The Mausoleum of the First Emperor of the Eternal Emperor
8. Is the huge Qin Terracotta Army part of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor, or is it a kind of sustenance for the First Emperor's mother to miss her lover?
In March 1974, the Xiyang Production Team of Xiahe Brigade, Manzhai Commune, Lintong County decided to Eight wells were dug. When the fifth well was drilled, a strange thing was dug out from a depth of three or four meters - "Wapen Ye".
It is said that a long time ago here, as long as a well was dug or a tomb was dug, "monsters" would appear. These "monsters" often caused mischief. Either the well water suddenly dried up, or the new tomb suddenly collapsed. Sometimes, "monsters" will suddenly appear standing upright on the well wall, "bulging their mouths and staring eyes" to scare people.
Later, the production team dug out another "Wapen Master", which happened to be encountered by a Chinese journalist named Shang Anwen, who wrote an article about "A Group of Qin Dynasty Warrior Clay Figurines Appeared in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang" The article was reported internally by the People's Daily and quickly attracted the attention of relevant central departments and leaders. In July, under the leadership of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Shaanxi cultural relics and archaeologists formed the "Qin Shi Huang Qin Terracotta Warriors Archaeological Excavation Team". After a year of hard work, a 230-meter-long east-west and about 62-meter wide north-south, with a total area of ??14,260 square meters The huge Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses pit measuring square meters has reappeared in the world.
In May 1976, Pit No. 2 with an area of ??more than 6,000 square meters was discovered 20 meters northeast of Pit No. 1. Soon after, another hole with an area of ??520 square meters was discovered 25 meters north of Pit No. 1. Square meters of Pit No.3. Later, the unbuilt No. 4 pit was discovered.
The discovery of the Terracotta Warriors shocked the world. After visiting it in 1978, French Prime Minister Chirac said: "There were seven wonders in the world, and the discovery of the Qin Terracotta Warriors can be said to be the eighth wonder." 1980 In September 2017, Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Zhaolin published an article in the Xinmin Evening News entitled (Visiting the Eighth Wonder of the World—Qin Shihuang’s Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum Tour), publicly crowning the Terracotta Warriors with the title of "The Eighth Wonder of the World" for the first time. .
The terracotta warriors and horses are mainly made of pottery figurines and horses. They use the method of "making them with molds, combining molds, making them in pieces, gradually fitting them together, and then firing them in the kiln and painting them out of the kiln". Made by firing. The production is delicate and exquisite, with both form and spirit. Each of the pottery figurines has a distinct personality, with vastly different expressions, demeanor, postures, and clothing, reflecting the mental outlook and psychological state of people of different ages, experiences, arms, and positions. They are various and lifelike.
The pottery horses are extremely detailed, strong and powerful, with their ears erect and their eyes looking forward, making the image lifelike and vivid. The proportions of the pottery horse are very well-proportioned, harmonious, and in line with anatomical principles. These techniques, in addition to the exquisite skills of the makers, are also inseparable from the fact that the people of Qin are famous for raising horses and are extremely familiar with horses. During the reign of Duke Mu of Qin, Bole was a famous expert in horse fortune-telling in my country. He wrote the "Horse-Xiang Jing", which had a great influence on the subsequent horse breeding in the Qin State.
What is the reason for the production of such a variety of terracotta warriors and horses?
As we all know, Qin used force to conquer the six countries. This made Qin Shihuang fully aware of the role of the army, so he hoped to enter the The underground kingdom can still have powerful "Qin warriors". This is probably the origin of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang.
In the three terracotta warriors and horses pits No. 1, 2 and 3 that have been excavated, there are three battle formations neatly arranged, and the three cooperate with each other to form a complete combat force. Therefore, some people say that the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang may be the epitome of the battle scenes of the First Emperor during his lifetime. Therefore, when the Qin Terracotta Warriors went abroad and were exhibited in Sweden, "Swedish Daily News" reported humorously: "China's Qin Shi Huang's troops appeared in Stockholm more than 2,000 years ago."
The three terracotta warriors and horses pits are from the north. In the south, it is distributed in the shape of a pin, with a total area of ??more than 20,000 square meters, which is more than 30 acres of land.
Among them, the No. 1 pit in the south is the largest. The pit is dominated by chariots and infantry. The chariots and infantry are jointly formed into a rectangular square array. At its east end, there are three rows of tabard warriors facing east, with 68 people in each row. They are the vanguard of this goal. To the south, there is a row of warriors facing north, which is the left wing of the military formation. At its western end, there are also three rows of warriors, one of which faces west and is the rear guard.
