While browsing through the pictures on my computer, lamenting that my Cambodia/Vietnam photos are stuck in Lightroom pergatory, I came across these pictures from last spring (May 2010).
When Rick was in town, the three of visited Xi'An, China, which is most famous for the Terra Cotta Warriors found near the city in the 1970s by local farmers.
These warriors depict the armies and after life guardians of China's first emporer, Qin Shi Huang. It is estimated that there are over 8,000 individual life-size statues in this army, although only a fraction of these have been excevated.
Local craftsmen and government laborers were used to construct the warriors. Work began when Qin Shi Huang was 13 and involved over 700,000 laborers!
The warriors are life-sized and vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle according to rank. While molds were likely used to assmeble the legs, arms, torsos, and heads, each warrior has a distinct face because Qin Shi Huang wanted no two warriors to be alike.
There are also horses and chariots constructed and buried with the warriors. In the original construction of the funeral art, pits were made to contain all of these artifacts, and they were arranged in precise military fashion with infantry, calvary, officers, and noblemen.
Who likes puzzles??
Smile!
I've heard about them but never imagined they looked this spectacular.
ReplyDeleteWhere is lightroom pergatory?
Michael is 'editing' the photos from our vacation on a program called lightroom. I can't get the photos out of the program without his help becasue I am a technology idiot...
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