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The TERRA COTTA WARRIORS of Xi’an, China. Xi’an, China.
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Xi’an, China • Xi’an, China, is one of the Four Great Capitals of Ancient China, and has been inhabited for more than 3,100 years, during some of China’s most important dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties. It was particularly important because it was located at the eastern end of the famous Silk Road. Today it is an important cultural, industrial, and educational center and the place where China’s space exploration center is located.
The Silk Road GPS • SS7E9 The student will explain how voluntary trade benefits buyers and sellers in Southern and Eastern Asia. • a. Explain how specialization encourages trade between countries. • b. Compare and contrast different types of trade barriers, such as tariffs, quotas, and embargos, as well as those created by geography. • SS7E10d. Describe the role of entrepreneurship.
The Ancient Silk Road The Silk Road was an extensive interconnected network of trade routes (often just dirt paths) across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe. The journey was a long and dangerous one. On the map above, can you identify the country formerly known as Persia?
What was it??? • It was an important transmission line for cultural and technological ideas that linked traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, missionaries, soldiers, nomads, and city dwellers from China to the Mediterranean. • Some people think it was just a route for trading goods, but it also carried people, diseases, and ideas, as well as goods. • No one travelled the whole distance; rather, merchants transported goods over a certain area, then relayed those good to another carrier.
The “Must Haves” The northern Silk Road brought to China many goods such as dates, saffron powder, and pistachio nuts from Persia; frankincense, aloes and myrrh from Somalia; sandalwood from India; glass bottles from Egypt; and other expensive and desirable goods from other parts of the world. In exchange, the caravans transported from China bolts of silk brocade, lacquer ware and porcelain.
Lacquerware Brocade textile
Technology Changes the Way Business in Done – Then as Now! • Although people often think of the Silk Road as a continuous path or journey, very few travelers completed the route from end to end. For the most part, goods were transported by a series of agents on varying routes, and trade of the various items took place in the bustling markets of the oasis towns. • By the late fifteenth century, trade on the Silk Road declined as sea trade increased.
Pop Quiz! • What made Xi’an an important location several thousand years ago? • What was the former name of Iran? • What was the Silk Road? • Why was the Silk Road important? • Why might you refer to these traders as early entrepreneurs? • Do you think that transporting goods via the Silk Road was cheap or expensive? Why? Hypothesize the types of risks you might encounter. • What technological changes brought an end to the importance of the Silk Road? What advantages would sea travel have over the Silk Road?
Now… How this relates to the Warriors of Xi’an • Vocabulary to understand: terracotta necropolis dynasty conscription
Imagine yourself to be a simple Chinese peasant farmer digging a well on the out- skirts of the city of Xi’an. It is 1974. You have dug down about 20 feet into the hard, dry soil, but no water. • After many days of no luck, your shovel begins to retrieve strange and unique objects – a fine copper spear, parts of a clay face, a piece of bronze, a clay horse’s hoof. You contact the government, as this is their communally-owned land, and they send out a team of archaeologists. • Suddenly, you are a star! You have discovered what many refer to as the Eighth Wonder of the World: The Terracotta Warriors, dating back to 210 BC !
What is Terracotta? • Terracotta is a type of ceramic. Its name derives from the Italian term meaning "baked earth.” Items made of terracotta have natural, earthy color - like the red clay flower pots you probably have at home. • Terracotta is widely used for sculpture and pottery, as well in the production of tiles, bricks and shingles. Terracotta is a very old material, it has been used by humankind for thousands of years.
Shi Huangdi – First Qin Emperor • From the year 221 B.C. until 1912, the Chinese Empire was ruled by dozens of ruling families or dynasties.Emperor Shi Huangdi was the first of these dynastic emperors of the Qin dynasty. The word Qin is pronounced “chin.” The name China came from this ruler’s name. • Since his birth in 259 B.C., China's First Emperor was destined to become one of the most important political leaders ever to rule the country.
