I went to see those famous on Saturday, May 16th. Qin Shi Huang's Army of Terracotta Warriors unearthed after standing guard over his body two thousand years.Each - thousands - of the lifesize soldiers is unique. Their face, hairstyle, armor distinct. I thought the Pharaohs claimed the prize for obsessive preparation for the afterlife - but this guy replicated his entire army. Horses and everything. I wonder what he thought was waiting for him on the other side.
Those not famous I saw on Monday, May 18th. The tomb of Emperor Jingdi. As he buried terracotta replicas of his entire court - livestock and all - the figures stand at only about two feet. The Emperor himself lies under a massive earthen mound in a burial complex also containing the tomb of his favorite empress.I climbed her mound to survey the landscape, trying to imagine what it must have looked like: tens of thousands of workers digging under a midday sun not dulled by pollution; artisans molding, firing, painting, dressing their earthen representations; eunuchs and the women of the court overseeing their progress from shaded places, their silken robes billowing around them.
It just seems too ridiculous a thought to be believed by anyone - that you can take it all with you. They certainly did try though. I left, amazed by their effort.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment