Surely one of the wonders of the human world is the Museum of the Terra Cotta Warriors, near Xi'an, China. The First Emperor, all-powerful (it seemed) in life, was more than just a little anxious about what would happen to him in death. So he commissioned an entire Army of warriors to accompany him in the underworld.
Excavations have revealed that the Army - with Infantry, Cavalry, etc. - has been stationed in the place where a living Army would have been. There is a hillside a Kilometre or so from the main location, and it is thought that this houses the bodily remains of the Emperor - even said to be floating in an eternal river.
I visited the Terra Cotta Warriors in September 2006, and was amazed by the scale, and by what that told me about the lengths people will go to in order to deal with their insecurities and fears concerning death. For myself, I am glad that Jesus Christ offers me a fulfilling life here and now, and an assurance of eternity in His presence, so the fear of death has no hold on me!
Visitors to the Museum are told the story of how the Warriors were discovered by Mr Yang while digging a well. Mr Yang now works at the Museum, signing books about the Museum. Looking at Mr Yang, I got the impression that he would much prefer to still be digging wells, instead of being gawked at by tourists all day long. There is a sign asking people not to photograph Mr Yang, but that is ignored by many. My friends and I wondered whether there was a rotation system to determine who would be Mr Yang today, but on purchasing a set of Postcards, I saw that there was in fact a whole family of Yang - four of them - who were involved. Although we only saw one Mr Yang in person, it seems that all the Messrs Yang take their turn on duty - I'm sure they just can't wait!
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