The year was 1974. I’m sure it was just another hard day at work. The farmers were taking care of their communal pomegranate trees that were brought over via the Silk Road hundreds of years before. This day though, a well needed to be dug for these tasty invasive species. They were digging for hours…maybe at about 3-4 meters what they thought was a clay pot, was found. I’m not sure who thought of the idea to report it, but report it they did and there is a world full of people that are forever grateful. Archeologists were brought in and as they looked around, they discovered more of this terracotta material.
Lets jump back a couple of millennium. Qin Shi Huang was 13 years old in 246 BC…(yes, BC!) and he was already thinking about his death. He was the first emperor of China and he was living in the capital, Xi’An (about a 2 hour flight from Beijing). He wanted to build a mausoleum where he could rule the kingdom after his death. He chose a place between a mountain and a river…the perfect feng shui. He had 10,000 artists craft over 6000 warriors that were armed with spears, swords, and cross bows. Each warrior had solid legs, hollow torsos, and a removable head that allowed the warrior’s body to bake in the oven without exploding from a lack of an air hole. These faces, like snowflakes, are all unique. The inner warriors have the heavy armor on while the front lines don’t so they would be quick on their feet when the fight comes. There are generals (1 for every 1000 men), officers, and grunts. There are horses, chariots, and charioteers. The army is facing east and is arranged neatly in lines. There is a meeting room, a sacrifice room (that was found with real animal skeletons), and a prayer room too. Each soldier was varnished so that they could be painted with brilliant mineral paints of which we have never seen the likes! The halls were dug underground and pillars were put in place. The soldiers were placed on their strong legs and then wooden logs were put on the pillars and bamboo mats were laid on top of those before the earth buried the waiting fierce army until they would be awakened.
This young emperor then made his tomb a couple of miles from this army. You can still see the pyramidal shape that was mistaken for a hill for more than 2000 years! Yet this man’s tomb has him placed in mercury laced ground with a river flowing OVER his coffin. He booby-trapped his own tomb! Mercury was thought to give you longevity if you took it in small amounts. Hmmm…maybe some more research needed to be done before they went “all in” with that! But what did work…is that no one will open the tomb to this day because of this poisonous element. The treasures, artifacts and skeletons are all still safe under ground and no one dares to go near them. I guess he got his longevity after all!
While this massive army of after-death was being built, the Emperor was uniting China by force. He did succeed, but when he died, they killed his son and then chaos ensued. Rebels stormed the capital and they found the warriors. They entered that sacred court and stole the weaponry out of the clay hands. They collapsed the ceilings crushing and breaking the warriors (and the hearts of all those who made them). The history books were found and burned to erase this era from their history…they almost succeeded! One book was found! Siam Qian wrote about the warriors and this king. Yet, it took the digging for a well over 2200 years later to find that the legend was true!
Back to today. Many, many archeologists are busy taking the broken pieces and putting the 3-D puzzle back together. If they can’t find a small piece, they fit a new one in from the ancient material. If the missing pieces are too big, they don’t replace that part. So some warriors don’t have their head or an arm. Right now they can reproduce one puzzle warrior in 5 months. Many of the pits are still uncovered because once the air hits these ancient terracotta wonders, the paint melts off in about 30 minutes. So scientists are working in labs to figure out a chemical they can use to spray the pieces to keep the original colors. These warriors have striking blue and red armor, black shoes, white socks, skin tone, black hair, facial hair, and other amazing features. The generals look like they eat well and drink much wine, the charioteers are tall and thin so the horses can carry them, the fighters have their hair in a bun, and the officers have a hat that gives their rank. The details are astounding!
And what of those farmers? Well, the government thanked them and moved them and their farm to a new area. No payment was given, just land and a new home.
Needless to say, we were speechless through this journey. We met up with a friend living in China, and we hired a guide to walk us through. The knowledge this guy shared was like a firehouse! We were in awe of the artistry, imagination, and talents back then and now! What skill! What patience! What years of work! Can you imagine what that place will look like when the entire army can be seen in full color?
This piece of history was nearly destroyed physically and in written history, yet the Lord granted it to be found at just the right time and location…the well was dug at the entrance to the pit. We learned that people back then thought about their death during their life too. This emperor thought magic would bring him and his minions back to life (he even had acrobats and entertainers made), yet that didn’t happen. Oh the joy of knowing that those who trust Christ will live forever! But it will be a land of peace, hope, no wars, no tears, no fears, no pain, and CHRIST forever! We will have new bodies, new names, and old friends. What a lesson learned. Thanks Emperor Qin for reminding me of this millenniums later.