Approximately 7,000 clay soldiers guard the burial site of Qin Shi Huangdi, China's first emperor. Learn more about the emperor's mysterious army in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.
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welcome to stuff you missed in history class from has two weeks to come:
hello allowed him to the bike. Editor, candid joint I've, always by writer Mcgrath again. It's still a couple of weeks ago, one of our colleagues Christian Conquer, got to go see the Terek Hata Army exhibition at the highest.
Of art and sure this fantastic article about it and we couldn't resist sharing it with everyone. Today is really exciting:
variable or take a bully soldiers in and bring him round there. The british Museum for awhile and we're lucky enough to be in Atlanta, and they brought him here to the high it's really cool stuff.
About this. Erika army is actually just discovered in the seventies, and it all has to do with this emperor who you unified China. Actually he was a big consider, basically, the first ever
China and his name is Jean. She won t and if we go
I too, about the sixth century BC, China. At that time,
China wasn't a unified country or
kingdom at all? It was
accurate into about six or seven different kingdoms and sell chain was the first one who really brought all of these different provinces and kingdom.
Together, and he did it in a very shrewd way. First of all, he used conscription together an army together. So essentially he forced man to join
army and thine by using his army to overpower different nations. He was able to get people under his thumb and he kept them under his son by unifying system of currency that everyone could years and, furthermore, he systematic
things like weights and measures and written language. So he really got people to unify not only through their submission to hand that, through the way that they exchanged goods and traded and the way that they record at their lives
So you can see a lot of benefits from this, although I guess it wasn't all selfless, as he did this old. So basically bill
power. Obviously you have like six different kingdoms with six different currencies is difficult to build bridges and bring things together. That way, and it's funny to me sort of tapped himself for that mission like oh, I guess I'll unify China today, and so he did, but at work,
and not only that, but he started building canals and roads and he was the first one to really institute the first portion of the great wall of China to protect his kingdom from invaders from the north.
The train, we're gonna, die, cast on that as well. Yes, we have that. The funny thing is when you're not
our full and you sort of proclaim yourself as the ruler. You're bound have a couple of enemies, and there were a few is ass nation attempts on his life, but he escaped, but he
eventually die, but before he died,
a certain plan that he wanted carried out for his after life. We knew he had a really intense fear,
death. And me I mean, like you, said these assassination terms, which barely dodge that Armenia's understandable that he would have a
death after that but
In addition to those things you wanted to see, if he could pass
we not die and he did a few things. I love you, I love you did it
things to try to do, then, commission a task force to go to dismissal, mythical island that had a sort of fountain of youth type power that they thought of land
Augustine Florida because I've been there, I was so holding I'm. I can see it and consider you but
that he got alchemists and magicians to making pills in potions to try to hang onto his tools
youth and confusion? Philosophers at this time, actually condemned a lot of stuff that he was doing? The is always all Hocus, pocus and wrong and
in response to the danish move, because in Response Chine had hundreds of them killed. Four yeah just goes to show his intense fear of death. Intense fear what would happen to him after death, but he also had
a grandiose notion that if and when he did die, he would rule the universe and had a very concrete and open intended. I guess I should say terror caught a plan new fund intended for how he was going to rule the cosmos in here.
Second life, so he essentially commissioned. I guess about a thousand different artisans to build him. This vast army, that included about seven thousand soldiers of different ranks, were talking about everyone from mere archers and and men, holding crossbows up to various deem generals about eight hundred horses and a band of musicians and acrobats and bureaucrats, and he was
creating for himself an army as well as some sort of menagerie and a circus or some sort of entertainment site to keep him protected and amused and his afterlife one thing is interesting, as are all facing
EAST immigrate, article Amazon so by our colleague Kristen Conger, and she
plains of wonder about this- is that he had
a unified other kingdoms to the east, always thought that, like his enemies were to the east, and that's why is his army is facing that way, but also
should know that a lot of these
estimations arm. We say like you you'll see, though there are seven thousand warriors. Oh, there are six thousand other eight thousand and that's because actually
All of them have been excavated and archaeologists are taking their sweet time taking everything out because it so precious and for one example.
For instance, when these soldiers were a writ originally made, they were born.
The colors, vibrant colours and now than rad, yeah green. Yet, and now you look at it, you see pictures in their creation. There drab looking in us, because these colours didn't last well over time, especially even when you take them out.
Ask of even them from the land when the sun, his them, really hurts the colors, and so they just on how the text
and yet to really delve into the full debts of this term and what they had so far or but the people who discovered a group of farmers back and nineteen seventy four they head about thirteen feet underground in search of water. Actually it was a total accidental discuss
They were out on March twenty nine looking for water and they discovered a bunch of clay shards and it got more suspicious when they pulled out what looked like a head of something. So they called a group of historians and archaeologists. Anne and dots in the excavations really began. But what hasn't been touch so far is what people think is a series of palaces and ship and very big structure
would have been built from the same type of material, and wanting is interesting. Is that the tomb which these soldiers are protecting their taken?
the time escapade, not because some say that has actually booby trap.