In the middle of the forward, rearguard, left and right wings is the main body of this phalanx.
The main body of the troops all faced the east. Except for two rows on the west and one row on the south and one on the north, the rest were chariots. The form of the chariots and soldiers is that there is one chariot for every four rows of warrior guards. The warriors are wearing battle robes and some are wearing armor. The middle chariot has a driver and two charioteers behind it.
According to historical records, ancient battles were dominated by chariot warfare. There were three soldiers on the chariot, one on the left holding a bow, one on the right holding a spear, one in the middle driving a vehicle, and behind the vehicle were infantrymen or infantrymen accompanying the vehicle. Called Disciple. They are attached to the chariot. In the Zhou Dynasty, there were twenty-five soldiers accompanying each chariot, and during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the number increased to seventy-five. In the Qin Terracotta Warriors Square, there were eighty, or one hundred and twenty, or even more soldiers behind each chariot. to more than 200 people, this shows that there were changes in the types of arms in ancient wars: that is, the role of infantry became more and more important, so that it was gradually separated from the chariot troops and became a separate and important arm.
Pit No. 2 is located in the north of Pit No. 1 and is a military formation in the shape of a ruler. It consists of three arms: chariots, infantry and cavalry.
To the east is an infantry phalanx. On the east and west sides of the phalanx, there are two rows of standing archers; on the north and south sides, there are three rows of standing archers. The warriors all wear war robes, leggings, and combat boots, with their left foot forward and right foot forming a figure-eight shape. Bend your left arm across your chest and stretch your right hand into an archery position.
In the middle of the square formation are four columns facing east, each with two columns. The warriors are all sitting in a sitting position. They are wearing armor, with their right legs on the ground, their left legs raised, and their left pistols on their chests. , the right hand is slightly bent, in a sitting and shooting posture. This is an archer in the infantry. Their postures are different, indicating that they are practicing archery.
To the south of the rear of the phalanx, eight trains of soldiers were lined up, each with eight chariots, forming a huge chariot line. After each ride, there are three samurai, in addition to no foot soldiers.
To the north of the chariot-soldier phalanx is another rectangular phalanx composed of chariots and soldiers. There are three columns, each with six chariots. In addition to the three chariots behind the chariot, there are also Followed by eight to thirty-six chariot soldiers. Later there were a small number of cavalry and infantry. Then came the rectangular square formation composed of chariots and soldiers. There are three groups in each group. In front of each group are two chariots, and behind are eight teams of cavalry. Each team has four columns, with the knights in front and the pommel horses behind.
It can be seen that this is a relatively complex array. Ancient Chinese military strategists emphasized that the composition of military formations should be "mixed", which means that an army should have diverse arms. Like this Qin Terracotta Army formation pit, it can be said that all the arms at that time were gathered in one battle formation and combined to form an independent military formation. The infantry square formation in front is arranged in the left front of the entire formation, forming the "corner" in the deployment of ancient arms. Once encountering a formation battle, the infantry's flexibility can be used to form an outflanking impact force.
The many chariots and soldiers in the middle can be immediately organized into a large defensive or assault formation for the main battle. The cavalry is on the flanks and rear, and can take advantage of its speed to form flanks and rearguards. This combination of battle formations can be said to be seamless.
Pit No. 3 is located in the west of Pit No. 2, has the smallest area and is concave in shape. There is a chariot in the middle with four chariots behind it. On the southern side of the chariot are two rows of warriors standing face to face from east to west. From there, to the west are two rows of warriors standing facing each other from north to south, and then four rows of warriors standing on each side. One row of samurai stood facing each other, and finally it became two rows of samurai standing facing each other.
To the north, there are two rows of warriors standing opposite each other. To the east, there is a leader. The battle formation of the entire pit shows that this is the headquarters of the Qin Terracotta Warriors pit, also called the military curtain or the command center.
In ancient times, the tiger talisman was used as a token when dispatching troops. The tiger talisman was divided into two halves, one half in the center and the other half in the hands of the general. When the country wants to send troops, the emperor will grant the tiger talisman to the appointed generals. Only when the two talismans match, can the army be dispatched.
No general, that is, the commander of the entire army, was found in the No. 3 pit of the Qin Terracotta Warriors. This shows that the general has not been appointed yet, and the tiger talisman is in the hands of Qin Shihuang in the underground palace. The First Emperor, who was very powerful throughout his life, still held great power after his death, commanding thousands of troops, which is both lamentable and ridiculous.
