#the terracotta warrior

[thepastisalreadywritten]

This is one of the only terracotta warriors that was found almost completely intact.

Note the detail on the bottom of his shoe, showing that grip and traction were considered in footwear even 2,200 years ago.

Each life-sized clay warrior was crafted to be completely unique and there are no two terracotta warriors-among the 8,000 total—that are exactly the same.

Shortly after the completion of the tomb in 210-209 BC, it was looted for weapons and burned, causing the roof to collapse, crushing the terracotta warriors.

All the other terracotta warriors that are currently on display were painstakingly restored.

What's even more remarkable is that the terracotta warriors were originally painted in bright colors by skilled artisans.

Unfortunately, when they were exposed to air and sunlight during the excavation in the 1970s, the colors began to curl up almost immediately and disappeared within minutes.

These terracotta warriors were put in place to guard the tomb of the first emperor of unified China — Qin Shi Huang (18 February 259 BC – 12 July 210 BC).

To this day, the tomb has yet to be opened.

According to ancient historians, the tomb contains an entire kingdom and palace in which the ceilings are decorated with pearls to mimic the night sky.

The tomb is also said to contain extremely rare artifacts and has been rigged with crossbows to shoot anyone trying to break in.

To keep its location a secret, the workers were entombed with the emperor.

As described by Han dynasty historian Sima Qian (145-90 BCE) in the Records of the Grand Historian, he mentioned that inside the tomb, "mercury was used to fashion the hundred rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, and the seas in such a way that they flowed."

Modern tests have indicated extremely high levels of mercury in the surrounding soil.

[dangermousie]

In support of Hot General Summer (tm)

I realized that my recent poll not only lacked visual support but also left out a lot of my fave cdrama generals. So, in support of my Hot General Summer agenda:

Xiao Qi, Rebel Princess

Wei Wu Ji, Sound of the Desert

Ling Buyi, Love Like the Galaxy

Zhousheng Chen, One and Only

Zhao Yun, God of War Zhao Yun

Sima Yi, Secret of Three Kingdoms

Han De Rang, The Legend of Xiao Chuo

Zhan Beiye, Legend of Fuyao

Gao Chang Gong, Lan Ling Wang

Xiang Yu, Story of Han Dynasty

Cao Pi, The Advisors’ Alliance

Meng Tiang Fang, Ancient Terracotta War Situation

Chu Bei Jie, General and I

Zhu Zan, Jin Jiu Ling

Wolfie, The Wolf

Xiang Yu, Legend of Chu and Han

Cheng Yi, The Promise of Chang’an

Liu Xiu, Singing All Along

Huo Xin, Painted Skin the Resurrection

Meng Qi You, Glamorous Imperial Concubine

Yang Bros, The Young Warriors

Weng Gui, Princess Jieyou

Xiao Ping Zhang, Nirvana in Fire 2

Pei Zhao, Maiden Holmes

Ji Ye, Novoland Eagle Flag

Zhu Qi Zhen, Imperial Doctress (it’s a reach he’s an emperor. But he leads his force in battle and I wanted Wallace Huo there so...)

Yuan Ling, Lost Love in Times

Yi Xiao Chuan, The Myth

Gu Tingye, The Story of Ming Lan

Lu Bu, Three Kingdoms 2010

Xu Lingyi, The Sword and the Brocade

Yue Fei, Patriot Yue Fei

Xiang Yu, The Myth

Ping Zhang, Nirvana in Fire 2

Guo Jing, Legend of Condor Heroes 2008

Xiang Yu, The Legend of Qin

[fable-stims]

Terracotta army stimboard for me!

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[midautumngame]

Had the joy of commissioning @peevishpants for fanart and they created this lovely scene of Robin sharing a boba power-up with Terracotta Warrior.

Weiwei Xu is a Chinese-Canadian illustrator and creature of the night. They work in video games and animation as a backgrounds/concept artist. You can find more of their beautiful work here!

[monstrouswomen]

taking an art history class & we read about a Chinese emperor and his tomb, which was an artistic marvel in and of itself but I just keep getting stuck on this almost throwaway line about the dozen or so women who went with his body into his tomb and never came back out

did they go willingly? did the emperor choose them before he died? did they go of their own volition out of loyalty or love for the emperor? were any of them weeping? did they go with pride, or with terror, or with rage?

what did they talk about in that tomb while they waited to die?

and why is it always described as his tomb and not also theirs? he was brought there after he died. they went into that place alive.

I’m just stuck on this image of so many women sitting in the dark with the corpse of their emperor, maybe holding hands, maybe talking, or not, maybe sound was too much to bear — couldn’t talk without screaming, maybe — a dark, silent, earthen tomb full of breathing women who were about to become like the dead man they’d followed into the ground

[peevishpants]

take a fuckin sip babes...!

