Thursday, October 8, 2015

Miniature Terracotta Warriors Hanyangling, China

On the outskirts of Xian, in the "small" city of Xianyang is a museum housing miniature terracotta warriors that are about 18 inches in size. The warriors were excavated from Yangjiawan Village, Xianyang, City.

These warriors were built for Emperor Jingdi, the fourth emperor of the Han dynasty who lived from 188-141 BC. He ruled using principles of Taoism and did a lot to lower taxes and increase the living standards of his people. He had miniature warriors made for his burial tomb instead of life size warriors because they were cheaper and easier to make. The museum housed not only 50,000 miniature terracotta warriors, but a collection of bronze statues and artifacts, jade artifacts and original stone writings from the Han dynasty.


                                            People during the Han dynasty believed that
                                            burying jade with a corpse would keep it from
                                             rotting and would bring prosperity. Thus, bodies
                                        were buried with jade swine or cicada statues in their hands.





Chimes


Remains of an outer and inner
coffin from the Han dynasty.



                                                          Writings from the Han dynasty


                                                                 Bronze pot

                                                                   Gold coins


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