The video of Xi'an:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21Ck8_YWhW0&feature=youtu.be
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Xi’an has lots of Attractions to see. One of these many actions is the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a symbol of the old-line in Xian. This Pagoda is a holy place for Buddhists. There are three attractions to see while you are there first is the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, second is Da Ci’en Temple and lastly is the North Square. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is very old it was built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty.
There is a legend on how the Wild Goose Pagoda got its name. The Buddhist of the town were having a hard time finding meat to buy. One of the monks noticed a group of geese flying by he said ‘Today we have no meat. I hope the merciful Bodhisattva will give us some’. Soon after that the one of the wild goose broke its wing and fell to the ground. All the monks started to believed that Bodhisattva was blessing them, in return they needed to be more religious. At the very spot the wild goose fell they built the Pagoda and named it Wild Goose Pagoda.
The Wild Goose Pagoda is 211.6 feet high. Its looks like a square cone, it is very simple but grand. It is made out of bricks. As you enter the Pagoda you will notice stairs that twist up. Feel free to climb these stairs. At the top of the stairs you will have a view of Xian City.
Da Ci’en Temple is the home to Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Before the temple stands a stature of Xuanzang. The story goes, once there was a man named Xuanzang he went on a long journey. He stated his journey in Chang’an ancient Xi’an where he asked the emperor if he could travel to India. He emperor granted him permission. He traveled for seventeen years. When he finally returned he brought back with him Buddha figures, 657- stras, and Buddha relics. He became the first abbot of Da Ci’en Temple. With the support from the royals he was able to get fifty hierarchs into the temple and he was also able to translate the Sanskrit into Chinese.
The Terra Cotta Warriors
Xi'an, one of the most famous of the ancient cities in China,also is one of the four major ancient civilization capitals in the world, together with Athens, Cairo and Rome.Today the capital of Shaanxi Province, Xian is the largest base of scientific research, higher education, and National Defense and high-tech industries in Western China.
The Terra Cotta Warriors where found by peasants who were digging a well in 1973. When they were digging they started to find pieces of pottery. These pieces looked like body parts. So they call in the Archeologists to come see what they found. Many archeologists came, but they didn’t imagine on finding thousands of Terra Cotta Warriors.
The Terracotta Army is known as the eighth wonder of the world. These terracotta soldiers were made 2,200 years ago.Every figure differs from those around in facial features and expression, clothing, hairstyle, and gestures. Many of the figures originally held real weapons of the time, such as bronze swords, longbows, arrows, spears, dagger-axes and other long-shafted weapons. Surface treatment of the weapons made them resistant to rust and corrosion so that after being buried for over 2000 years they were still sharp.The first part of the Terracotta Army site to be discovered was named Vault One. In 1976, two other vaults were uncovered 20-25 meters from Vault One, and were named Vault Two and Vault Three. Standing in the vaults, you would be amazed by such a grand ancient army formation, which would transport you back to the ancient warring states period. The tomb is a treasury for the Chinese people, and for the whole world as well.
The Terracotta Army is known as the eighth wonder of the world. These terracotta soldiers were made 2,200 years ago.Every figure differs from those around in facial features and expression, clothing, hairstyle, and gestures. Many of the figures originally held real weapons of the time, such as bronze swords, longbows, arrows, spears, dagger-axes and other long-shafted weapons. Surface treatment of the weapons made them resistant to rust and corrosion so that after being buried for over 2000 years they were still sharp.The first part of the Terracotta Army site to be discovered was named Vault One. In 1976, two other vaults were uncovered 20-25 meters from Vault One, and were named Vault Two and Vault Three. Standing in the vaults, you would be amazed by such a grand ancient army formation, which would transport you back to the ancient warring states period. The tomb is a treasury for the Chinese people, and for the whole world as well.
The archeologists dated the Terra Cotta Warriors back to the Qin Dynasty. Emperor Qin built himself a mausoleum so his body had a place to rest when he died. It is also said that Emperor Qin had each one of this warriors go to an artist to get a clay life size model made after them. So if you look closely each one is different. He also had treasures and sacrificial objects buried so that he could have them in the after life.
There are three sections of the Terra Cotta Warriors. No. 1 is the largest it has columns of soldiers in front and war chariots at the back. No 2 was founded in 1976, there are thousands of warriors and 90 Chariots of wood. No 3 is the command center of the armed forces it has 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses. Seven thousand pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, weapons have been unearthed. Most of them have been restored to look like they did in the Qin dynasty.
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