Posts Tagged qin shi huang
Terracotta Army
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Historical Sites on August 8, 2010
Qin Shi Huang，the first Emperor of China, had been dreamed to be the emperor even after his death. Therefore, the famous life-sized Terracotta Army was built to guard his tomb. Known as the biggest military museums under the ground, it is also regarded as the “the Eighth Wonder of the World”. In 1987, it was listed as World Cultural Heritage.
Lying underground for more than 2000 years, it was first discovered by some local farmers near Xi’an, Shaanxi province in 1974. Later, a museum was built to protect the Terracotta Army. The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters with three sections, namely No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit. Among them, No. 1 Pit is the largest one and was first opened to the public in 1979. The most spectacular military array is in No. 2 Pit.
The figures of Terracotta Army include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, etc. It is estimated that the three pits contain over 8,000 warriors, 130 chariots and 150 cavalry horses. And every figure, which looks real, differs from others in facial features and expression, clothing, hairstyle, and gestures. These warriors are made of painted pottery of eight colors, red, green, blue, yellow, purple, brown, white and black.
Terracotta Army fully shows the wisdom of Chinese ancient people. It shocked the whole world and is a treasury for the Chinese people and for the whole world as well.
Dragon Chair
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Mysterious Emblem on August 7, 2010
Dragon chair is a special chair that was used only by the Emperor in ancient times. Made of wood, it is usually engraved with the pattern of dragon. Dragon had been the emblem of imperial power since ancient times, also symbolized that the people sitting on the chair had the sovereign rights.
Dragon chair’s history can date back to the period of Qin Dynasty (221BC~206BC). Qin Shihuang, the first Emperor of ancient China, was the first Emperor to sit on the chair.
In Chinese culture, the Emperors were regarded as the sons of Heaven, also called tianzi in Chinese. Therefore, dragon chair is placed facing south and when the Emperor was sitting on the chair, he could see the sunrise in the morning. That also showed the dignity of the imperial power.
The Dragon chair was often put in the chair room, in which the Emperor often met his ministers. The Emperor often received the foreign guests or dealt with national affairs sitting on the chair. Nowadays, these chairs are stored in the museums. Among them, the most famous one was the Beaulieu chair of Emperor Qianlong, which was made during the period of Qing Dynasty (1636~1911).
Qin Shi Huang
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Notable Figures on July 13, 2010
Qin Shi Huang, (259BC ~ 210BC)，named Ying Zheng, was the first emperor of a unified China in Chinese history.
In 246 BC, at the age of 13, Ying Zheng ascended the throne of the State of Qin. During the period of 230BC to 221BC, Qin conquered all the other six states and unified the entire China. The Qin Dynasty (221BC ~ 206BC) was born, and had been the first centralized feudal monarchy country. Ying Zheng proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang, which means the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
Qin Shi Huang is one of the greatest rulers in Chinese history. After the unification, he standardized the written script, the currency, weights and establishing a unified system of measures and weights. He also carried out a series of major economic and political reforms, such as building a massive national road system.
He did a lot to consolidate the regime and keep the stability of the society. He ordered to continue rebuilding the Great Wall to ward off invasion from the ethnic minority. In order to prohibit all heterodox thinking, he even gave the orders of the burning of booking and burying of scholars from the states other than the State of Qin.
Since the Qin Dynasty was built, Qin Shi Huang had been dreamed to be the emperor even after his death. So, the famous life-sized Terracotta Army had been built to guard his tomb. It is also known as the biggest military museums under the ground.
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