Terracotta Warriors report 2

Terracotta Warriors report 2
Dec 1, 2007 12:57
CLARENCEGUO Points: Join Date: Jul 21, 2007 Status: offline	Overwhelming evidence suggests that the terracotta figures buried for the First Emperor's use could not, in fact, have been destroyed by the rebels intent on overthrowing the Qin dynasty. I would like to propose an alternate theory, which I believe conforms both to China's ancient and traditional religious practices as well as to the physical evidence unearthed by archaeologists. In China, the oldest religious tradition, dating back even before the time of the First Emperor, is Daoism. According to the Daoists, the only way to send objects to the dead is by burning them as a sacrifice. This tradition persists even today, as people continue to burn paper money, horses, cars, etc., as offerings to their loved ones who have passed away. The layout of the underground complex, including its location and organization, suggests that the Emperor was convinced of the importance of feng shui, or geomancy, and used Daoist concepts in the construction of his underground realm. It is logical to conclude, then, that he would have want ed to ensure that he would have access to this upon his death, causing him to leave instructions that the complex be burned as a sacrifice to him after he died. I believe that the underground city containing the terracotta figures was constructed from the start with the intent to burn their contents, thus ensuring that they would reach the emperor in the spirit world. After the wooden ceiling was burned, I believe it was buried by only a very thin layer of earth, not enough yet to produce a crushing pressure. 2,200 years ago, the ground level around the tombs was probably much lower, and when the pits with the warriors were finished, the wooden ceiling was in open air with around one-half to one meter above ground. However, yearly flooding during Shaanxi's rainy season over time could easily bring enough earth down from the mountains to bury the figures at their current depth. To the south of the Qin Emperor's mausole um lies a mountain which was completely deforested by the tomb builders in the process of constructing the enormous burial structure. The mountain is composed of earth, not stone, and when it floods every year, the water brings dirt and silt downhill. Over time, this caused the soldiers to be buried deeper and deeper underground. This accounts for the state in which the soldiers were discovered, as the pressure from the mounting flood material would have eventually produced the cave-in which destroyed the figures. The pattern of destruction in the opened pits corroborates this theory, as the flank guards, which are to the edges of the pit where the pressure would have been less intense, are relatively intact, as are the kneeling archers, who sit lower than the rest of the army and may in fact have been already partially buried by flood material by the time they were buried.

Dec 1, 2007 12:57

CLARENCEGUO
Points:
Join Date: Jul 21, 2007
Status: offline

Overwhelming evidence suggests that the terracotta figures buried for the First Emperor's use could not, in fact, have been destroyed by the rebels intent on overthrowing the Qin dynasty. I would like to propose an alternate theory, which I believe conforms both to China's ancient and traditional religious practices as well as to the physical evidence unearthed by archaeologists.
In China, the oldest religious tradition, dating back even before the time of the First Emperor, is Daoism. According to the Daoists, the only way to send objects to the dead is by burning them as a sacrifice. This tradition persists even today, as people continue to burn paper money, horses, cars, etc., as offerings to their loved ones who have passed away. The layout of the underground complex, including its location and organization, suggests that the Emperor was convinced of the importance of feng shui, or geomancy, and used Daoist concepts in the construction of his underground realm. It is logical to conclude, then, that he would have want ed to ensure that he would have access to this upon his death, causing him to leave instructions that the complex be burned as a sacrifice to him after he died. I believe that the underground city containing the terracotta figures was constructed from the start with the intent to burn their contents, thus ensuring that they would reach the emperor in the spirit world.
After the wooden ceiling was burned, I believe it was buried by only a very thin layer of earth, not enough yet to produce a crushing pressure. 2,200 years ago, the ground level around the tombs was probably much lower, and when the pits with the warriors were finished, the wooden ceiling was in open air with around one-half to one meter above ground. However, yearly flooding during Shaanxi's rainy season over time could easily bring enough earth down from the mountains to bury the figures at their current depth. To the south of the Qin Emperor's mausole um lies a mountain which was completely deforested by the tomb builders in the process of constructing the enormous burial structure. The mountain is composed of earth, not stone, and when it floods every year, the water brings dirt and silt downhill. Over time, this caused the soldiers to be buried deeper and deeper underground. This accounts for the state in which the soldiers were discovered, as the pressure from the mounting flood material would have eventually produced the cave-in which destroyed the figures. The pattern of destruction in the opened pits corroborates this theory, as the flank guards, which are to the edges of the pit where the pressure would have been less intense, are relatively intact, as are the kneeling archers, who sit lower than the rest of the army and may in fact have been already partially buried by flood material by the time they were buried.

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