Of course, the above is just a guess about the purpose of the terracotta warriors and horses. The actual situation is about the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, which has never been recorded in writing. Sima Qian's "Historical Collection" discusses in detail the scale, construction and magnificence of the First Emperor's Mausoleum, but does not mention the terracotta warriors and horses at all. And because the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are located 1.5 kilometers away from the city walls of the First Emperor's Mausoleum, some people suspect that the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are part of the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum.
According to historical records, during the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, the State of Qin became increasingly powerful and forced King Huai of Chu to marry his daughter to Prince Huiwen. Later, Prince Huiwen ascended the throne and became King Wu of Qin.
King Wu of Qin was good at conquering foreign countries and sent troops into Luoyi with the purpose of moving Jiuding into Qinchuan. The Emperor of Zhou personally welcomed him and accompanied King Wu to the Ancestral Temple to view the Nine Cauldrons. The Nine Cauldron was made by collecting tribute gold from Kyushu during the reign of Emperor Yu. It has dragon inscriptions engraved on its feet and ears, and is also called the "Nine Dragon Divine Cauldron". Jiuding, which dates back to the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, has always been regarded as a national treasure, each weighing a thousand kilograms. King Wu Jing raised a cauldron to boast of his victory on the spot, but his bones were crushed and he died in Luoyi. His younger brother Rang ascended the throne and became King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
When King Zhaoxiang was young, the state affairs of Qin were controlled by Princess Wu, Princess Huai of Chu. Princess Wu loved and trusted Ranghou, Wei Ran, Huayang Lord, Gaoling Lord and Jingyang Lord, etc., and worshiped Ranghou and Wei Ran as prime ministers. For a while, the Qin court was afraid that they were the confidants of the prince. Later, Fan Sui of Wei State changed his name to Zhang Lu and fled to Qin State, where he became a close confidant of King Zhaoxiang.
One day, Fan Sui said to King Zhaoxiang: "When I lived in Shandong, I only heard that Qi had Lord Mengchang, but not that there was a king of Qi; but I heard that Qin had the Queen Mother, Ranghou, Huayang, Gaoling, There is no king of Qin in Jingyang. He is the king who controls the country, and he takes life and death. Others dare not rely on the honor of the mother of the country, and have been doing it for more than 40 years. , Gaoling, each has its own clan, with freedom of life and death, and the wealth of the private family is ten times that of the public. "He asked King Zhaoxiang to eradicate these close officials. However, King Zhaoxiang was a generous and benevolent monarch and did not kill them. Instead, he dismissed Ranghou and Wei Ran, chased Gaoling, Huayang, and Jingyang outside the pass, imprisoned the queen mother in the deep palace, and began to monopolize power. .
Later, when the concubine was depressed and about to die, she asked King Zhaoxiang to let Wei Ran, Ranghou, Huayang, Gaoling, Jingyang and other close ministers bury her together. King Zhaoxiang did not agree, but Several ministers imitated the terracotta warriors and horses, and the terracotta warriors and horses were modeled after the elite troops of the Qin State. They were buried with the Queen Mother and sent her soul back to the State of Chu.
There is also a theory that the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are not part of the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum. But it was not built before the First Emperor, but was built by the First Emperor himself.
Its purpose was for the First Emperor to show filial piety to his mother, the Queen Mother Dong.
Empress Dowager Dong is also a legendary figure. She was originally a concubine of Lu Buwei, a great businessman in Handan. She was naturally beautiful and good at singing and dancing. She became famous in Handan City. At that time, the father and son of Qin Shihuang When Chu was a hostage in Zhao State, he met Lu Buwei. Lu believed that Zichu would definitely be the king of Qin in the future, and Qin was a powerful country that might unify the world, so with the mind of a businessman, he regarded Zichu as a "curious item" and sent his beloved concubine Dong as a gift. Gave it to him so that one day he could "live in a rare place".
Later, Dong gave birth to a child in Handan, Zhao State, who was Qin Shihuang. At this point, Lu Buwei was indeed successful. He was invited to the Qin Palace by Zi Chu and entrusted with an important position. Dong also became the Queen Mother of Qin.
When Qin Shihuang was young, he had a very good relationship with Lu Buwei, and they often called him "father". This was still the case until he was established as King of Qin on the 13th, and promoted Lu Buwei to be the prime minister of Qin, but Lu Buwei did not He had no respect for himself, and he had a long-term affair with Empress Dowager Dong when he was still young. This matter was finally noticed by the growing Qin Shihuang.
Although Qin Shihuang was "mighty throughout his life and known for his cruelty and tyranny, he was a filial son in personal relationships. He was always obedient and obedient to his mother, the Empress Dowager Dong, and responded to all requests. After learning about his affair with Lu Buwei, Qin Shihuang He did not make any announcement, but secretly planned to deal with Lu Buwei.