Qin Shi Huangdi Creates China • Qin Shi Huangdi was 13 years old when he went out with troops to conquer a neighboring province. Twenty-five years later, he was the Emperor of China. He took six independent warring regions and united them into one huge country named China. He then created his title which means “first great emperor of China,” hoping his family would rule for eternity. • He was actually a cruel dictator and taxed his subjects heavily to finance his projects. The Emperor had an imperial compound that spread 70 miles. He had many palaces built where he would stay. These had secret passages, so no one would know his whereabouts at any one time. He continually feared for his life, so he never slept in the same place two consecutive nights.
Accomplishments – Pros & Cons • He published a centralized set of rules for his kingdom and a system of forced labor for criminals; • Established a system of weights and measures and standardized coinage of money; • Built roads, canals, bridges, and irrigation systems to protect against droughts and floods; • Joined together walls of various kingdoms to create the beginning of the Great Wall; • Built replica palaces of all defeated rulers; • Burned all the books in the kingdom & buried scholars who disagreed with him alive! (Then they were really DEEP THINKERS!_)
Solving the Mystery : Who dunnit?And why? • He spent years searching for the secret to immortal-ity, a fountain of youth. When he did not find that, he did the next best thing. • Beginning at age 13, and for the next 38 years, he conscripted over 700,000 workers to build an enormous mausoleum with life-size terra cotta warriors to protect him and enforce his rule throughout eternity.
Pop Quiz! • How and when were the Terra Cotta Warriors discovered? What was their purpose? • About how many years old are they? • What is a conscripted worker? • List five accomplishments of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. • Would you describe the emperor as an autocratic or laissez faire ruler? Why? • Would you describe him as a benevolent dictator? Explain.
Following the discovery of the Warriors in 1974,this vault, Pit #1, opened to visitors in 1979. The base is about 20 feet below ground. About 6,000 terracotta figures of soldiers and horses face east in a rectangular array, each one armed with a long spear, dagger or halberd. Infantrymen are followed by armored soldiers, then 38 horse-driven chariots.
This picture shows the width, but only 10% of the length of the first pit of soldiers.
The Necropolis • The four pits associated with the dig are about 20 feet deep. The outside walls of the necropolis (tomb complex) are placed so as to protect the tomb from the east, where all the conquered states lay. • They are solidly built with rammed earth walls and ground layers as hard as concrete. Pit one stretches about a sixth of a mile in length and contains the main army of about 8,000 figures. Pit One has 11 corridors, paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. • This design was also used for the tombs of noblemen and would have resembled palace hallways. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil making them, when built about 6 to 9 feet above ground level. • Pit two has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots, and is thought to represent a military guard. • Pit three is the command post, with high ranking officers and two grand war chariots. Pit four is empty, seemingly left unfinished by its builders.
Infantry Cavalry
The figures vary in height (6ft–6ft 5in), according to their role, the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.
Two bronze sculptures of horses and chariots were found. Weighing well over a ton, these are the largest bronze sculptures in the world. The carriages have about 3,400 working parts. There are 1,720 pieces of golden and silver ornaments on the carriage.
Weaponry • Over 10,000 bronze weapons have been excavated so far from the site. These include swords, daggers, spears, halberds, axes, crossbows and arrowheads. • The weapons reveal the abilities of the Qin. The weapons were cast and modeled to a standard shape, then filed, chiseled, drilled and polished to have sharp, shiny blade. • The Qin even had different, carefully researched formulas for alloys. (metal mixtures). Bronze arrowheads contained more lead, as it provided greater killing power. Most of the original weapons were
The Crafting Process • The terracotta figures were manufactured both in workshops both by government laborers and local craftsmen. The head, arms, legs and torsos were created separately and then assembled. Studies show that eight face molds were most likely used, and then clay was added to provide individual facial features. Once assembled, intricate features such as facial expressions were added. • It is believed that their legs were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time - an assembly line production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired, as opposed to crafting and firing one solid piece of terracotta. • In those days, each workshop was required to inscribe its name on items produced to ensure quality control. This has aided modern historians in verifying that workshops that once made tiles and other mundane items also worked on the Terracotta Army. Upon completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits in precise military formation according to rank and duty.
