The terracotta warriors and horses in an unexplained "face", so puzzling that it is now banned from exhibition abroad
Human slaughter, a very cruel and barbaric funeral system, showed its sprout with the disintegration of the primitive communal system, and flourished with the rise of slavery.
The Yin Shang period was the most prosperous period for human slaughter, and almost all large tombs contained satiated people. In the tombs excavated at the Yin Market Mausoleum in Anyang, there were more than 5,000 satiated people, which was so heartless.
After the Zhou dynasty was established in place of the Shang dynasty, the rulers felt that the Yin Shang dynasty died due to tyranny, and the system of human slaughter was the concrete manifestation of this, so in order to maintain the rule, the Zhou rites were established and the system of human slaughter was curbed.
During the Spring and Autumn period, the rites and music were in disarray, and the constraints of the Zhou rites were greatly reduced, so the system of human slaughter reemerged, and during the Warring States period, when the vassals were constantly conquering and needing a large number of soldiers to fight, the system of human slaughter was abolished one after another.
But then, the lords and nobles felt that there was something missing in the tomb, so there were "figurines" instead of "people", so the pottery, stone sculptures, portraits and so on entered the tomb.
The terracotta warriors and horses that were buried with Qin Shi Huang completely developed the system of burial with figurines to its peak.
The Terracotta Warriors are majestic, perfectly illustrating the majesty of the Qin soldiers. They were buried deep underground for more than 2,000 years, enjoying the solitude of darkness during the long passage of time, until the unintentional light in 1974, which ignited the light they possessed in themselves and stunned the world.
These terracotta warriors are so large and realistic that they can be said to have been made in exact imitation of the Qin soldier system, with their different forms and distinctive types of soldiers, making people feel as if they have traveled back in time to the Qin dynasty when admiring them and seeing the valiant Qin soldiers with their own eyes.
When the terracotta warriors were first excavated, they resembled real people with different faces, but the air faded them so quickly that they lost their original color.
But among these terracotta warriors there is a "face" that cannot be explained, which makes people very confused.
🙋Terracotta warriors and horses discovered by accident
In 247 B.C., Ying Zheng succeeded to the throne as the king of Qin, the year he was only 13 years old.
To us nowadays, a 13-year-old is just a child, but for Ying Zheng, his mind was already beyond the "maturity" he should have had at that age.
Few of us think about what happens after death at this age, and even some old people on the verge of death can't accept the fear it brings, but Ying Zheng is very open and even thinks about making arrangements for his afterlife.
It was not long after he became the king of Qin that the construction of the imperial tomb began, and it did not stop, even during the critical period when Ying Zheng was conquering the six kingdoms.
According to historical data, the tomb of Qin Shi Huang was built for 39 years and was not really completed until the death of Qin Shi Huang, during which time nearly millions of people were used to complete it, and the terracotta warriors were also buried in the burial pits together with the tomb of Qin Shi Huang when it was being built.
Qin Shi Huang was a power-hungry emperor, and he naturally wanted to enjoy the glory of his life after his death, so he had the idea of selling the terracotta figurines into the imperial tomb to accompany the burial.
After his death, Qin Shi Huang was buried in the imperial tomb, accompanied by these loyal "soldiers".
In March 1974, the drought made the villagers of Lishan Township in Lintong County struggle to survive, and after a study by the township, it was decided to find several suitable places in the area for drilling wells.
One of the site is located in the southeast corner of the Terracotta Warriors Pit No. 1, the results of the fight will hit a few broken clay fired and life-size terracotta figurines, the local people immediately reported the situation.
The Shaanxi Provincial Museum, the Cultural Management Committee, and the Cultural Center of Lintong County immediately formed an archaeological excavation team for exploration and trial excavation, and it turned out that there was a great deal of work underground, and as the excavation progressed, Terracotta Warriors Pit No. 1 was revealed.