After Lu Buwei learned about the news, he immediately restrained himself and sent a man named Lao Du to Empress Dowager Dong to replace him, in an attempt to test his innocence.
In 238 AD, after Qin Shihuang personally presided over national affairs, he finally started the planned action. He first killed Lao Du, and then removed Lu Buwei from his position as prime minister and moved him to the fiefdom of Sichuan. After Lu Buwei arrived in Sichuan, he still had evil intentions, fearing that Qin Shihuang would pursue him and continue to persecute him. Therefore, he was restless day and night, and finally committed suicide.
After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he felt very happy. . One day, he asked his mother if she had any thoughts, and he could be satisfied as much as she wanted. Empress Dowager Dong was already old, but she still missed her old lover Lu Buwei, but she was not able or dared to say it in front of her son, so she said that she would be rich and prosperous in her life. , she was very satisfied, and she was even happier after seeing Qin unified the world. She had no other wish in her life, but she wanted to live in Handan, the place where she used to live, and hoped that the First Emperor would allow her to go back to it.
Originally, this was a trivial matter for the First Emperor, but Empress Dowager Dong was old and frail and could not bear the long journey, so the First Emperor had no choice but to give up with a sigh; shortly thereafter, Empress Dowager Dong passed away to the west.
The First Emperor felt very sad that his mother's wish had not been fulfilled during his lifetime, so after the death of Empress Dowager Dong, he built a large-scale terracotta army formation on the eastern slope of Lishan Mountain to escort the spirit of the Empress Dowager back to his hometown of Handan. This is what we are doing today. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses from Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum
It is said that the First Emperor had some difficulties when choosing the generals to escort the Queen Mother's army. He originally wanted Meng Tian to be buried with him to take up this post, but he wanted Meng Tian to be unified. He made great contributions during the Six Kingdoms period, and he was required to lead troops to maintain the unification of the empire in the future. Later, he came up with a plan to wait for Meng Tian's death before taking office. However, not long after that, the First Emperor died of illness during his tour. Although Meng Tian was forced to commit suicide after usurping the throne, he was buried beside the First Emperor's Mausoleum and was not buried in the terracotta warriors and horses that escorted the Queen Mother. Therefore, the No. 3 pit of the Qin Mausoleum Terracotta Warriors and Horses we see today is a command structure, but there is no commander. .
The above statements are all speculations of later generations. The terracotta warriors and horses are inherently mysteries within mysteries, and these countless mysteries leave people with endless imagination and melancholy.
9 ．Zhang Liang went to assassinate Qin Shihuang, but accidentally hit the side chariot. In December 1980, two large painted bronze chariots and horses were unearthed 20 meters west of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum. It is made of bronze and is about half the size of the real thing.
Among them, the No. 1 bronze chariot is pulled by four horses and has an umbrella cover. The driver stands and drives it, so it is also called "standing chariot". The carriage of the No. 1 bronze carriage is divided into two compartments, front and rear. The front compartment can only accommodate one person, and is the seat for the driver. The rear compartment is larger and can be used for sitting or sleeping, so it is called "sitting carriage". Because it is safe for both sitting and sleeping, it is also called "an carriage". ". The carriage has a dome roof and is also pulled by four horses.
As soon as the bronze chariot came out, the world was amazed. While they were still being cleaned and restored in the Qin Terracotta Warriors Museum, friends from all over the world came to visit them one after another. In November 1982, after a visit to the China Office of the United Nations Children's Fund, a representative of the United Nations Children's Fund in China wrote: "This set of bronze chariots and horses is an outstanding model of Chinese art and civilization. I sincerely hope that these ancient relics will continue to be well preserved and will be used throughout the world." People around the world were inspired by this. "In 1938, when King Hussein of Jordan visited, he said: "This is a wealth that belongs to mankind."
Indeed, the casting art of these two sets of bronze chariots and horses are astonishing. Their style is extraordinary. They are the earliest and only complete large-scale bronze chariots and horses discovered in the world.
Among the two sets of bronze chariots and horses, the No. 2 bronze chariot and horses have a total weight of 1,241 kilograms and are composed of more than 3,400 parts. Among them, there are more than 700 gold items and more than 900 silver items, totaling more than 7,000 grams of gold and silver.
The bronze figurines are 51 centimeters high and weigh more than 50 kilograms; the four bronze horses are more than 90 centimeters high and weigh between 170 and 200 kilograms. Such a large bronze vessel is a miracle of ancient metallurgical casting.
