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Glimpses of China's golden age
Xian's Terracotta Warriors are an awesome sight
XIAN, China. – Xian dates to the Zhou dynasty some 3,000 years ago – hard
for us to imagine, given the brief histories of our homelands, Australia
and Canada.
Several times Xian was the capital of China and the country's oldest city walls still stand here. Forming a rectangle 14 km around, it was one of the largest military defence systems in the ancient world. Built during the Tang dynasty (618-907), it was upgraded during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
Atop the 12-metre wall at the south gate, we forget history and rent bikes. It's 10 yuan ($1.30) for a juddery 3.5-km ride on the wide brick pavement to the East Gate. Some bikes are tandem and most are unreliable, but their industrial-strength Chinese bells "ting" just fine.
Sue, Shayla and Ellie ride on the Xian Wall
Paul walks toward the West Gate and glimpses vignettes of Chinese life: Workers renew a blue-tiled roof, a gnarled patriarch admires his cage bird and, in the moat-side park, a young man practises tai chi with a fan and others play outdoor snooker.
This evening, we have a front table at the Tang Dynasty dinner show, a re-creation of life at the royal court 1,200 years ago. Period instruments accompany songs, dances and martial arts, charmingly showcasing what many believe to be a golden age for Chinese culture. We doubt the Tang aristocracy had it but, to everyone's delight, we're served popcorn!
Back to history … In a brilliant but bloody campaign from 221 to 206 BC, the ruler Qin Shi Huangdi united China, unified the Great Wall and standardized China's weights, measures and written language. He also ordered Confucian books that questioned his autocratic rule burned and recalcitrant scholars buried alive.
Obsessed with the afterlife, Qin conscripted legions of labourers and craftsmen, possibly more than 700,000, to build his massive mausoleum and, 1.5 km to the east, the legendary Terracotta Army – a task that took 40 years.
Warriors and horses were placed in battle formation in wood-roofed corridors divided by earthen walls. Unfortunately, rebels sacked Qin's mausoleum in 206 BC and the burning roofs collapsed onto the figures, smashing them into fragments that present a constant puzzle to archeologists trying to piece them back together.
The 8,000-strong army was forgotten until 1974, when farmers digging a well accidentally unearthed one of the figures. (See box) Three vaults, measuring four to eight metres deep, have been excavated and a huge museum set up to shelter the treasures found within.
We have an auspicious day to visit. It's July 1 – Canada Day and a 12th birthday for Sarah and Hannah (Ellie turned 12 five days earlier).
But we must first stop at the warehouse factory that produces warriors of all sizes to be sent anywhere in the world. The children are invited to mould their personal army while we shop. Their technique isn't quite as elaborate as was used in Qin's time, (See sidebar) but they carefully wrap several warriors (and one terracotta puppy) to take home.
Our first glimpse of the Terracotta Army is breathtaking and our local guide, Harry, gives us time to immerse ourselves in this magnificent find. A couple of the farmers who made the discovery still come to the museum to autograph books. We buy one, impressed by the elegant calligraphy.
We're waylaid by vendors at the exit and vie to see how little we can pay for a boxed set of small warriors or a string of kites. Five yuan (75 cents) wins!
Later, to celebrate the birthdays, we enjoy a special meal of steamed and fried dumplings laboriously hand-shaped into chickens, pigs, turtles, flowers. A flaming "fortune soup" is served last and the number of tiny dumplings in each bowl predicts one's future.
In a nod to Western custom, San-San lights candles on a pineapple sponge cake and Happy Birthday is sung in Mandarin, French, English and Ukrainian!
Next day we're off to Luoyang, a 320-km, five-hour journey in a comfortable tourist train. In the countryside, every spare space seems to be planted with corn, beans or squash. From flat treed plains with rice paddies we climb into rugged country via several tunnels.
The scenery may be fascinating but the youngsters are soon bored, so they commandeer "big" Andrew's laptop and improvise a tent to watch Shark Tale on DVD.
There's been a mild revolt over the steady diet of Chinese food, so San-San and Harry bring KFC takeout for the train. Chicken on a bun with spicy sauce proves tasty, and even the cold fries and warm Pepsi are enjoyed.
We learn from our Luoyang guide, Johnson, that the city was established in the 12th century BC and was the capital of 10 dynasties, the last about 1,500 years ago.
In a drizzle, we visit the Longmen Grottoes, one of China's great Buddhist art treasures. Carved over several centuries, nearly 100,000 images ranging from 2.5 cm to 17 m tall overlook the Luo River from cliffside caves and niches. All show the ravages of time or thieves.
About 100 km east of Luoyang, our bus climbs into gentle mountains to visit the elegant Shaolin temple complex. Founded in the Tang dynasty (618-907) but burned by a rampaging army in 1928, it has been lovingly restored.
Chinese say "All martial arts are from Shaolin." Hundreds of boys (and some girls) are practising as our bus pulls into the nearby martial arts centre. The youths stop respectfully, then gaze in awe as our five lovely Western lasses alight. An amazing martial arts demonstration follows in a small theatre and, naturally, there's an opportunity to buy a DVD – and some liniment!
