With the continuous excavation of tombs in China in recent years, we can understand the culture, economy and customs of that era through information such as tomb specifications and funerary products. Ancient people attached great importance to tombs, even exceeding the requirements for residence before they were born.
To verify a person's status and identity at that time, it is often possible to understand through the tomb.
The more powerful a person is, the larger the size of the tomb.
Just like Qin Shi Huang, it is estimated that it is difficult to find comparable burial specifications in tombs across the country.
We were shocked by the presence of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, but this is only the tip of the iceberg in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. The terracotta warriors are different in shape and lifelike, and some people have suspected that the terracotta warriors were burned by real people, but later experts and scholars gave the answer.
The size of the imperial tomb
Each emperor attached great importance to his own posthumous affairs, and many of them would begin to build their own tombs after they ascended the throne. After unifying China, Qin Shi Huang also began to build his own mausoleum.
The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is located in the northern foothills of Lishan Mountain in the Lintong District of present-day Xi'an City, and according to historical records,
The mausoleum began to be built in the first year of the Qin Dynasty and lasted 39 years.
It is the first large-scale imperial mausoleum in the history of our country.
Ancient people choose the location of the mausoleum are very particular about the feng shui pattern, Lishan is a branch of the Qinling Mountains, the mountains and ravines form a north-south valley, belongs to the south of the mountain, facing the north of the good pattern of water, the imperial tomb is built on the river perennial erosion and the formation of flood fans.
The Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin was designed and built by The Minister Li Si,
At that time, nearly 800,000 workers were sent to build,
It's a huge one. At that time, there was no mechanization, all were handmade, and looking back at the specifications of this mausoleum, you can imagine how powerful the wisdom and strength of the ancients were.
The greatest wish of ancient emperors to build mausoleums was to enjoy them after death as they did when they were alive. therefore
The overall layout of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin is very similar to the Imperial Palace of the Qin Dynasty.
The mausoleum is divided into two parts, the mausoleum and the burial area, covering an area of about 8 square kilometers, equivalent to 800 hectares.
The underground palace is the core location of the mausoleum,
The others are the inner city, the outer city and the places outside the outer city.
The mausoleum has more than 600 funerary tombs and funerary pits, of which the Terracotta Warriors are one of them. As can be seen from the location of the terracotta warriors,
The entire mausoleum is seated east to west in a layout.
Ancient emperors were more inclined to sit in the feng shui pattern of facing north and south, but Qin Shi Huang was somewhat special.
Later, after scholars examined it, the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang used the sitting direction from east to west to pay tribute to the ancestors, because the ancestors of the pre-Qin dynasty were active in the eastern region.
There are many funerary pits in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, but the most breathtaking one should be the Terracotta Warriors. He can be called a large "underground military museum", which shows the grandeur of the Qin Dynasty.
Terracotta excavation process
In 1974, a farmer in Shaanxi Drilled a well and let mankind discover this breathtaking wonder of the world. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses are located one kilometer outside the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and belong to a large-scale funerary pit.
With the deepening of excavation, scholars found that a total of three pits of terracotta warriors have been excavated, of which the first pit has the largest area, about 14,000 square meters, and there are earthen tombs and tunnels in the pits, and various types of terracotta warriors are arranged in it.
At present, more than 8,000 terracotta warriors and horses have been excavated, and there are more than 40,000 weapons such as chariots, horses, bronze swords and hook spears. From these, we can see the strong momentum of the Qin Dynasty's national strength at that time.
The unearthed terracotta warriors resemble an imposing army, including samurai figurines, kneeling figurines, car warrior figurines, standing archery figurines, cavalry figurines and so on. They faced east and guarded their emperor.
The average height of each terracotta warrior is about one meter and eight meters, which is very similar to the height of a real person. What is even more interesting is that in all the terracotta warriors excavated, the same faces cannot be found. This discovery also shocked scholars.
Not only are the terracotta warriors like real people, but even chariots and horses are the size of reality. They stood in the pit, as if waiting for the emperor's review, and they were ready to charge.
The attire of the Terracotta Warriors was of great value to the study of the Qin Dynasty's clothing, and most of them had their hair tied in buns, wearing short armor and chest and abdomen armor, and leggings wrapped around their feet. But there are many differences, mainly depending on their position in the military.
For example, the general figurine wears a double-tailed long crown, wears a battle robe and fish scale armor, and holds a sword. Military attachés wear armor or chest and abdomen armor for a command. There are also knights wearing narrow-sleeved short robes and waist-length armor, standing next to horses, and so on.
Their faces were square or round, their lips were closed, and they looked ahead, and it could be inferred that they were around thirty years old, and some were slightly older. Each face is different, but it can be seen that this is a veteran who has been in the battlefield for a long time.
These different faces also happen to be the value of the terracotta army, and the most peculiar thing is that the terracotta warriors of different ages show different feelings.
For example, a slightly younger person, his face will have a shallow smile, giving people a feeling of youth and vitality. Others have slender faces, bowed heads and contemplative forms, and at first glance they know that they are a strategist.
These terracotta warriors, which are shaped like real people, and even have expressions like real people, are really breathtaking, and at the same time, people wonder, can the craftsmanship and technology of that era make such exquisite works?
The doubts of the Terracotta Warriors
The Terracotta Warriors and Horses show the military splendor of the Qin Shi Huang period and are also called world wonders. In particular, their posture and expression cannot be found to be the same, which makes people doubt the production process of the Terracotta Army.
Some people suspect that the terracotta warriors were made of real people, so the same faces cannot be found. Regarding this statement, some basis has also been put forward. That is to say, in the pre-Qin period, there was a way of living people being buried, and Qin Shi Huang, as a generation of great emperors, was also extremely likely to be buried with living people.
Burning the living into terracotta warriors to accompany him to the funeral can further highlight his status and identity. But such a huge terracotta army specification, if it is made of living people, it is simply a waste of human life.
In order to verify whether the terracotta warriors were burned by real people, experts found the answer from a cracked terracotta warrior, and also solved everyone's questions.
Experts found from the cracked terracotta warrior that its interior was hollow. Later, they studied the fragments of the Terracotta Warriors and found that they were all made of clay.
The production process is made of clay to form a large, the head, body, hands and feet are made in sections and then assembled together, and finally carefully carved with fine mud, and finally painted, which became the terracotta warriors we see today.
As for why the faces are different, perhaps they are made in the form of real people when carving, and such a huge number is really a test of the craftsmanship of the clay master.
The most rare thing is that each terracotta warrior is very realistic in terms of hair ornaments and clothing, and then subtle expressions, without exaggeration.
The Terracotta Army is, from the perspective of its scale, production process and historical research value, it is listed as a world miracle, so some people in the world say that "if you don't look at the Terracotta Warriors, it is equivalent to not having been to Xi'an".