Soldiers

Let’s say you were an emperor. An emperor who did many bad, bad things during your reign. So, you wanted to protect yourself. After you were dead, that is. At first you had the idea to bury, still alive, thousands of soldiers, near your tomb, to protect you, from evil spirits. But, some advisor or another talked you out of that somewhat ridiculous idea. The folly. Instead, you decided to create, from clay, replicas of your army.

Not exact replicas, mind you. A little bit larger than life. Just for good measure. So, each soldier posed. Had their clay alter-ego created. For fourteen years this painstaking process took place.

Imagine a football field. No, three football fields.

Now, imagine all three football fields filled with aforementioned clay soldiers.

I gasped. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. The sheer grandeur of it. Perfectly at attention, standing straight and tall, rows, upon rows, upon rows, almost 6000 clay soldiers. Each just a bit different from the one next to him. Each, standing guard, so that Emperor Qin Shihuang would not have unexpected visits from evil spirits.

I stood in amazement, literally unable to move. I zoomed in with my camera, not to take a picture, but to get a better look. Each one bore a human expression. Each one, just a little different. Each one, spear in hand, ready to protect their emperor.

Our guide explained that work on this project had halted. Modern scientists had no way to protect what they were unearthing. When originally discovered, by a farmer digging a well, the terra cotta soldiers were brightly colored – blues, greens, reds – emanating from their existence. After a mere three days, yes, only three days, the colors disappeared. Now, we have only clay. Red, brown, dull clay to view. Spectacular, but nothing compared to the original findings.

I wondered. Who was this Emperor? Who was this man, who for 14 years had slaves work on his tomb? Who ordered the construction of the Great Wall?

Evidently, there are many more treasures yet to be discovered. The original soldiers stand almost 2 miles from the emperor’s tomb. No one will excavate closer, for fear of not being able to preserve what is found. I’ve never seen anything like it….