Chang'an - The Silk Road's Most Eastern Terminus - or Starting Point

Qin Shi Huang Di was the young vissionary ruler who established Chang'an, the city of eternal peace, in 221BCE, a name well deserved upon conquering and bringing together the 7 states of what we think of as eastern China and who had been battling since 476BCE.  By naming himself emperor instead of king, he established the title for a unified China. Walls that had been built to protect these states were joined and extended north to protect against the region's enemies.   Before  his death in 210BCE, Qin unified the area by introducing standardized language and writing, roads, irrigation, weights, measures and currency - the circular coin with cut out "Middle Kingdom" square. But far from benevolent, this first emperor of China centralized power to maintain control and create a huge peasant workforce. He destroyed evidence of previous rulers by burning books that referenced their accomplishments. He forced nearly 2 million - a full 10% of his subjects - along with innumerable captured foreigners to connect China's famous wall while also expanding it north to further protect from the region's enemies. 

Qin Shi Huang Di may be best known in the west for the terracotta army he had built to join him and 100 of his concubines upon his death in his mausoleum.  Each of the six-thousand warriors are different in appearance and would have been brightly painted. Facing west to protect against his enemies, they were set up as like a Romam army with the vanguard, foot soldiers, charioteers  and additional ranks with horses and actual weapons covering an area equivalent to approximately eight football fields. 

But like many countries who build their military forces too quickly, creating this well fitted out army nearly bankrupt the new empire. After Qin's death in 210BCE, his weaker son Qin Er Shi went to war with Chang'an's actual army. They raided the tomb to obtain weapons that would have been held by many of the terracotta warriors. 

 Over centuries, the wooden beams of this resting place collapsed and the retaining walls filled in the land, hiding this mausoleum until it's inadvertent discovery by farmers digging a well in 1974.  Work continues on this project, which former French president Jacques Chirac called the eight wonder of the world - which in fact it may very well be. 

Although Quin Shi Huang's son was killed in 206BCE, the Qin Dynasty (221-206BCE) was China's 1st Imperial Dynasty to be replaced by the Han Dynasty which lasted from 206BCE - 220CE. And as importantly, the Chang'an region continued to  act as an essential Silk Road crossroad for people from Central Asia, the Middle East and this newly evolving empire - and held that distinction for over 1,000 years.