”]… 221-210 BC) ordered the creation of an entire army of life sized warriors to protect him and help him rule in the afterlife. One can see that this would have been no small task, and historians have estimated 700,000 craftsmen spent many years working on the project, since some 8,000 of the figures have been uncovered so far, in 5 pits spread over an area of several acres. In addition, there are 500 horses, and more than 100 chariots among the soldiers.

Seeing it in person is staggering. The warrior site has been covered, on location, by an arena-like roof. Inside, rank upon rank upon rank of solders, archers, horses and officers - each with a distinct, unique face – line the trenches in which they were initially placed. It is really an incredible spectacle, and worth the flight to Xian.

The cultural treasures we saw (versus what the 2 original well-diggers saw) represents a gargantuan restoration by the People’s Republic of China, since most of the 8000 figures had been vandalized during (apparently) the time of the second and third Emperors. As we left we wondered how many other farmers over the centuries had encountered other “treasures” while digging, but had less curiosity to seek answers about their findings?

Travelling time and the site visit consumed most of the day, but we did squeeze in a visit to a gift and lacquerware factory beforehand, and an hour in the Shaanxi (the province) Museum after.

One thing we haven't mentioned yet is the amazing number of KFC restaurants. They are everywhere... like Starbucks in America. 7-11's are omnipresent, too. The amount of deep fried food the Chinese ate surprised us. Why are they so thin?

Our bus passed a particular corner in downtown Xian where workers come to pick up day jobs. We saw dozens of men armed with the tools of their trade - paint rollers, manual lawn mowers, etc. Xian residents know the location, our guide said, and come by when a particular trade is required.

That night, the group attended a marvelous cultural folkloric show called the Tang Dynasty. The Tang period was roughly 600-900 AD, and is considered one of the high points of Chinese civilization in terms of cosmopolitan culture, peacefulness, and stability – a civil culture, (while Europe, meanwhile, was enduring the Dark Ages). Xian was the capital, and the arts like poetry, painting, cartography, printing, and general scholarship all flourished.

We could not believe the value we were experiencing on this Smartours trip!