There are a small number of extremely significant archaeological discoveries that were made by chance without scientists’ intentional efforts and search. Among such exceptional finding are the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Terracotta Army, which is situated in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor Qinshihuang. The significance of the latter has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1987 by way of being inscribed in the World Heritage List as one of the World Heritage Sites to be specifically preserved and safeguarded by the Chinese government, a home for the Mausoleum ("Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor"). Since its discovery by the farmers in Lintong near Xi’an, China, the site has never been left by the archaeologists working hard not only on the historical and archeological studies, but also on preserving the Mausoleum and its content, which is very easily deformable and destructible, especially after being excavated and exposed to the modern environment. But what is the significance of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses and the place of their storage that made the British Academy take the research project under supervision and in close cooperation with the Chinese Museum of Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum? The answer to this question lies first and foremost in the history of the Terracotta Army.
The approximate age of the Terracotta Warriors is 2,200 years, which makes them created during the ruling of Qinshihuang, who proclaimed himself the First Emperor of the united China(Martinón-Torres "On a day like this 39 years ago"). Living during 259-210 BCE, becoming a king of Qin in 247 BCE and later on the First Emperor of the Empire of Ten Thousand Generations in 221 BCE, he ordered the start of his burial site construction long before his death. The Emperor, who managed to conquer the whole China after the Warring States period that lasted over 250 years, was known not only for his contribution in the development of the economic and cultural welfare of the empire, but also for his harsh character and the violence he demonstrated towards his people, including the renowned scholars. He had inflicted hatred of many in China and, thus, had many enemies, who would like to have him killed. Being paranoid and scared of death, Qinshinhuan threw immense efforts to stay alive as long as possible. Not only has he constructed hundreds of palaces with hidden corridors to travel without being visible and exposed to the possible hazards. He also ordered the scholars and religious adepts to find out the secret of eternal life, including the elixir of life (Cotterell). After all, he could not rely on the success of such attempts. According to the ancient burial tradition that existed on the Chinese territory for centuries, the death was not considered the end of the spirit, which would travel to the afterlife when parting with the earthly body. For this reason, the dying people usually took various artifacts, animals and people, especially family members and warriors into the tombs. They would supposedly follow the dead person in the heavenly life. Consequently, the scholars deem that the reason for the Emperor to construct a huge clay army as a part of the tomb was to have an army in the afterlife. However, by the time of the Qin dynasty the tradition of human sacrifices almost faded away, which is possibly one of the reasons for having only clay army buried with the Emperor.
The discovery of the Terracotta Army happened on May 29, 1974, when a group of farmers were digging a well near Xi’an not far from the Mount Li, where the Emperor’s tomb is located, and discovered a terracotta clay head. Subsequently, they reported the discovery to the archaeologists, who very soon unearthed the largest burial site in China. The place that contained the figures turned out to be a grave mound of 51.3 meters high, with nearly 200 pits containing, inter alia, the clay army, terracotta horses, chariots, and weapons ("Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor"). It was supposed to resemble the capital of the unified China, Xianyang, however, the valid proof of this statement will only be discovered after the tomb is opened. As for now, the research has proved the description of the Emperor’s mound given by the Chinese historian Sima Qian, who lived a century later, in part, where he stated that the place had rivers filled with mercury, as the analysis showed a substantially high concentration of the mercury in the soil of the actual tomb (Portal 204).
As the research went on, the further findings and excavations revealed several incredibly important facts about the wonder. First of all, the opening of the first four pits demonstrated to the researchers the fragile nature of the statues’ surface. As the studies showed, the clay figures had been initially covered with the colorful natural paints and lacquer that could be destroyed within 4 minutes after the figure was unearthed (Larmer). This discovery, along with the lack of the modern effective mechanism to open the tomb without immediately destroying its content, currently prevents archaeologists from entering the burial site, where the Emperor had supposedly surrounded himself with even more incredible artifacts, objects and architecture. However, although the Terracotta Army has been discovered 40 years ago, there is still plenty of work that the archaeologists need to commit to before entering the tomb.
