Emperor’s Ghost Army in China
The Nova documentary that covers the Emperor’s Ghost Army in China is quite interesting. It is filled with mystifying discoveries about China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huang Di. In the film, the fact that the emperor’s terracotta army was to serve him after life surprised me a lot. His army consisted of horses, chariots, acrobats, musicians, administrators, and other people whose main work was to take care of the needs of the emperor. Therefore, it is evident that he thought he would still have a life after death. In his thoughts, death was not meant to stop anyone from going on with their life. He also thought that he would still possess the power to rule hence he built a clay army of 8,000 strong men.
I was also surprised to note that the Emperor placed a directive that bronze weapons had to be manufactured to be used by the clay soldiers. In my view, the emperor believed that he would transform into clay in his afterlife. This is revealed by the fact that he had his weapons given to clay soldiers. He had no idea that death marked the end of life activity. He was also ignorant of the fact that rulership is not forever. It ends when one experiences death both in the body and the spirit.
Lastly, it is important to note that 8,000 clay soldiers and the bronze weapons were made in a record 37 years. According to the scientists, the experiments conducted on the clay soldiers revealed that they were approximately 400 kilograms. In addition, they all had unique faces aimed at reflecting that each of them had a different personality.