XI'AN
In the spring of 1974, local farmers drilling a well at the foot of Lishan (Mount Li) in Lintong County (then most famous for its two varieties of pomegranates, one sweet, one sour) near Xi'an, found a clay man whose head, body, arms and legs were broken. That man turned out to be one of eight thousand life-sized, terra cotta warriors and their horses buried on the east side of Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) Emperor Qingshihuan’s tomb to defend him in the afterlife. This extraordinary archeological find has been called the eighth wonder of the world and has transformed X’ian, the capital of Shaanxi Province in northwestern China, into a must-see stop for tourists traveling to China.
Though the discovery of the Terra Cotta Warriors made Xi’an famous all over the modern world, prominence is nothing new for the city. Historians say that Chang'an, Athens, Rome, and Istanbul, were the four capitals of ancient civilization. One memorial to Xi’an’s importance in Chinese history is the Forest of Stone Steles, which is renowned as the largest “stone book warehouse” in China. Located near the south gate of the City Wall, it houses more than 2,300 famous steles and inscribed memorial tablets of the Han, Wei, Sui, Tang, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.
During its long history, 13 dynasties made Xi’an (called Chang’an in ancient times) their capital; during the Tang Dynasty Xi'an was the largest city in the world, a cosmopolitan city linked to many central Asian regions and Europe through the Silk Road. During the fall of the Tang Dynasty much of Chang'an was destroyed. However, Chang’an continued to play a role in Western trade and experienced a revival under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when it was renamed Xi'an
Although the Qin Emperor Qingshihuan, whose capital was just north of the modern city of Xi’an, failed to establish a lasting dynasty (he died in 210 BCE), in some ways he is the Chinese ruler best known outside of China because of the terra cotta states uncovered in his massive tomb complex that encompasses 56 square kilometers.
Qinshihuang, who became the head of the state of Qin at the age of thirteen, left a complicated legacy. Although reviled for his tyranny, Qinshihuangdi is also admired for radical and insightful policies that subsequent dynasties emulated. By the time he was 38, he had conquered the six neighboring states to unify China for the first time. To synthesize seven separate states into one nation, he standardized a common script and established uniform measurement and monetary systems. For effective government, he codified a legal system and replaced hereditary rulers with a centrally appointed administrative system. To improve industrial productivity he encouraged agricultural reforms and constructed many roads. And in an effort to limit the inroads of barbarian tribes, he supervised the construction of a defense fortification along the northern frontier, the first Great Wall.
Although China benefited from Qinshihuang’s policies, thousands of Chinese workers died completing his far-reaching public works program. 700,000 forced laborers were sacrificed to construct his tomb, which was begun as soon as he ascended the throne--workers and childless concubines were buried with him to safeguard the tomb’s secrets. Several hundred thousand workers spent 36 years building the tomb, which was destroyed and plundered by rebelling peasants shortly after the death of the emperor in 206 BC.
The terracotta warriors averaged 1.8 meters in height. Each has an individualized appearance, characterized mainly by its facial features though their jobs are delineated as well—there are archers, foot soldiers as well as cavalry. The terra cotta warriors were originally painted using more than ten colors, though fire damage, water damage and more than 2,000 years of natural erosion caused the paint to peel off most of the soldiers.
On the road from Xi’an to the Terra Cotta Warrior site, visitors can stop at the Huaqing Hot Springs where for centuries emperors bathed, enjoy the beauty of the landscape and engaged in political intrigue.
After Qinshihuang’s death, Chang’an continued to be the principal capital of the Empire and entered the greatest period of its development under the Tang Dynasty (618-904).
Under the Tang, the city was a major religious center, not only for Buddhism and Taoism but also for relatively recent arrivals in China: Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism and Manichaeism. One of the few major Tang-era buildings left in Xi'an today is the Great Wild Goose (Dayan) Pagoda, first built in 652 in the Daci'en Monastery to house the library collected by Buddhist monk Xuanzang on his pilgrimage to India in 629. By climbing to its seventh story, which "rubs the blue sky's vault," a Tang poet Cen Shen felt he was able to "bypass the world's bounds." There is a lovely view of the city from the top of the Pagoda.
Today, Great Wild Goose Pagoda Square also features a musical fountain and show every night. Nearby is a theme park dedicated to the era of the Tang Dynasty called “Tang Paradise.” Tang Paradise, which opened in 2005, includes themed garden areas, tea, a market, entertainment, replicas of Tang style buildings, two-humped camel rides, and a stage spectacular called A Dream of Returning to Great Tang.
While the prosperous Tang Dynasty is still admired, it eventually collapsed, which resulted in a rapid deteriorationg of Chang’an. But Chang'an did experience a revival during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) when it was renamed Xi’an. The City Wall in Xi'an, first built in the early years of the Ming dynasty, is the most complete city wall to survive in China, as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. Outside the city wall is a moat where a circular park has been built.
Xi’an’s Bell Tower and Drum Tower are also a legacy of the Ming period when every city had a bell tower and a drum tower that was sounded at dawn and the drum at dusk. Nearly a century ago, the 23 meter high Bell Tower (built in 1384 and rebuilt several times beginning in the 16th century) loomed above surrounding houses in the walled city, but today it is barely visible from a distance, dwarfed by multi-story modern buildings.
It was in the Ming period that the large Muslim community in Xi'an took root. Muslim merchants had arrived in China much earlier both by sea through the ports of the South China coast and from Central Asia, but they had been required to live in enclosed communities. By the sixteenth century many of the Chinese Muslims had become so assimilated that they knew little Arabic or Persian. The first Muslims to settle in the Muslim district of Xi’an were Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan merchants who traveled along the Silk Road. Today, there are about 60,000 Muslim, mainly of the Hui ethnic minority, living and working in Xi'an.
Visitors to the Muslim quarter will find a thriving Muslim community. Muslim Street (Huimin Jie) is packed with small restaurants serving typical Muslim food. To get to the Great Mosque (Qingzhen Dasi), located behind the Drum Tower, visitors pass through a narrow bazaar street lind with small shops selling sourvenitrs and textiles.
The buildings of the Great Mosque complex that visitors see today date from the late Ming period. In its arrangement of courtyards and purely Chinese-style architecture, the mosque is visual evidence of the degree to which there had been synthesis of Islam with at least some of the externals of Chinese culture. The Inscription on the "One God Pavilion" is the Muslim declaration of faith and "God is One" is written in Chinese characters. The four courtyards are beautifully landscaped and include fountains, pavilions and other features, such as steles and arches with Arabic writing and decorations. One courtyard, decorated with intricate bas-relief woodwork and inscriptions from the Quran, is a big prayer hall that can accommodate a thousand people.
Food
Xi’an cuisine is typical of northwest of northwest China and includes foods that have been influenced by the Hui people. Wheat noodles and steamed bread are more popular than rice, and lamb and mutton are the preferred meats. Dumplings come in staggering varieties and shapes like avocadoes, chicken, cauliflower, crabs and ducks that reflect the filling inside.
At the top of the city's specialities is Yangrou Paomo, a mutton soup served with traditional, wheat flat bread (youzhi). The bread is broken up and added to the soup seasoned with caraway or coriander and pickled garlic. Yangrou paomo means literally, "soaked bread with mutton" and the custom of having people crumble their own bread into a bowl before the chef adds meat and soup is said to make the food taste better.
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