Terracotta Warrior and Robin from @midautumngame! When they reached out for an illustration I lost my mind bc I've been hyped for this game since their kickstarter!! Early access is out today May 9th, so juice it on Steam! :D

[ifindus]

⚔️

⚔️ a nation in a historical uniform

Wonderful opportunity to do China in a uniform I saw at the archaeological museum yesterday! Too bad I don’t have colours, but I might do another version when I get home. They had a travelling exhibition of the terracotta statues - it was incredible seeing them irl ✨

[youraveragecatastrophe]

I'll now take a moment of silence to think about all that To steal or not to steal has done for Carulia.

[its-not-a-pen]

celebrating my pen nibs miraculous recovery with a drawing of a guy who also survived a horrific injury

[indigo-a-creeping]

[nocturna7]

This is one of the only terracotta warriors that was found almost completely intact. Note the detail on the bottom of his shoe, showing that grip and traction were considered in footwear even 2,200 years ago.

Each life-size clay warrior was crafted to be completely unique and there are no two terracotta warriors-among the 8,000 total-that are exactly the same.

Shortly after the completion of the tomb in 210-209 BC, it was looted for weapons and burned, causing the roof to collapse, crushing the terracotta warriors. All the other terracotta warriors that are currently on display were painstakingly restored. What's even more remarkable is that the terracotta warriors were originally painted in bright colors by skilled artisans.

Unfortunately, when they were exposed to air and sunlight during the excavation in the 1970s, the colors began to curl up almost immediately and disappeared within minutes.

These terracotta warriors were put in place to guard the tomb of the first emperor of unified China--Qin Shi Huang. To this day, the tomb has yet to be opened. According to ancient historians, the tomb contains an entire kingdom and palace in which the ceilings are decorated with pearls to mimic the night sky. The tomb is also said to contain extremely rare artifacts and has been rigged with crossbows to shoot anyone trying to break in. To keep its location a secret, the workers were entombed with the emperor.

The Han dynasty historian, Sima Qian, also mentioned that inside the tomb, "mercury was used to fashion the hundred rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, and the seas in such a way that they flowed." Modern tests have indicated extremely high levels of mercury in the surrounding soil.

#terracotta #warriors #unique #tomb #excavation #emperor #China #QinShiHuang #kingdom #handynasty #ancient #history #historical #historians

[aiiaiiiyo]

[newspecies]

good god. not his sneaker collection

[aventurasdeunatortuga]

Xi’an

It’s already time for my last post from China for this trip.

I’ve been in Xi’an the last few days, in the province of Shaanxi in central China. Xi’an is an enormous city, nowhere near the size of Beijing or Shanghai but definitely a huge city. It is very very hot and dry here. For whatever reason the UV rays are also extremely intense here, every day the weather app has had a warning for extreme UV rays. It really feels like the sun is like a laser whenever you stand directly in it. Definitely missing the coolness of Lijiang now.

Xi’an is hot, fast paced, and very crowded. Everyone is constantly on the move and there are always way more people or vehicles than you ever would have thought possible in any given space. Even to cross the street you had to go into an enormous system of underground tunnels to avoid the traffic in the road, because the traffic never stops.

I think I’ve really been coming to grips with the fact that lack of personal space is a cultural thing here. People have no qualms about pushing, shoving, cutting in line, elbowing, etc. It’s nothing personal, it’s just how things are done here. You really have to stand firm and be assertive when you move or you’re never gonna get anywhere.

The hotel I’m at is a nice oasis from all of this. It’s very serene and my room has Japanese style tatami mats with all the furniture directly on the floor and a Japanese smart toilet which is super fancy. I spent Monday evening and most of Tuesday in my room because traveling at the end of a long trip is exhausting, especially in the heat, and I’ve still got about a week to go. The staff at my hotel is really nice and they even helped me order delivery food Monday night because I wasn’t up to going out to look for something to eat.

On Tuesday evening I ventured out a bit in the evening after it had cooled off. I’ve noticed in general in China things tend to stay open pretty late and the liveliest time of day is between 7pm-11pm, the streets will be very busy and lots will be going on. Even families and young kids will be out and about. I walked by a giant shopping mall and the bell tower and drum tower and ended up on the street referred to here as “Muslim Street”. Xi’an was for a long time a stopover on the Silk Road and there is a large population of Chinese Muslims in Xi’an which in turn has influenced a lot of their typical dishes. There is a large concentration of restaurants run by Chinese Muslims on this street and it has become a very popular walking street and a place for street food. I knew about this street but didn’t realize I had stumbled upon it on Tuesday and was blown away by the sheer size of the crowds there. Almost equivalent to the density of the crowds in Fenghuang but the street itself was enormous and yet still very crowded. I went in a few shops and noticed that every time I went in a shop I was surreptitiously followed the entire time by an employee who was pretending not to be following me around. This happened several times in several different shops so I don’t know if it was because they thought I was stealing or because as the only foreigner they thought I wouldn’t understand what to do and would have questions but it was a weird experience.

I ate a gigantic spiral cut potato on a stick and pomegranate juice and then hid in the dairy aisle of the 7/11 to escape the heat and humidity.

