"Tomb of Qin Shihuang ...1000 warriors"

In the 3rd century BC, China was split into five independent and warring states. In the year 246 BC, Ying Zheng aged thirteen years old, ascended to the throne of the state of Qin and assumed the title ’Shi Huang’ or first Emperor. One by one the Qin defeated the other states until, in 222 BC, the last one fell and Emperor Qin Shi Huang united the country for the first time. He standardized the currency and the script that they used for writing, and built the Great Wall of China.

Almost as soon as he became Emperor, work started on his final resting place and once he had defeated the other states the work continued at an unprecedented rate until his death in 210 BC In 1974 a group of peasants digging a well, uncovered what was to become the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century when they unearthed a life sized Terracotta Warrior. Excavation of the of the underground tomb revealed thousands of the warriors and their horses in battle formation, a whole army that would follow the emperor into immortality.

To date nearly eight thousand figures have been uncovered in three underground halls. Infantry men, archers, crossbow men, cavalry, and chariots with their horses. All standing ready in battle formation. Approximately five and a half to six feet tall they each have individual faces and expressions. Some are standing and others kneel with swords drawn as if to withstand an attack. Some are in armour but most wear tunics belted at the waist, leggings and square toed shoes. The weapons they carry are real and the horses bridles are made out of bronze.

Originally the figures were painted in bright colours however, over the two thousand years they have silently stood guard, the colour has faded and worn off. Six thousand of them were found in the first pit which measured seven hundred and fifty feet by two hundred feet and is sixteen feet deep, these were infantry men, archers and chariots.In a second pit were hundreds more cavalry, chariots and archers while the third pit had only sixty eight figures which depicted the commanders and their staff.

The tomb of Qin Shihuang is covered by a huge mound of earth forty metres high and at the bottom about five hundred and fifty metres around. No one knows where the entrance is, so to date, it has not been excavated. The historical records of the first century BC state that the tomb contains palaces and pavilions filled with rare gems and other treasures, and is equipped with crossbows to shoot automatically any intruders! The ceiling was inlaid with pearls to simulate the sun, stars and the moon, the floors and walls are said to be lined with bronze to keep out water and mercury was pumped in to give the image of flowing rivers.

It is interesting to know that the weapons found were still sharp due to the surface treatments that the Chinese had perfected even at that early date. The arrow heads were deadly in another way as they were made with a high percentage of lead, if the initial wound did not kill the intended target, lead poisoning would do the job later To this date more than ten thousand pieces have been found sorted and recorded. At the end of the building work, the people toiling on the project, a considerable number, were all forced to remain in the underground palace, buried alive so that none of the secrets could be revealed.

Just after lunch we hired a mini bus to take us to the tomb and, as we had found a couple of other people who were heading out there as well, we were able to keep the price down to just Y20 (£2.00) each for a return trip, although it took a considerable amount of haggling to achieve. The site was thirty kilometres to the East of Xi’an so we sat back and enjoyed the views of the surrounding countryside. When we arrived the driver dropped us at the end of a road lined with stalls selling everything from food to ’tacky’ Terracotta figures. It was not at all obvious which way to go and we had to ask a few times. Once we arrived at the building which housed the tombs we paid the admission fee of Y30 (£3.00) and went inside. The building has a huge domed ceiling over the site to protect the figures from the elements of the 20th century, (I don’t think they could with-stand acid rain somehow!).

Inside, (and I keep saying this...) was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen!There was thousands of life size warriors standing to attention in rows, separated by huge earth walls which would have supported the ceiling, which was once the ground to people up above. It was a fairly silent place, and there were not too many people there at all, so getting the best view of the warriors was not a problem.

Only one thing wrong, we were not permitted to take any photographs of the figures to prevent damage by the flash lights, so although it thoroughly annoyed me at the time, it was on also good to see that the Chinese are taking care of the precious treasure that they have. It was possible to see the restorers at work as they still have many figures to dig out of this covered pit, I is estimated that the entire excavation will continue for many decades to come. I have to say that this was one of the best days of my life, and even if the rest of the journey had turned out to be a total waste of time, just to have seen and experienced what I have today, it will all have been worth while. I wonder if the main tomb of Qin Shihuang will be excavated in my life time?

Read Neils complete adventure here.