Terracotta Army

We visited the Terracotta Army Museum while we were in Xi'an.


秦始皇(QinShiHuang, 259BC - 210BC) was the first emperor of unified China.
He believed that life continued under the ground after death, so over 38 years, he constructed a massive underground palace with all the necessities of daily life, statues of rare birds and animals, entertainers and, of course, the famous terracotta army.

At the terracotta army museum

According to the guide, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew was the first Asian leader to ever visit the museum.

This is pit number 2. The terracotta warriors that you see in the foreground have all been restored. Those in the back are still undergoing restoration.

Life-size jigsaw puzzle

Newly restored horses.

Notice how the horses' tails are bundled up at the ends. Daan joked that it was for maintaining hygiene when the horses had to poop. In fact, it's to prevent the tails from getting tangled up together when the horses
trotted next to each other.

Remains of bricks.

Before the time of the Qin dynasty, bricks were only used to lay the ground. Walls were made of timber and clay. During the building of the terracotta army, bricks were used to mend the breaks in the dividing walls. So began the use of bricks for building walls instead of only floors.

This is pit No. 2

Wonder why you don't see any terracotta figures here?
 In order to ensure that the artifacts in this pit are preserved, they are being carefully excavated under controlled conditions.

Now for a close-up look at the figures!

All the figures were coloured when first constructed. The colour disintegrates rather quickly once the figures are unearthed.

This is my favourite - the kneeling archer. This particular figure is the only whole figure excavated so far, which needs no restoration.

Look at the detail! Hair and plaits were hand-sculpted.

High ranking officer. Every warrior's face is hand-sculpted and looks different.

 
This is a standing archer. Farmers called out to war from the fields had no standard uniforms, they wore their own clothes.

高车 （gaoche, high chariot)

This is a bronze chariot to be used by the emperor for inspection tours.
It was cast in perfect 1:2 proportion.

Base of canopy of High Chariot. The canopy had a very intricate system of locks and levers that allowed it to be tilted in different directions to provide maximum shade.

安车 （anche, Comfortable chariot)

All that QinShiHuang did - it was an amazing feat.
He did all this as part of his search for eternal life, but could not find it in the end.

Jesus tells us that He can give us eternal life.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
I am that bread of life."
[John 6:47-48]