Those Terra Cotta Warriors!

Man, it boggles the mind! According to one source 700 thousand conscripts labored 36 years to make these guys, and they didn’t just pour them into molds, they gave them faces with expressions. I know that the Japanese emperor wanted to buried with his “army”, so to speak, but did they have another purpose? Like maybe to make the emperor’s army look bigger than it was?

Q

When Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, of CHINA, had those warriors made, Japan was still inhabited by hairy Caucasian aborigines . . . “Japan” as we know it didn’t yet exist.

Ying Zhen, who unified China by military and diplomatic means circa 221BC and founded the Qin dynasty took the title Shi Huang or First Emperor.

The reported figure of 700,000 includes the labourers for both the production of the terracotta warriers, palace and his mausoleum. If you add in a reported 800,000 troops he used to defend the northern and south borders and a further 300,000 to build the Great Wall (the western earthen portion, not the later stone sections to the north most are familiar with) you’ve got a grade one meglomaniac who was using 20% of the counties male population for his own edification. However there were plenty of progressive achievements during his reign, along with the butchery and extravagence.

The warrior army is quite awesome, as you noted each figure is personalised and I was informed that “experts” can detect regional variations in the features and apparel between elements of the army.

I thought the bronze chariots that were also found at the site to be equally impressive.

Thanks for the correction! Don’t suppose you would believe me if I told you I meant to say “CHINA”? Didn’t think so.

Q

"Japan was still inhabited by hairy Caucasian aborigines "
I read somewhere recently that the Ainu (I think thats what they are called)actually aren’t caucasian. The acticle said something about them just have similar characteristics to whites, but genetically they are related to polynesians or some other pacific island group. I could be wrong.