Pit with Officers identifiable by armor and arrangement of hair queue
Art: An Expression of a Culture’s Values and Ideas • The terracotta figures are life-like and life-sized. They vary in height, uniform and hairstyle in accordance with rank. The colored lacquer finish, individual facial features, and actual weapons and armor from battle used in manufacturing these figures created a realistic appearance. • Although the original weapons were stolen shortly after the creation of the army and the coloring on the figures has faded greatly, their existence serves as a testament to the amount of labor and skill involved in their construction. It also reveals the power the First Emperor possessed, enabling him to command such a monumental undertaking as this. And just think, he reigned for only a few short years
It is believed that the Warriors were initially highly colored.
Necropolis Complex Qin Shi Huangdi’s necropolis complex was constructed to serve as an imperial compound or palace. It comprises several offices, halls and other structures and is surrounded by a wall with gateway entrances. The remains of the craftsmen working in the tomb have also been found within its confines, and it is believed they were sealed inside alive to prevent them from revealing information about the tombs. (Nice guy, huh?)
Destruction and Decay • There is evidence of a large fire that burned the wooden structures once housing the Terracotta Army. The fire resulted from a raid on the tomb by General Xiang Yu, who succeeded Shi Huangdi less than five years after his death. • According to historian Sima Qian, General Xiang’s army looted the tomb and set fire to the necropolis, starting a blaze that allegedly burned for three months. Because of this, few weapons remained, and only one statue survived completely intact – that of a kneeling warrior. • Despite the fire, however, much of the remains of the Terracotta Army still survive in various stages of preservation, surrounded by remnants of the burnt wooden structures.
After 2,000 Years, Twentieth Century Environmental Problems Threaten Warriors • In 1999, it was reported that the warriors were suffering from "nine different kinds of mold," caused by raised temperatures and humidity in the building which houses the soldiers, and by the breath of tourists. In addition, the South China Morning Post reported that the figures have become oxidized grey from being exposed to the air, which may cause arms to fall off, and noses and hairstyles to disappear. However, officials have dismissed these claims. • It had also been reported reported that Chinese scientists found soot on the surface of the statue, concluding that the pollution introduced from coal burning plants was responsible for the decaying of the terracotta statues. • The Sichuan earthquake caused some slight damage, such as cracking and displacement, to several soldiers, but overall minimal damage. Recently, officials have begun to bury sections of the pits, to protect and preserve the figures.
A Little Extra Trivia • According to the historian Sima Qian(145 BC-90 BC) construction of this mausoleum involved 700,000 workers! Qin Shi Huangdi was thirteen when construction began. The emperor died during his travels around the kingdom, less than twenty years into his reign. • The First Emperor was buried with palaces, scenic towers, officials, valuable utensils and 'wonderful objects,' according to the historical record. • The tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi is near an earthen pyramid 76 meters tall and nearly 350 square meters. The tomb remains unopened, in the hope that it will remain intact. Only a portion of the site is presently excavated.
Create Your Own Terracotta This activity is taken from the book titled Marco Polo for Kids by Janis Herbert. • What you need: • Oven • 1 1/4. cups boiling water, Pot • 1 cup salt ,Spoon • 2 cups flour, Bowl • Cutting board, Red and orange food coloring • 4 T. paprika, Toothpicks, Cheese grater, Cookie sheet • 1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Boil the water in the pot, then stir in the salt. Place the flour in the bowl. Pour the salt water into the flour and mix with the spoon. Divide into four pieces. • 2. Place one piece on the cutting board and drip 8 drops of yellow and 4 drops of red food coloring onto it. Sprinkle with 1-T. paprika. Knead until the color is distributed, then shape the clay into soldiers, horses, or evil emperors! (Some tips: Roll pieces of clay into balls to make head and eyes. Roll out clay “worms” for legs and arms. You can use toothpicks to carve details. Push a piece of clay through a cheese grater to make hair.) • 3. Repeat with other pieces. Place the finished pieces on the cookie sheet, put them in the oven, and bake for 2 hours, until dry.
