8,000 Statues to Protect One Man
The First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi, ruled for two decades, from the year 230 A.D. to 210 A.D. during the Qin Dynasty. Throughout his reign, many assassinations were attempted against him. Because of this and other factors, Emperor Qin became obsessed with the fear of death. During his reign, he ordered the construction of an enormous tomb to lay his body after he died. When he died in 210 A.D., he left behind not only his legacy, but also a great tomb, which would later be discovered in 1974, marking it as one of the greatest archeological finds in history.
This tomb, with its nearly 8,000 terra-cotta warriors, is a mystery within itself. Many questions are asked about this tomb, with one prevailing question: Was the tomb meant to be a memorial towards Emperor Qin being an earthly ruler or for the warriors to protect the Emperor in the afterlife? Or possibly both?
With so many different interpretations of the First Emperor’s tomb and Terracotta Army, it is hard to find the real reason as to why it was built. One of those interpretations could be that this magnificent tomb was a way to protect him against vengeful spirits in the afterlife, as well as to commemorate him as an earthly and cosmic ruler.
To begin to understand the purpose of such an elaborate tomb, you must first explore the common beliefs and thoughts of the Chinese people about the cosmos, death and the afterlife during that time. Ideas about immortality and longevity go hand in hand, with the general belief being that it was based on the body and soul of a person.
Two spiritual elements were associated with the body: po and hun. Po was the life force that kept the body active, and hun was the expressive, emotional soul of the body. Once a person dies, the body and the two spiritual elements separated, with the hun going to paradise. The po would stay with the body and cause no harm. However, if one had suffered or died far from home without a proper burial, a ghost spirit could emerge and return to earth to haunt and cause harm to people.¹
With this in mind, the Emperor could have believed that the most important part of his burial was the tomb itself. If the tomb and burial were satisfactory, he wouldn't have to worry about whether his hun went to paradise or if his po stayed with his body in peace and caused no harm.
It was also believed that the dead could use the same things in the afterlife as they did in their present life. The richer and more powerful one was, the more items needed, such as concubines, servants, warriors, etc.² This is most likely the main reason the Emperor wanted an army of warriors built in his tomb, as well as concubines and servants, so he could use them in his afterlife as he did in his present life.
Once you understand the philosophy and thought common in China during the Qin Dynasty, you can begin to understand the possible reasons as to why the First Emperor was so obsessed with death and the creation of his magnificent tomb. It is evident that the Emperor thought of his tomb to commemorate his achievements during his reign over China. The tomb could be an expression of his pride in the achievements of his reign and unifying China.³
Detail was an important factor in the structure of the tomb and its occupants, the terra-cotta warriors. The individual portraits of the warriors are unique, not only in the face, but also the type of hairstyle they wore. It is accurate to think that the Emperor wished to celebrate the unification of China, a country of many peoples, and to bear witness to the power of the ordinary people of the country.⁴
To represent himself as a cosmic and earthly ruler, the ceiling was decorated with celestial bodies, while the ground had geographical features, such as using mercury to create the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, as well as the great seas.⁵ He was able to recreate the physical world with the mercury rivers and seas, while recreating the stars and cosmos with the constellations on the ceiling, proving how he was an earthly and cosmic ruler.
Several different aspects of the tomb proved how great of a ruler the First Emperor was, and the creation of the warriors further explains the reasoning as to why the tomb was built: to protect the emperor for all of eternity.
[1] Frances, Wood, China’s First Emperor and His Terracotta Warriors (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007).
[2] John Man, The Terra Cotta Army: China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation (Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 2008).
[3] Arthur Cotterell, The First Emperor of China: The Greatest Archeological Find of Our Time (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981).
[4] Cotterell
[5] Wood
