The Many Wonders of XI'AN

At Xi’an, Hugh and Colleen Gantzer encounter a clay army and the memorial of a monk who ventured into India 13 centuries ago...

We were lured by tales of the deathless warriors. They were soldiers of a Chinese army who never went to war, were never meant to go to war, and could never have gone to war even if they had been ordered to.

From Beijing we caught a train. In a proclaimed classless country like China there are no First and Second class coaches: but there are 'Soft Seat' coaches, and others. Soft Seat passengers pay more, have special waiting rooms, compartments with beds made up with crisp bed-linen and blankets to ward off the chill of the AC, lace curtains on the windows, and vaccum flasks of hot water for their tea and the instant noodles that most passengers carry.

A lifestyle protected by the Great Wall

Each coach has its own uniformed attendant who handles all complaints promptly, keeps the coach squeaky-clean and stands guard at the door of the coach whenever the train halts at a station to ensure that unauthorised people don't enter and authorised passengers don't get left behind. Our fellow passengers were a Japanese publisher who wants to have his travel guides translated into Chinese, and a very affable General of the PLA whose limousine, drove onto the platform at Beijing; and another received him, along with his aides, in Xi'an. We saw no porters in any of the Chinese railway stations; rank all over the world, even in a classless society, does have its privileges.

Xi-an, pronounced She-aan, is a beautiful old, walled, town which, at first glance, reminded us of a very, very, updated Panaji. Their road-dividers have trees on them and under the avenues on both sides of the road, are the inevitable cycle tracks. The silver chimes of commuters' cycle bells sound a proletarian angelus in many Chinese cities.

In fact this city, which is well over thirteen centuries old, did have its own system to proclaim the advent of dawn and the arrival of dusk. To the east and west of the city are beautiful, multi-roofed, gate towers. In the one facing the rising sun, bells used to be rung at dawn and in the western one drums were beaten at sunset. The original Bell Tower had collapsed but when China decided to invest in tourism, Xi'an reconstructed the old gate.

A mural in the temple fronting the pagoda built by Hiuen Tsang

China's dedication to tourism was brought out again in our beautiful Garden Hotel. It has been built in a heritage garden landscaped in the classic Chinese manner. The original rock pool, with ducks and koi carp and a pavilion, has been incorporated into the heart of the hotel, radiating the Taoist ideal of the serenity of nature.

On our way in, we had noticed a pagoda and a temple at the end of the road on which our hotel stood. One evening we walked down to it and found an unexpected Indian connection. A board in front of the Dagen Temple and Da Yan Pagoda said: "Temple built in 648 AD to honour Empress Wende by Tang Crown Prince Li Zhi. The area covered is more than 24 hectares. It has 1897 rooms and housed 300 monks. Pilgrim Xuan Zang went to India when he was 28 years old and returned in 652 when he was asked to take over the temple affairs. He built the Pagoda to preserve the hundreds of volumes of Buddhist literature he brought back from India. Original Pagoda constructed in India style with five storeys....."

Chinese words are spelt in various ways when rendered in Roman letters. Xuan Zang is also spelt Xun-zu and Hsuntzu. Our Indian scholars spell this Buddhist monk-historian's name in another way and they admit that much of what we know of our land in that age is thanks to the meticulously kept chronicles of this man. We call him Hiuen Tsang. When we asked a monk what a mural in the temple fronting Hiuen Tsang's Pagoda depicted, he said that it showed the Goddess of Mercy. It did, however, seem to be strongly influenced by Indian imagery, particularly those of Ganga and Jamuna.

The discovery of Xi'an's Indian connection, however, was a bonus. The main attraction was a memorial to another great man: the Emperor Qin Shihuang. He was an engineering, administrative, political and military genius. More than 22 centuries ago, he abolished the feudal system, codified the law and simplified the script. He was also responsible for the only man-made structure visible from the moon: the Great Wall. Some say that he built that stupendous barrier to stop the cold desert from encroaching on the rich farm lands of China and to exclude the 'northern barbarians.' But we believe that he also wanted to protect the elegant and sophisticated way of life of the Chinese glitterati.

For all his achievements, however, he was a very insecure man. He feared death and the anonymity it would bring. And so he created a massive reassurance against the terrors of the Dark Beyond, carefully destroying all records of his fantastic folly. Indeed, it had been so well concealed for over 2,000 years that if farmers had not started digging a well in March 1974, it would not have been found. The rural folk unearthed some baked clay figurines, informed the government, and one of the greatest discoveries of modern archaeology was announced to the world.

The Indian connection in Xi’an: Hiuen Tsang’s pagoda

We drove 25 kms along a superb highway, through vineyards and fields of maize, towards the Qiling (Chilling) mountains. After a while the old fields gave way to brightly decorated stalls lining our road. When the archaeologists made their amazing discovery, the government took over the lands of the farmers and gave them the right to open souvenir stalls. "Are you unhappy about giving up your ancestral lands?" we asked them. All of them beamed cheerily at us, chattering through our guide. "We farmed because we had nothing else to do," they said. "But it was hard work, an uncertain living. Today, the tourists come all the time: easy work, better earnings. Every reason to be happy!" The reason for their happiness lies underground. It was here that Emperor Qin Shihuang had 8,000 life size, pottery warriors and horses created, presumably to serve as his guardians in the after life. It was an incredible achievement.

We ran the gauntlet of the farmers-turned-souvenir sellers and stepped down into a landscaped and paved forecourt. Most of the army had been left standing in the three vaults in which they had been positioned. Hangar-like structures had been built over them and they are accessed through superbly designed museums that explain all one needs to know about the terracotta army. We saw reassembled chariots and weapons made of bronze. We learnt how each of the hollow figures had been sculpted separately of a clay made of washed loess, a fine and windblown yellow dust and quartz sand; the fired heads were fitted only after the bodies had been baked; and then each figure had been painted. A few of the warriors had been removed from the pits and placed in display cases. We walked around them, examining them very carefully: they were extraordinarily lifelike. Their uniforms, facial features, headwear and even hairstyles were varied.

We stood on the fenced off platforms and looked down at the pits where archaeologists were still at work, cleaning up the Emperor's terracotta legions. The army marching towards us was amazingly realistic. In Pit No. 1 there were 6,000 horses and warriors in battle array. Two hundred and four warriors formed the vanguard of the army. These infantrymen with light packs, were followed by 30 files of chariots alternating with more infantry. To the right and left of this formation were two lines of infantrymen facing outwards. Right at the back were a line of rearguard infantrymen. It was all so authentic that we could almost hear the cadenced tread of rigorously disciplined feet. Pit No. 2 had kneeling and standing archers, more chariots and cavalry, Pit 3 held the commanding chariot with a bodyguard of 64 infantrymen armed with bronze weapons. There was also a Pit 4, but we didn't visit it becaue it was incomplete.

Our encounters with the Terracotta army had left us stunned. To have conceived and had both this and much of the Great Wall executed in the short span of an eleven year reign must have called for a maniacal obsession. Clearly, Emperor Qin Shihuang allowed nothing to stand in his way. If his projects needed land, he took it; if he wanted labour, he enslaved his subjects; if he required money, he imposed tax upon tax. Eventually, his long suffering subjects could not take it anymore. In 210 BC, while on a tour of his empire to feel the pulse of his restive subjects, he died; some say, in mysterious circumstances. A farmers' revolt then overthrew the despotic government of China's first emperor. When the bell finally tolled, the Emperor must have realised that he should never have depended on an immortal army with painted feet of clay.