Like they crossbows yeah, and so I will take my sweetheart
guy. Definitely, and we know for a fact that people have broken well. I guess I should say we know for a fact. We ve pretty good evidence to suggest that people broke into the two
shortly after teen die, that's right, there's evidence of fire a admire and toppled soldiers which may indicate that they just settled with time, but more likely they were toppled man. Some was breaking in, and we should note too that after team died in two ten BC, his his kingdom didn't last from
longer and a new ruler ushered in a new age and so his tomb when vastly unprotected but ancient manuscripts describe it. He was buried with all sorts of extravagant pieces of
old and pearls and fine genes, which could still be down there. We dont now great fodder for a rate of use exactly into tax, like this suggests that there is a lot waiting to be on earth. But let's talk a little bit about how these soldiers were made with
sure thing about how these soldiers were made was that,
they actually had a variety of mould so that you had a sense of realism in the those soldiers is somewhere small,
we're bigger by any use, different kinds for different ranks and the different as well, and the ed bouts of twenty five
I was a beard and like the way, their hair,
Is I tied up and not on the back of their head? Often askew is very. Very different. Me changes in another interesting part is that there is a sense of racial diversity among these different soldiers and they actually reflect interestingly, the kind of racial diversity that is present in modern day China,
which I find fascinating, and so one example of this would be the about. Twenty percent of the soldiers have square ear. Lobes
and so that means more than half have like round here lobes and has the same kind of percentage proportion from modern day Chinese, so verisimilitude
amazing and you
be wondering why were the labourers have cared enough to go to all this effort and we should mention
long long long before Henry Ford had his assembly lines making cars, the ancient Chinese had their own assembly lines. Making these figures and lighting said they use mould to at least form the bodies and we
They range in general of from about sixty six and a half feet tall, and these humbly workers would have started by building bases for them and they were very heavies. They had to be very well constructed, solid bases, and then they would have made their different types.
Bodies according to whether the soldier would be kneeling or standing. She had very fierce stands if he was standing at.
Sunshine, or maybe he was creating an acrobat or musician by where the handiwork really came
Why was the individualise details of the face
every artisan word individual labour. Not all of them were artisans. They were just sort of slaves who were forced to do this. They they took great, I guess
pride in making the different individual a facial expressions. Some look fierce
or some some work, serene here's the catch. All of that
whose names were stamped on the bottom of the statues- and this wasn't like Van Gogh, assigning his name to a masterpiece made. It was to hold laborer accountable for any flaws and craftsmanship
There may have been as renewed assembly lines. A canvas mentioned were about a thousand people, big Zoah. You have as this a thousand person assembly line. I think the foreman had signed his name to to each individual soldier and what I.
Really cool. Is that these soldiers, you see them today and they look like there, have their hands out nor holding something and is not there
holding were actual real weapons and out of bronze,
yeah, bronze and would the wood is actually not stood the test of time, and so they are not there anymore, but there are there are lots of.
An interim remains of the metal that it was kind of ahead of its time cause it didn't corrode over time, and it is shocking to me that why would chine you know, have these clay armies, but give them real weapons and all
I think they had armor means of limestone, so he really had them all decked out and what this dies, I think, is as paints a picture of a very talented and very capable ruler, but shows his very human and almost childlike side with her superstitious.
And his great fears- and I wonder what was going through the mind of such a great, an intelligent man who thought he could ruin his after life and who thought he needed protection.
Yeah, and he wasn't alone. You know I mean obviously there examples in ancient Egypt of people being buried with their things for the purposes of afterlife,
but in China as well, this one emperor handling D. Actually, he took the throne about fifty three years after gene in
a similar burial site, not too far away from genes and the soul
you're, actually smaller in stature and all different kinds of animals are there as well, such as of animals overall son. His vast is genes in some people say that this is a reflection.
A nicer ruler, because he was actually much nicer than gene and he certainly would have had to have commissioned less artists to work on the armed gangs.
I guess not only the last the slave labour exactly so. This is such an interesting
Imports of not only history but art history to and you can learn so much about a culture, a judging by the artifacts that produce says you know how I values, proportion and collar and detail, and so I think it is fascinating.
In the example of art and historical narrative and a glimpse into the air. The mind of a interesting and strange man, the icon, with
So if you want to learn more about the tariff quota army be sure to check out the article how the Terek hot army works on house of works, dot com, while you're there
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Transcript generated on 2020-02-07.