The car cover is an oval fish-ridge-shaped copper cover, one hundred and seventy-eight centimeters long. The casting process for such a large car cover was extremely difficult at the time.
The manufacturing process of copper chariots and horses adopts methods such as casting, cast welding, embedding, pin jointing, plugging and live dumpling connection. The production is exquisite and the level of craftsmanship is extremely high. For example, the horse's neck ornaments, Gold and silver tubes are arranged and welded alternately, and no seams can be seen with the naked eye. Even under a 24x magnifying glass, only some welds can be seen. The lead ropes of the horse-drawn carts are connected by pin joints and can move freely to this day. The mane and tassels on the horse's head are made of 0.5mm copper wire. How were some of the craftsmanship techniques accomplished more than two thousand years ago? It is still a mystery. For example, for an oval car cover, modern drawing methods require you to first draw a rectangle, then change it from a rectangle to a rhombus, and then use a compass to draw it. How did the ancients make it? It is unknown.
Not only that, what are these two sets of luxurious bronze chariots and horses used for? Who is their owner?
It is said that five or six thousand years ago, the Yellow Emperor was Inspired by the fluffy grass that rolled on the ground when blown by the wind, the car was invented. So people call him Xuanyuan Huangdi. One of his subjects named Knee first used oxen to pull the cart. During the reign of Xia and Yu, a man named Xi Zhong and his son Ji Guang improved the cart at that time. Xiangtu tamed the horse and used it to pull the cart. car. By the Zhou Dynasty, the carriage had become a prominent symbol of the king.
The ancestor of Qin Shihuang had a man named Father who was good at driving chariots. He once served as a charioteer for King Mu of Zhou and roamed around the Pamir area. After the First Emperor unified the world, he was especially fond of carriages. He did not hesitate to buy fine horses and decorate the carriages with jewelry. He toured the world five times with a mammoth motorcade, richly decorated and extraordinary, and the chariot he rode was a four-horse chariot.
The level of luxury of this kind of car is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. It is said that Liu Bang, who later became the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, met Qin Shihuang in Xianyang while he was riding in a luxurious carriage and was surrounded by people on a tour. Liu Bang was filled with emotion and said with envy: "A real man should be like this." !"
Coincidentally, Xiang Yu, another hero who rose up against Qin at the same time as Liu Bang, also saw this kind of scene in Zhejiang, and he said boldly: "He can be replaced!" In one sentence His uncle Xiang Liang was so frightened that he quickly covered his mouth and told him: "Don't dare to talk nonsense, otherwise you will cause a disaster of being executed!"
From the sighs of Liu and Xiang When you are in admiration, you can imagine the magnificent and spectacular scene of Qin Shihuang's carriage. The two sets of bronze chariots and horses unearthed from the Qin Mausoleum are replicas of the chariots used by Qin Shihuang when he went on tours. Chariot No. 2 is the main chariot that Qin Shihuang rode in personally, which is the An chariot; Chariot No. 1 is the leading chariot, also called the ceremonial chariot. Style, that is, standing upright.
It is conceivable that in the city of Xianyang more than 2,000 years ago, whenever the First Emperor left the palace, there would be a ceremonial car driving slowly in front of him, and a dazzling installation car rolling behind him, pulled by four horses. Before, the scene was very spectacular.
There is a story recorded in historical records about the situation of Qin Shihuang's two vehicles on patrol. It was a late autumn in 218 BC. Qin Shihuang arrived in Yangwu, Henan Province on his eastward tour. One day, he drove into a valley and saw the leaves on the mountains on both sides were golden and swaying in the wind. While walking, a tall man suddenly jumped out from the autumn grass on the roadside, holding a huge hammer, and threw it at Qin Shihuang's carriage with a clang.
The First Emperor's guards rushed forward, but the big man had fled like smoke. As a result, Qin Shihuang was safe and sound, but the driver of the first car was killed by a hammer. The man who assassinated the First Emperor was Zhang Liang. It turned out that in his desperation, he mistakenly mistook the leading vehicle for the First Emperor's installation vehicle, thus causing the assassination attempt to fail.
The carriage with two compartments that the First Emperor rode was also called a carriage. The name is said to have come from the fact that the carriage had ventilation windows that allowed ventilation in the summer and kept warm in the winter. Warm in winter and cool in summer, the temperature can be controlled at any time.
