Shepherd Entertainment takes you on a tour of Xian, which was the first capital and the 10 biggest cities of China.
Xian was the first capital of China. The heart of the enormous empire once throbbed here. Rows of
imperial dynasties ruled from here over 11 centuries. This was the starting point of the famous Silk
Road and the city with its 1 million residents was considered a huge metropolis at that time. Although
the city lost its rank and influence after the revolution of Huang Chao in 875, it still belongs to the 10
biggest cities of China.
The Asian countries have always been famous for their handicrafts and China is no exception to this.
The making, coloring and processing of silk looks back on such ancient traditions as paper cutting, paper
folding or the making of –. Chinese calligraphy and wooden engravings are also famous together with
porcelain painting. In Xian, almost all fields of handicrafts are practiced, however the most well known
are the carvings made of semiprecious stones. From light green jade and deep green nephrite, mostly
little sculptures and ornaments are carved. The decorations and patterns of which imitate ancient
statues. There are many dragon representations but of course Buddha sculptures are also made in large
numbers.
China joined the monument and landscape protection program of the UNESCO in 1985. From 1987 until
these days, more than 10000 buildings have been declared monuments, 63 settlements have received
cityscape protection and 27 treasures have been recorded in the world heritage list. The long list
includes the imperial palace of Beijing, the summer palace, the temple of heaven, the Ming tombs, the
sections of the Great Wall around the capital and of course the terracotta army. This spectacle can be
found 1.5km east of the burial hill of Qin Shi Huang Di. The tomb of the strict ruler unifying China is 221
BC has not been excavated yet although there have been excavations in this 8 square kilometer area for
decades.
A farmer named Yang Gi Fa drilled a well from which water always escaped so he went down to the well
to check the reason. Do there, he found himself face to face with a frightful figure. However this figure
was not a monster or a ghost or even a skeleton or mummy but a clay statue which looked very real. In
communist China in 1974, people had to be very careful about what they should report to the
authorities and what not. After long pondering the farmer reported his finding to the museum of Xian
and he got 30 yuan as a reward. Archeologists found one of the most significant artifacts of the world
here, under the agricultural land.
In several cultures, for instance in Egypt or South America, it was a custom to bury the dead lord
together with all his people so that they could serve him even in the afterlife. From this custom, came
the — in Egypt which is a little sculpture who works in place of his lord in the afterlife. Probably it was a
similar reason why this huge clay army followed their master to the grave. During the first excavations,
some three enormous chambers were found deep into the ground. The biggest of them is more than
14000 square meters. Inside this, the 6000 armed men stood ordered in military formation. The man
sized figures bore real weapons and accessories. Their makers didn’t choose the easy way. They didn’t
just pour clay into forms. They formed them individually by hand which is evident by the fact that the
face of all the figures have individual features. Maybe they really represented the actual people of the
army of that time.