Terracotta Warriors Essay
The discovery of the terracotta warrior museum in 1974 by farmers is one of the essential artefacts that describe ancient China. This artefact discovery gave a better understanding of the history of what the ancient warrior looked like and the tools and material they carried together with them. The major characters to be analyzed in this piece is the emperor and the various unit of soldiers he had. The terracotta warrior museum not only symbolized a great historical discovery but give a huge insight into what the character of warriors and emperor looked like that gave the power to rule over other territories.
The terracotta warrior’s details and characters are essentially so unique, individualised and intricate that it’s hypothesised that the soldiers were based on the emperor’s real soldiers who served him. The features and style of the hair are styled uniquely to each warrior, where some of them have goatees while others have top knots. Other warriors were equipped with loose tunics and caps. Other warriors wore braided hair in their heads and armored vests. The soldiers displayed various body expressions, standing postures and physical builds. Their decoration was done using a bright colour which helped in the individuation of the warriors. Huang created the army in such a way that they faced towards the east direction of the territories and states under which he had conquered. This can be attributed to the topography surrounding the museum, or the thought of threats could come from the lands he had conquered.
Huang being a major character in establishment of terra-cotta warriors displayed various characters. After the death of Huang father, Zhuangxiang in 246BC, Huang took the throne at the age of 13 years while he was young. For over 30 years in his rule, he would conquer the other state and unify China for the first time. This was made successful through the use of a huge series of military campaigns. He spent a huge portion of his time preparing for the afterlife, where he prepared and constructed his mausoleum even before he was coroneted. The designing of the terracotta warrior took about ten years to be completed. Huang was an innovative emperor who consolidated his rule and territory through modernization. Its during his ruling time that writing, modes of currency, measurement criteria were standardized. Various regions and states were interconnected with canals and roads and other amenities while on the same time constructing the great wall. The emperor thought that he was immortal where he would conquer the death itself by designing the underground palace made of army that would protect him in afterlife aided with their chariot, horse and various sort of weapons. The precious gemstone complex represented the moon, stars and sun which shows the level of his connection a and concern about the universe where he looked at the cosmos as guidance to his immortal existence cross over.
The high ranking officials were given huge responsibilities by the emperor. By equipping them with chariots, horses and weapons, their confidence in ruling was improved. This must have changed influenced their character in ruling. They were well equipped where they are armored, and use melee weapons, including halberd. They were also equipped with war chariot that was originally made of wood although it now decayed and each of them having terracotta houses. This describes the though the emperor had about how powerful and organized hi army of warriors would be in the afterlife
The museum was unique that made it to be a national heritage. The weapons that were found in this museum as used by the army were amazing. The pear, sword, shields, spear, cirimitars, arrow bows and crossbow were generously designed as they were found in the pits. The level of expertise and care in the process of making these objects wa evident. Most of the arrows and words recovered were till sharp. The covering of the weapon with a huge layer of the chemical chromium oxide made the weapons to have a long lasting period after their manufacture. The chemical kept the equipment in perfect condition for over 2000 years. This shows the level of expertise the soldiers were equipped with from the resource that the emperor had given to them. By having sophisticated weapons and advanced expertise the emperor through the use of the soldiers were able to concur many state within china.
As the three major pits have been discovered so far, it’s clear that there might be yet to be discovered pits. The first pit Is the largest which has passageways, and the corridors are paved with grey bricks and a huge roof supported by sturdy and thick blocks. The pit is mainly filled with warriors. Pit two Is north of pit one and it’s about half of it. The vanguard in this section mainly carry crossbows unlike the first pit where they mainly carry archers. It has 80 war chariots each with two riders while they are equipped. The third pit Is used as command post and the warriors hold long poles. At the center there I the command chariot with round ornament canopy as an indication of his special function.
Bibliography
Huadong, Guo. “Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.” In Atlas of Remote Sensing for World Heritage: China, pp. 154-159. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2013.
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