But when the First Emperor unfortunately died in the sand dunes of Hebei during his fifth eastern tour in 210 BC, Li Si and others strictly blocked the news and had people deliver meals to the emperor as usual every day and report to the emperor as usual. It was too hot at that time, and the cooling car finally could not cool down enough, and the rotting body of Qin Shihuang soon began to smell bad. Li Si and others were afraid that the entourage would smell the stench of the corpse and leak the secret, so they got a cart of smelly fish and followed Qin Shihuang's car. You can imagine how disgusting and funny it is.
Later, when they arrived at Xianyang Palace, Zhao Gao and others ordered Hu Hai to die and support Su, and established Hu Hai as the second emperor.
10． Today's most advanced technology is difficult to replicate the original Qin Terracotta Warriors. This is an unsolvable mystery.
There is a famous Chinese saying, "It is easier to draw a ghost than to draw a horse." This quote comes from the Warring States thinker Han Fei.
Why is it said that it is easier to draw a ghost than a horse? Because ghosts have no shape and no one has ever seen them. You can draw whatever you like. Dogs and horses are all real and commonplace, so if you want to draw them well, you can’t make any mistakes.
Perhaps because of this, there are very few realistic artistic works in ancient my country. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang are the earliest works discovered in our country that directly express social and political life and military organizations.
Looking at the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shiling, there are two major characteristics:
First, as a whole, they give people the impression of being numerous and large. It is said that so far, as many as seven or eight thousand pottery figurines have been unearthed, which is still rare in the history of world sculpture. The flesh figurines in the Qin Mausoleum are all larger, as tall as real people and real horses. Before and since then, no higher group of sculptures has been found.
Secondly, from the perspective of each pottery figurine, it feels exquisite and beautiful. Its essence lies in the meticulous carving; its beauty lies in the creation of rich characters, showing the inner activities and ideological character of many soldiers of the Qin Dynasty. It can be said to be an out-and-out realistic work of art.
Qin people have always loved horses. Since they started raising horses, they observed horses in detail, and the pottery horses they sculpted are particularly lifelike. The pottery horses unearthed from the Qin Mausoleum are about 1.5 meters high and 2 meters long. They are a group of four pottery horses, dragging wood one by one. Each one holds a bridle with its mouth open, its ears erect, its mane parted in front of its forehead, and its eyes Wide-open, strong and healthy.
The pottery figurines in the Qin Mausoleum each weigh more than 300 kilograms and are about 1.11 meters tall. According to their attire, they can be divided into two categories: the first category wears a cross-collar and a right-hand garb, a short brown tie, and a bun, with the mane on the upper right side of the head. The arms of these warriors are in different postures. According to the weapons of the soldiers beside them, it can be judged that some of them are holding crossbows, bows and arrows, and carrying quivers on their backs filled with copper arrows; some are holding spears; Wearing a crossbow, and so on.
The second type is short in body, wearing mirror armor, and wearing short boots or square-cut shoes. All infantrymen wear leggings, hair tied on their heads or round soft hats. The armor on the car also has legs tied to the crotch, and the hair is tied up and wears a small crown.
The terracotta warriors of the Qin Mausoleum have different looks and expressions, from which their age, military type, position and mental outlook can be distinguished. The equestrian figurines have clear eyebrows and lean shapes, and are around forty years old. To bend the bow and hand, "the body is as if wearing a board, the head is as if stimulating eggs, the left limb is rubbing, the right foot is horizontal, the left hand is as if attached to a branch, the right hand is as if holding a child, raise the crossbow and look at the enemy, lower your heart and swallow your breath, and release your breath together." The local soldiers have Some are sophisticated and calm, some are simple and lively, some are staring ahead, and some are bowing their heads in thought. The generals are either pensive, as if they have been on the battlefield for a long time, and are sure of victory; or they are serious, as if they are just starting out, preparing for a hard battle...
Such exquisite, realistic and large-scale terracotta warriors and horses are displayed in front of the world in the form of army formations. The feeling is extraordinary.
It is said that when Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warriors and Horses were first put on display, some extroverted foreign visitors must have been so excited that they screamed “ahhh” when they entered the exhibition hall, and some even started dancing on the spot.
Indeed, even if you are a person who is not easy to be emotional, you can't help but be shocked when you see this magnificent scene. Your heart will be shaken, as if you can feel the hooves of thousands of horses, the wheels rolling, and the footsteps of thousands of armies. Tread. This situation naturally reminds people of the magnificent scenes of the war between Qin and the Six Kingdoms: the powerful King of Qin's army, neat and invincible... As described in Li Bai's poem:
The King of Qin swept Liuhe, How majestic it is to look at a tiger!
Swing your sword to cut through the floating clouds, and all the princes will come to the west.
