Han Warrior and Qin Warrior
Terra-cotta figures were well made for the purpose of accompanying the deceased in their afterlife, a concept strongly believed by ancient Chinese. Our ancestors considered death a beginning of another life, the dead should be looked after as if they were still alive. They buried food, jade, pottery, weapons, implements, and sometimes, even human beings in the tombs for a prosperous afterlife.
Because human sacrifice had always been considered too cruel to be human, Chinese began to make terra-cotta, wooden, and metal figures to replace the real life sacrafices. The style of burial figures varied throughout different periods of time: Qin Dynasty Terra-cotta warriors and horses were made full-sized, while Han Dynasty terra-cotta warriors were made 1/3 of the life-size. Also, Han Dynasty burial horses were made of wood.
Amour traces left on the earth book
Yangling Underground Museum
It’s very interesting for archaeologist to figure out why the Yangling Mausoleum Terra-cotta warriors were made nude and armless. When they were unearthing them, they discovered the truth by reading carefully the earth book without words: over 2150 years ago, all warriors were in real clothes and amour suits, their arms were made of wood and they were connected to the body through the two holes in the warrior’s sides. After so many years of aging in the dirt, cotton, linen, silk clothes and leather amour pieces all rotted away; there remain only the warriors’ bodies.
Yangling Terra-cotta warriors are also different from each other; they look more peaceful than the Qin warriors; they were made 1/3 size, everything on them was made 1/3 size: weapon, dress, purse, coin etc. In many ways, they were more interesting than the Qin Dynasty Terra-cotta Warriors and horses.
Today, if you go to Xi’an, don’t forget to visit the first underground museum in China on the actual dig of the Yangling Mausoleum. You can see beside you, or under your feet, the rich and spectacular cultural relics created by our ancestors long before Christ.
Thank you for your comment, Kapsel! I find it’s so interesting to compare similar things from different angles, which inspires me to know more details! The more details you know, the more interesting it gets!
No doubt that the peek of the terra-cotta was seen in the first dynasty of China,but it is still interesting for me to know in the tombs of Han emperors,there are also abundant terra-cotta figures with less serious face,I like their relaxation.