Youngsters practising at Shaolin Martial Arts Centre
Shaolin's students return to their one-armed pushups, tumbling and kickboxing as we leave for star-crossed Kaifeng, 110 km farther east. The original elegant and prosperous Kaifeng was sacked in 1127, and destroyed and rebuilt several times since.
The Yellow River flowing through the area is called "China's Sorrow" because its floods have covered the city many times and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, most recently when the banks were breached to slow the Japanese attackers in the late 1930s.
Kaifeng's "Iron" Pagoda, named for the rusty sheen of its glazed bricks, replaces an octagonal 13-storey wooden structure destroyed by lightning in 1044. The Australian girls race up the narrow interior staircase to photograph the view.
View from the top of the Iron Pagoda
In the surrounding gardens, raindrops fall into the wide leaves of lotus plants,
merging and snaking like mercury. Fascinated, we dribble water from our drinking
bottles to watch the globules roll around.
This night, it's off to the train
station for the overnight "tourist express" to Nanjing.
Four to a compartment in comfortable bunks, we race through the night but next morning, just out of Nanjing, we're sidelined for two hours until a platform becomes available since the station is being expanded.
Finally we cross the "Glorious Bridge" over the wide and swift-flowing Yangtze River and alight in the middle of the construction zone. We try to follow our new local guide, George, but tall Marvin and his yellow ball cap offer us a better beacon as we head for the bus.
Later, we return for a closer look at the seven-km two-level rail and road bridge, China's pride. Ferries were the only way across the Yangtze until the Communist government decided to expand China's railway network. The Soviets offered to help, then disappeared during the 1960 ideological split.
Andrew and Mao share a salute
The Russians left the locals with what they thought was an impossible task but the Chinese persevered and, after eight years of intensive volunteer labour, the bridge opened in 1968.
At the souvenir shop, the best purchase proves to be a map. George announces
we're off to supper and a night market but some of us want to return to the
hotel instead. The ensuing discussion about who does what gets confusing.
"Big" Andrew refers to his new map and, happily, we see the route to the restaurant goes right past our hotel, allowing the youngsters to tuck into grilled cheese sandwiches in the coffee shop!
Next morning, the Nanjing Museum is a delight. Its collections of early bronze and gold artifacts and ancient pottery are well organized and beautifully displayed. We're shown the famed Jade Princess then herded to the gift shop where George tries to keep us shopping. But we escape!
Nielma and Jocelyn watch two women weaving silk and gold brocade on a complicated hand loom and Paul finds a fascinating display about courageous navigator Zheng He, who, according to writer Gavin Menzies, was first to circumnavigate the world around 1421.
George forgives us our wanderings and gives us each a bag of jade pebbles as he says goodbye and we head to Suzhou in the rain.
A Job Well Done
March, 1974. Yang Zhi Fa and three other farmers were digging a well. Yang was working at the bottom when he uncovered the chest of a terracotta figure.
He shuddered, because it is an unlucky omen to stumble on a burial site, and wanted to keep it secret. But a co-worker, noting the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor, was nearby, felt it might be an important find.
So Yang broke the statue in pieces and brought them to the surface. With others, he took them to an archeological station. The rest is history.
Yang no longer farms, but can be found most days signing books in the lobby of the museum's theatre. He can't read or write, but he can sign his name and, from this, earns a good living.
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Qin's Terracotta Army
No two figures of Qin Shi Huangdi's 8,000-strong terracotta army found so far have the same features or expression, leading experts to believe that real soldiers and horses may have served as models.
The sculptures' average height is 1.8 m and they weigh from 110 to 300 kilos.
The Qin mausoleum project used mass-production techniques. The process began with the moulding of solid legs to support each figure. Hollow bodies, arms and torsos made of coiled clay were joined with strips of clay and set upon the solid legs. Heads were moulded in two parts and joined later.
A fine clay slip was added to this rough model and details such as eyes, mouth, nose and dress were carved before the clay hardened. Additional pieces such as ears, beard and armour were modelled separately and attached, after which the whole figure was fired at a high temperature, estimated to be between 950 and 1,050 degrees centigrade. Large areas were deforested to fire the kilns.
Originally the figures were painted, but fire, time and exposure to the air have left only traces of the decoration.
After each statue was finished, the craftsmen inscribed their names on the back – perhaps an ancient form of quality control. So far, the names of more than 80 craftsmen have been recorded.
Qin's mausoleum complex continues to reveal its earthern defenders. In 1980, two painted bronze chariots were discovered 20 metres west of Qin's tomb. Consisting of 3,000 parts, with bridles and saddles inlaid with gold and silver designs, each of the chariots is driven by an imperial charioteer and drawn by four horses. Reputedly, the first chariot was for clearing the way for the emperor's entourage, and the second was his sleeping chariot.
Both are half life-size and are now displayed in the museum, along with recently-discovered terracotta figures of acrobats, stable hands and civil officials.
In 1987, UNESCO added the Terracotta Army and the Tomb of the First Qin Emperor to its list of World Heritage Sites.
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