So, how were so many of the earliest and largest pottery figurines in the world that we see today made? It is said that this problem has become a difficult problem for modern researchers. Because after the discovery of the Qin Terracotta Warriors, some people who specialized in sculpture and kiln firing wanted to imitate a pottery figurine, but many attempts failed. It took several months to finally make one, but the pottery horse was never fired. become.
Later, during the process of restoring pottery figurines and horses, cultural relic restoration workers gradually figured out their production methods through careful observation and research.
Generally speaking, this method is the combination of plastic and mould, production in parts, assembly and assembly, and firing in the kiln. That is to say, in the manufacturing process, clay sculpture and mold making are combined, mainly clay sculpture.
The limbs and limbs of the pottery figurines are equal. They are first made of prepared Lishan mud. Like other pottery, they are tied with mud strips and shaped into large shapes. The head is made of clay into the shape of a gourd and scoop. The two scoops are glued together to form the head shape. After the large sample is molded, further fine processing is performed using methods such as scraping, cutting, stacking, digging, carving, pasting, and painting to finally take shape.
After each piece of the pottery figurine is sculpted, it is dried first, then the head is put on the body, the ponytail is attached to the horsetail, and it is fired in the kiln. The temperature is measured to be 900 degrees Celsius. It can reach more than 1,200 degrees.
The kiln where Qin warriors were fired has not yet been discovered, so it is difficult to say whether the above speculation is correct. In short, it is still a mystery how the pottery figurines and horses in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang were made.
11. Xiang Yu, Huang Chao, and Zhu Wen are all tomb robbers.
The mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is rich in treasures, which cannot help but attract the attention of the world. Over the past two thousand years, the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang has been severely damaged many times, robbed and excavated many times, and the ground buildings of the mausoleum were completely destroyed. There are two main recorded cases of large-scale destruction.
The first time was after Xiang Yu entered the Pass in 206 AD, he set fire to the cemetery one after another from east to west. At that time, Fan Zeng advised Xiang Yu not to destroy Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, but Xiang Yu turned a deaf ear and sent Yingbu to lead an army of 100,000 to surround the mausoleum and kill all the Qin mausoleum guardians and some migrant workers who were building the mausoleum.
It is said that after Yingbu led his troops to the cemetery, he walked around the ruins of the cemetery and searched for three days and three nights, but he did not know where the door of the underground palace was. One day at noon, Yingbu was drinking when he suddenly saw a crane coming from the south and flying to the mountains behind Lishan Mountain.
Three days later, Yingbu ordered his soldiers to dig trenches around to find the door to the underground palace. Suddenly an old man came and told Yingbu the mystery of the First Emperor's Mausoleum in detail. After his guidance, Yingbu found the door to the underground imperial city.
When the door opened, countless arrows suddenly shot out from inside, killing and wounding countless soldiers on the spot. Then countless strange birds flew out, chirped and scattered in all directions, and countless strange beasts rushed out and bitten them. After killing many soldiers, he also fled in all directions. Yingbu did not dare to go in, so he asked Xiang Yu to come and watch. Xiang Yu was brave enough to give the order and rushed into the tomb ahead of the other soldiers. But Xiang Yu was stunned when he saw the bright lights and bright stars in the tomb. He also saw the undulating mountains and green trees in front of him. The high pass in the gorge is Hangu Pass. Just as Xiang Yu was about to rush forward, a burst of arrows suddenly shot out from the pass. Xiang Yu had no choice but to lead his troops to rush south and entered a side door. Inside, he saw jade, gold nuggets, beads and gravel scattered among the cauldrons.
Xiang Yu mobilized 300,000 people to move the tomb for a month, but the move was not completed. Due to the urgent military situation, he had to give up, sealed the tomb door as it was, and retreated. To this day, there is a deep ditch on the south and north sides of the mausoleum. In those days, the people called it "Bawang ditch", which was actually done by Yingbu.
Another time it suffered huge damage was when the Huangchao rebels entered Guanzhong in the late Tang Dynasty. Due to insufficient food and wages, Huangchao sent Zhu Wen to do it.
At that time, Zhu Wen led more than 10,000 soldiers to the tomb. However, he saw an earthen hill in front of him, surrounded by lush cypress trees on the top and bottom of the hill. The scenery was very charming. Song Wen didn't know what to do for a moment. While hesitating, an old man walked out of the woods in front and asked Zhu Wen to dig 1,000 meters deep from the southeast.
