Army of Terra-cotta Warriors
Today's tour was a great experience. The english speaking guide made the day all the more educational, and my fellow travelers from Australia, the UK and France were very pleasant company. The culmination of the tour was the Army of Terra-cotta Warriors, which was just incredible. I can't resist the tempation to provide more history lessons. Qin Shihuangdi was the first emperor to successfully unify the various states that make up modern day China. He ascended to the throne at the age of 13, and by the time he was 21, in 221 BC, had successfully conquered the 6 other neighboring states. Because he was such a despotic ruler, he burried the army of warriors to protect him in his second life. They were eventually unearthed just east of his tomb.
China's history seems to be constant cycle of unification and division. Someone will succeed in conquering and bringing together all of the various factions, this will last for a period of time, and civil war will eventually break out and the empire degenerates into seperate states again. A famous Chinese classical novel, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" begins with this sentence: "They say the momentum of history was ever thus: the empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide." I think I'd like to read this book.
I took somewhere upwards of 150 pictures today, so what you see on flickr is only a small, small fraction. This is only the 4th picture with me in it that I've taken, and it will likely be the last time I impose my countenance on you in a post.
posted by charper @ 10/07/2004 08:33:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Very nice stuff. Looking at your blog makes me want to travel more (not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck leads the flock to fly and follow: anonymous Chinese)
The terra-cotta warriors are very impressive. Can't wait to see all your pictures. You'll have to make a CD slide show and send it to us or if we see you at christmas we can see them then, I'm sure that Jay and Mary would like it also.
So get some sleep and have another great day tomorrow. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more. Remember, do the Dave Attell thing and hold the camera out at arms length.
Corey - Awesome shots of the terra cotta warriors and horses. I've seen a select few in a museum exhibit, but I can't imagine how impressive they are in person! And the ancient horse bits were cool, too.
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