Another major discovery was made in 2012 by the researchers of the University College London Institute of Archaeologists, who have founded a joint research initiative ‘Imperial Logistics’ with the Museum of Emperor Qin Shihuan’s Mausoleum. Their study of the arrows and weapon of the warriors revealed that the contents of the mound, including the warriors and their ammunition, were not created by parts that would be later assembled either on site or in special workshops. The metric and chemical analysis of nearly 1,600 bronze arrowheads taken from the Pit 1 and the subsequent “identification by portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of chemical clusters that correspond to individual metal batches, and combined with a study of their context in the tomb complex” gave an evidence that, although strictly standardized, the objects have been created in a cellular production, as opposed to the assembly line production (Martinón-Torres "Toyota and the Terracotta Army"). The same type of production is currently used by the Toyota Company and means that each cell consisting of a group of workers supervised by a foreman was able to create the whole product without relying on other cells, or manufacturers of the separate parts of the end product. This breakthrough discovery demonstrated the highly effective organization of the construction process, when the workshops had to assemble the whole statues and objects before delivering them on site. The same organization process could have been used by the Emperor during the conquering of the Chinese lands, which might have led the king to his victory. The implementation of the same process during the conquest would mean that even if the weapons were broken, they could have been easily and quickly repaired or substituted on site within one cell unit.
The researchers found out that the formation of the rows and columns of the army follows the same pattern, where generals, infantry, charioteers are situated on the similar places in different pits. The further study of the statues and their weapons will help the researchers form a clearer historical picture of the First Emperor’s army. Another interesting conclusion that is derived from the positioning of the figures is that due to the lack of free space in between the soldiers and between them and the walls, there was no possibility for the workers to deliver various types of statues to the site. The only possible solution for this riddle that the scientists currently have is that the cell units or the workshops created the soldiers type by type to gradually fill the space front-to-back with them. If this theory is confirmed with the help of the analysis of the statues and their surroundings, it will be easier to estimate the number of people, who could be engaged in work on site at a time (Bevan). Owing to the technological progress that has drastically improved the archaeological research methods during the last decade, it is much easier for the scientists to study every detail of the warriors’ décor and the material used for their creation. These insights may provide a new valuable knowledge about the era of the Qin dynasty, its culture and state of affairs.
As the studies of the Terracotta Army and its site keep on developing and moving forward, it is crucial to preserve the place and protect it from the ongoing urbanization. For this reason, the Chinese government has forbidden any constructions that could damage or destroy any part of the World Heritage Site ("Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor"). Not only the site represents the cultural heritage of the Qin dynasty, it will also provide the historians with new knowledge about the culture, crafts, military organizations and the architecture of the capital of Zhongguo, a unified China. The end of the current part of the Imperial Logistics project is planned for 2016, and the results are being constantly posted in the team’s blog. Such accessibility to the results for the public will not only boost the interest of the people not related to sciences, but will also attract the necessary attention to the subject, the attention that many scientists lack and that may become crucial, when it comes down to funding the further studies, researches and excavations. The Terracotta Army, though not open to the visitors right now, will, thus, have a chance to become once a full-fledged museum that will attract millions of visitors to its wonders of over 2 millennia old.
Works Cited
Bevan, Andrew. "What's so special and spatial about the Terracotta Army?." Imperial Logistics: The Making of the Terracotta Army. University College London, 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 June 2014. <http://www.ucl.ac.uk/terracotta-army/blog/posts/2014-02-26>.
Cotterell, Arthur. The imperial capitals of China: a dynastic history of the celestial empire. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 2007. Print.
Larmer, Brook. "Terra-Cotta Army: True Colors." Terra-Cotta Warriors in Color. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 5 June 2014. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/06/terra-cotta-warriors/larmer-text>.
Martinon-Torres, Marcos. "Toyota and the Terracotta Army: mass production and mass media." Imperial Logistics: The Making of the Terracotta Army. University College London, 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 5 June 2014. <http://www.ucl.ac.uk/terracotta-army/blog/posts/2013-01-11>.
Martinon-Torres, Marcos. "On a day like this 39 years ago serendipity and the Terracotta Army." Imperial Logistics: The Making of the Terracotta Army. University College London, 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 5 June 2014. <http://www.ucl.ac.uk/terracotta-army/blog/posts/2013-04-02>.
"Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor." - UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, n.d. Web. 5 June 2014. <http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/441>.
Portal, Jane, and Hiromi Kinoshita. The first emperor: China's Terracotta Army. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007. Print.
