Fellow Virtual Travelers,
Last month we shared photos of Huashan as well as some stories. Thousands of steps! In pelting rain, we traversed our way down the mountain amidst hoards of people and stood in crowded lines to get on the tram that carried us back to the bottom of the mountain. We were wet, cold, arm sleeves dripping with cold water and pant legs soggy from the bottom up past the knees. Sneakers were soaked in water and sloshing with each step. In this state we climbed aboard our van and traveled 3 hours to Xi'an China. Heat in the back two rows of seats was negligible. The three of us were still shivering on arrival in Xi'an.
Xi'an, China(Xi'an is pronounced shee-ON). Home to China's first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang. 246 BC to 221 BC which was the beginning of nearly two millennium of imperial rule. He is known for unifying China (no small task for such a large land mass with no modern amenities like telephones, computers, trains, planes, or automobiles) and also sanctioned much work on the Great Wall. This was the era that began China's massive national road system. Like many seekers of power, he ordered the destruction of books and killed scholars to quell the potential for free-thinking citizens.
His amassing of earthly power as well as his fear of death, led him to seek immortality. During his reign many missions to search for the Elixir of life were dispatched in China and abroad. His alchemists and court physicians, being ordered to discover the secret to live forever, devised of mercury pills to give the emperor immortality. We now know that mercury is extremely toxic to the human body, so the court's deemed elixir of life ironically eventually caused his early and painful death. The toxicity is known to cause liver failure, sensory impairment, disturbed sensation, loss of coordination and brain death.
Now fast forward more than 2,000 years. In 1974, local farmers near the city of Xi'an were digging wells in search of water in their field and came upon a find that would forever alter known human history. The initial archaeological digs discovered three pits containing life-sized terra-cotta soldiers, horses and chariots! An estimate of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army
These pits outlay the mountain-like tomb mound of the Emperor's burial site itself. Modern archaeological techniques have confirmed the accounts of China's grand historians, Tan Qian and his son Sima Qian who recorded details of the massive tomb that took 36 years to build. Sima wrote 100 years after the Emperor's death that the ceiling of the tomb chamber is a model of the heavens and its floor a map of the empire: jewels and other treasures buried within are guarded by devices triggered to release arrows at any intruder; and the workmen who installed the finishing touches were buried alive to ensure that the secret of the entrance way died with them. Also recorded was that mercury was used to simulate the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers as well as the great sea.
Modern day technology has in fact, recorded high levels of mercury seeping out of the tomb mound and ground penetrating radar shows the layout of a massive (though miniature) underground city. The potential dangers of hidden traps and mercury poisoning have prevented the tomb mound itself from excavation to date. The hazy mountain in the attached XianTombMound photograph is the Tomb Mound of China's first Emperor.
http://www.china-history.net/qin.htm
Since our last trip to China in 2003, ground penetrating radar technologies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-penetrating_radar
have discovered an additional 600 pits surrounding the emperor's tomb mound, beyond the original three! Additional varieties of figures have been unearthed, including acrobats and court jesters.
We had the opportunity to met one of the farmers who discovered the site in 1974, bought the English Terracotta Soldiers book and got it autographed!
Given that Chinese martial arts dates back to 5,000 years, it was no surprise once the first pit was opened and bronze weapons unearthed that there was clear evidence of martial and organizational capabilities present during the Qin dynasty. The metal weapons were so finely crafted that after 2,000 years of burial weapons that were intact showed no evidence of rusting or decay!
http://www.chinamuseums.com/qinshihuangt.htm
Blessings,
Dennis & Anita