Later, Zhu Wen dug out a city gate. Naturally, many soldiers were shot and killed after opening the gate. Zhu Wen entered the underground palace. The underground palace was dim at that time, but the internal structure was still clearly visible. Zhu Wen was startled and thought he had arrived in Fuzhou. Song Wen had read a lot of books since he was a child, and he knew a little bit about the internal structure of the First Emperor's Mausoleum. He knew that this was the geographical layout of the underground palace.
Zhu Wen opened a city gate and moved away a lot of jewelry. However, as the number of deaths increased, Zhu Wen thought that the First Emperor had appeared and was angry, so he had to seal the mausoleum and surrender to Huang Chao.
Later, after Zhu Wen became the emperor of the Liang Dynasty, he secretly sent people to prepare for the excavation of the tomb, but he still did not know where the population of the underground palace was.
During the Republic of China, the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang also suffered misfortune. From the bottom of the mausoleum to the top of the mausoleum, trenches were built.
The long years, the long river. The Mausoleum of the Qin Emperor has been veiled layer by layer in the long history, with joys and sorrows, and the vicissitudes of the human world. The Emperor of Qin has been underground for two thousand years. He had the majestic and majestic aura of the Kingdom of Heaven during his lifetime, and the emperor who was aloof and far away from the world. Dignity has left many mysterious yearnings and even sighs in the world. After his death, he went to great lengths to build the emperor's first mausoleum through all the people's energy. It was unprecedented and unprecedented, and left many generations behind.
Children and grandchildren laugh and talk.
"If the sky is affectionate, the sky will also grow old, and the right path in the world will be vicissitudes of life." The veil worn by the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum in history will be slowly lifted off, layer by layer, over time. By then, the mysterious Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang will surely amaze the world!
12. When Qin Shiwang had a premonition that he would soon die, he was reluctant to let go of the palace and the army, and he was also reluctant to let go of the Shanglin Garden where he left many beautiful memories.
As early as 1977, archaeologists discovered a group of burial pits in the southwest of Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum. They are distributed 80 meters from north to south and 25 meters from east to west; within an area of ??about 2,000 square meters, there are three rows of rectangular pits. In the pits on both sides, there are pottery figurines in a sitting position. They face east, their faces and hands are painted pink, their robes are painted green or red, and some have beards painted on their lips, indicating that They are men.
In front of the pottery figurines, there are pottery basins, pots, etc. In the pit in the middle is a large tile coffin, with a pile of animal bones in the coffin. There is also a pottery bowl and a copper ring on the head of the tile coffin. People were confused about who or what this group of burial objects belonged to. Later, historians and others finally revealed this after some research. puzzle.
It turns out that ancient Chinese emperors had the traditional habit of building gardens in or near the city to raise rare birds or exotic animals. It is unknown when this traditional custom originated, but historical records record that during the reign of King Wen of Zhou Dynasty, there was a spiritual enclosure in which deer and white birds were raised.
During the Qin Dynasty, there was a famous garden called Shanglin Garden. This garden was later inherited by the Han Dynasty. There are also full-time officials in the garden who are responsible for managing the animals and palaces in the garden. All animals must be registered and registered. Different animals have different people to feed them, and the division of labor is extremely detailed. Yang Xiong, a scholar in the Han Dynasty, wrote a famous "Ode to Shanglin". The situation described was the imperial garden of the Han Dynasty. The article said that the birds and beasts raised in Shanglin Garden included wild geese, egrets, unicorns, camels, lions, etc.
Shanglin Garden is the imperial garden of Qin Shihuang.
In the early years of his life, he was busy with the great cause of unification and was brilliant for a while; but in his later years, he was greedy for peace and happiness, extravagant and corrupt. He built a palace and pavilions in Shanglin Garden, raised exotic animals and rare birds from all over the world, and was accompanied by palace people every day. He had fun here, which can be said to be "Scenery" for a while.
When the First Emperor had a premonition that he would soon die, he was not only reluctant to let go of the palace and the army, but also the Shanglin Garden where he left many beautiful memories. Therefore, the mausoleum was not included in the plan. Plan it in. Shanglinyuan was originally separated from the Wei River. Located south of Xianyang, the capital of Qin, the First Emperor placed it southwest of the mausoleum. It can be seen from this that Ying Zheng really wanted to bring everything he had during his lifetime to the underworld.
There are mountains, rivers and trees in Shanglin Garden. It seems that these are not suitable for scholars, or they are not very important to the First Emperor, so he only buried the rare birds and animals with him. The group of burial pits mentioned above are also called rare animal pits.
In the tile coffin in the pit of rare animals, rare animals are buried, and the copper rings are the ornaments of rare animals.
Those sitting pottery figurines