Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang Di: My Dulled Hues

Clonk! Clonk! Clonk!

“What was that sound?”, I thought.

Clonk! Clonk! Clonk!

As the sounds get thunderously loud, a bit of light seeps in. Warming up my radiant structure. As the light gets gradually brighter and more intense, I see blue. A pale blue appeared beyond my brown rocky roof. Is that what they call the sky? It was magnificent! Although the hues of my robust structure were beautiful, I could not help but compare the evenness of the pale blue sky to my rocky and rigid form.

As I was mesmerized by the radiance of my new roof, I heard loud words coming from the sky.

“I told you! This dirt ain’t fo’ diggin’!”

“I tell you! There’s somethin’ under this ground!”

I saw the heads of these creatures emerge, blocking the grandness of the bright blue sky. I saw the faces and the structures of their bodies and immediately recognized them. They resemble the structure of the forms that are built on my grounds. They’re humans!

As I compared the two I noticed the dulled hues of the sculptures that stood within me. At this moment, I discovered unbearable turmoil. My once luminous hues that radiated from those structures are gone! Those are indeed tormentors! Because of their mere curiosity, they took away my beauty-- those humans! Before they discovered me, I was entirely bright, colorful, and filled with a prideful ambiance, but since their arrival, most of my colors have faded and my original beauty has withered.

When I saw my demise heading towards me and robbing me of all my beauty, I was quite exasperated. Up until just before that moment, I had lived a quite tedious life, however, I was quite fulfilled whenever remembered and observed my beauty. I was quite glorious and stunningly colored! Those radiant sculptures resembled those humans. They all looked different, by their facial expressions, clothes, positions, and, of course, their different radiant hues. Since those modern humans uncovered me, much of my colors faded into a dull dirt color and my purpose and life changed ever since then.

I have not seen those creatures since the death of that person-- Qin Shi Huang Di. I remember it as if it were yesterday--more than 2,000 years ago, Qin Shi Huang Di was buried here, within me. I only remember his name but it was a huge ordeal for those humans when he was buried.

My purpose served as a tomb for Qin Shi Huang Di for over 2,000 years and overnight, my purpose was altered almost completely. Since they discovered me, the grounds have not settled down for a complete day. Day in and day out, many different people would come and go. Studying me. Observing me. Their amusement was undeniably flattering, but the more I observed them, the more I felt an unbearable loss for myself!

Despite my desperation, I learned to study those humans as well. They were much more different than those who uncovered me and, most certainly, much different than the human who conducted the burial of the Emperor. They were covered in garments that looked much softer and more delicate than the garments of the sculptures that resigned in me. They call themselves “scientists”. They looked cleaner and more sophisticated than the people who found me. Every word they said seemed knowledgeable, refined, most importantly, convincing. Listening to them discuss my history aided me in learning more about my purpose and how valuable I am to them.

One evening, I heard a conversation among themselves, they were apologetic and quite distraught about the fading of my colors-- which, quite honestly, relieved my agony, but only slightly.

After continuously collecting information about myself, I discovered that I was made to serve as a place for the dead Emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di, to rest. Conversation about his great achievements along with the recurring comments about the former Monarch’s obsession with immortality. The scientists seemed pretty amused with my grandness and especially about the variety of sculptures that inhabit me, though I am not surprised about that. They conversed about the sculptures… mentioning their purposes. They referred to some as soldiers, some as servants, and some as entertainers. Their amusement made me wonder what they would think if they saw the parts of me they had not discovered yet. Although I am quite still frustrated about my dulled hues, I cannot deny… learning about myself and my targeted purpose was much desired.

After a while, scientists let in more and more individuals. But they looked much more different than all the humans that visited me. They looked much more relaxed and definitely nonchalant. The scientists mentioned them before, they called them “tourists”. They were just as they were described by the scientists. Hectic. Unpleasant. And Ignorant.

Now, if anything frustrates me more than losing color, it is these tourists. As they increase by the day, those people have not left a speck of quiet peace on my land. They are not as careful or as graceful with my structure as the scientists are. It breaks me to find myself being mistreated by those tiny people as I stand here helpless. Their amusement when they see me is quite artificial and uneducated. They know nothing about how I was made or how long it took to beautify me. Damn, those selfish tourists!

I am obliged to live in this constant agony and agitation. Amidst all these experiences, I could not find one that I could control. I remain here, left in this world as a helpless child, at the mercy of the pains of an unknown fate.