On Wednesday I geared up to go see the Terracotta Warriors. These were made for the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, upon his death in 209 BCE. He believed that if he constructed terracotta versions of his army and horses to keep in his mausoleum he could bring them with him to protect him after death. They were only recently uncovered in the 70s and are still in the process of being excavated because there are so many thousands of them.

I took a shuttle bus from Xi’an about 86 kilometers outside the city to the archeological site. The site sells 3,000 tickets per hour, so you can imagine how crowded it gets. The site is organized into 3 areas called pits. Pit 1 is the largest area. The crowd there was one of the largest I have ever experienced. I’ve only been afraid of being trampled once before, at a music festival in Guanajuato, Mexico. This crowd felt similar to that. I couldn’t control where my body was going, the crowd just kind of pushed me wherever I ended up going. It was all I could do to stay on my feet, let alone see anything. I ended up going out the emergency exit in a panic and then sat on the curb for about 40 minutes to recover. Then I pulled myself together and went to the smaller pits to try and see some things. It did somehow get slightly less crowded throughout the day, but it was still very packed. I managed to see all three pits and even went back to the first one again because I really did want to see everything.

It was very complicated to get back to Xi’an afterwards and so hot. I couldn’t figure out where the shuttle bus was so I had to take public transportation which took about 2.5 hours total to get back to town. Long story short, I was glad to see the terracotta warriors but my goodness was it exhausting.

I found a Starbucks inside a giant mall back in Xi’an to try and recuperate once I got back to town before walking back to my hotel. One thing I love about Asia is the malls. They are generally enormous and have just about everything you can possibly think of, like a small city, but its all air conditioned. I was at the mall for a while and was going to look for something to eat but I was so exhausted and didn’t have the brainpower to figure out how to look for somewhere to eat and translate the menu and order in Chinese; so I went to the McDonald’s purely because they have computerized ordering systems in English where you just click on what you want and scan a QR code to pay and you don’t have to talk to anyone.

Thursday was my last full day in China. I am definitely noticing how exhausted I am. I stayed in bed for most of the morning and ventured out briefly to visit a park at Wild Goose Pagoda and the Xi’an Museum. It ended up being way too hot and crowded and the museum itself was kind of underwhelming, I’m not much of a museum person to begin with and since I couldn’t read any of the signs and don’t know much about the local history it didn’t mean much to me although I’m sure if I knew more it would be really interesting.

I sat on the ground in the museum lobby for 45 minutes to recover from the heat and crowds and went back to my hotel until the evening. I wanted to end my time in China on a positive note despite how cranky I’ve been lately, I had to tried to book a walking tour but couldn’t because I was only one person and there weren’t any other foreigners signing up for tours. I eventually found a place that was offering dinner and a show at a hotel nearby and signed up for it just to get out a bit.

I didn’t understand anything that was going on in the show but it was showing the life of a famous Empress of the Tang Dynasty that was based in Xi’an and had a lot of traditional dancing and music. Xi’an is well known for its dumplings and I got to try a sampler of a dozen different kinds of dumplings which were really good. I ended up being seated next to the only other foreigner, a guy named Stefano from Italy who had just arrived in China that day. He was equally as confused about everything as I was but it was nice to have someone to talk to. He said that apparently this dinner show thing used to only offer shows for foreigners, then they opened it up for Chinese residents as well and it was about 40% foreigners and 60% Chinese people. Post-covid it is now less than 1% foreigners who attend tourist geared things.

Afterwards since it was cooler out I went and saw the old city wall and walked around in the park for a while, then I went back to Muslim street and got some 肉加缪 (roujiamou) a lamb based Chinese version of a hamburger that is a famous street food in Xi’an. I walked back to my hotel and made it just before a huge lightning storm that caused a power outage. It was literally like lightning multiple times a minute for over an hour, it was wild. I ate my food in the dark and reflected on this wild trip.

China has been fascinating. Traveling China mostly alone post-covid has been another level of travel. It has been at once very humbling and very empowering. While it was very difficult to figure out how things worked and to communicate, China is incredibly safe, well organized, and people are incredibly kind. I never once felt in danger during this trip which says a lot. It’s been a real shock feeling like such an outsider all the time for the last month. I have such a deep newfound respect for anyone who immigrates somewhere completely different from their home country, without knowing anyone and without knowing the language or culture. Being on vacation here has been hard enough as an outsider even with all the privilege I have as a white English speaking American.

Going several days at a time not talking to anyone while simultaneously being constantly surrounded by crowds and being stared and pointed at everywhere I go has been such a strange experience, but very eye opening. I’m glad to have had this experience and even though this entire trip was traveling on “hard mode” I feel sad to be leaving right when I feel like I’m starting to figure things out. China has been unlike anywhere else I’ve been before and despite being here a month I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’ll definitely be back.

I’m doing a quick 2.5 day stop in Seoul before heading home, will update again before leaving.

Until then,

[midautumngame]

All of the wonderful chibi art pieces our character artist Mai Pham created for our Kickstarter way back. Thank you for all the support getting us this far!

[siryl]

"Forgotten Empire" by Giuseppe Renna.