🙋Strange face in pit 2
The Terracotta Warriors Pit 1 unearthed a lot of terracotta figurines, they have different shapes and colors, but not long after the excavation, these terracotta figurines will be rapidly oxidized and aging, one after another lost the luster when they were first unearthed, it is regrettable.
Depending on the crown style, armor, and costume of these terracotta figurines, they can be divided into senior military official figurines, intermediate military official figurines, inferior military official figurines, general warrior figurines, and so on, which means that even if they are faded, it is easy to distinguish the identity they represent.
However, there is a "face" in the second pit that cannot be explained by the archaeologists.
In contrast to the accidental discovery of Pit 1, Pit 2 was discovered by archaeologists after drilling.
During the excavation of the kneeling and shooting terracotta army formation in the northeast of Pit 2, people saw the unusual face, which is generally flesh-red or light pink, especially after oxidation, and the color of the terracotta face is surprisingly consistent.
However, there is a "face" in the second pit that cannot be explained by the archaeologists.
In contrast to the accidental discovery of Pit 1, Pit 2 was discovered by archaeologists after drilling.
The unusual face was seen during the excavation of the kneeling and shooting terracotta army formation in the northeast of Pit 2. Generally, the faces of the terracotta warriors are flesh-red or pale pink, especially after oxidation, and the color of the faces is surprisingly consistent.
But this distinctive face showed an inexplicable light green color. At that time, people felt that after oxidation, the green-faced terracotta figurine's face color would also change after oxidation, but as time passed little by little, the terracotta figurine remained unchanged.
Green-faced terracotta figurines are painted all over the body, the face is especially complete, white eye whites, black pupils, the whole person is lifelike, gaze, but it is the color of the face, making it the most dazzling presence in the terracotta warriors.
The green-faced terracotta warrior is the only special being found so far, so what does the green color on his face represent?
🙋The speculations behind the green face
You know, the terracotta warriors and horses are built exactly after the Qin army establishment firing, will not appear for no reason a green-faced figurine, it must be hiding behind the unknown secret.
And because there has been no closure, its identity has also had infinite reverie, of which the most mainstream views are the following.
①One of them, the military Nuo people.
In the pre-Qin period, the military has been popular in the witchcraft rituals to drive away evil, this activity and has a specific ritual is called Nuo rituals, and the person who hosts the rituals is called Nuo people.
Experts therefore believe that these people, although marching with soldiers in combat, but do not have to charge into battle, in order to distinguish them from ordinary soldiers, artisans built such a green-faced figurine to represent Nuo, but Nuo's clothing is generally different from ordinary soldiers, this green-faced figurine but wearing the clothes of ordinary soldiers, puzzling.
②Second, artisan color blindness.
This green-faced figurine only has a green face and pink arms like the other terracotta warriors, which means it is not a green person, so some people speculated that it could be the craftsman who was color-blind and mixed the wrong color when drawing.
However, a total of eight kneeling figurines were unearthed together with the green-faced figurines, with painted bodies and faces, except for this one, whose face was green, making the artisan's color blindness somewhat untenable.
③Third, minorities.
After the rise of the Qin Dynasty, it conquered many minority groups around it. In order to dominate the world and conquer the six kingdoms, the Qin army had many minority soldiers in its establishment, so some people speculated that the green-faced figurines might refer to minority soldiers.
But when you think about it, the terracotta warriors were unearthed more than one, the Qin army naturally would not have only one minority soldier, why the other terracotta warriors did not appear in the green face, which again is mind-boggling to people.
④Fourth, the army sentries.
When fighting a war, these sentries would often paint their faces green for concealment, which seemed to become a more convincing argument.
In addition, there are other speculations about the identity of the green-faced figurines, only more difficult to convince, because of the uniqueness of the green-faced figurines, which naturally makes it a priceless treasure, more will not be exhibited at will, and now has become a national treasure banned from overseas exhibitions of cultural relics.
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