As the emperor of the ages, Qin Shihuang even the post-mortem pomp is incredible. The terracotta warriors and horses alone are enough to shock the world and become the "eighth miracle of the world."
There are many secrets about terracotta warriors, one of which is color. There is a saying, "Without makeup, it is the terracotta warriors and horses, but with makeup it is Tang Sancai." From this we can see the general impression of the terracotta warriors and horses.
Now look at the terracotta warriors and horses that have been dug out. All of them are gray-headed and without a trace of color. In the eyes of the public, they seem to be like this. But the staff who came to the front line and the captured footage showed us an amazing fact: the terracotta warriors and horses have colors, and there are more than one.
The colorful terracotta warriors and horses when they were first unearthed
When the archaeologists excavated the soil layer and carefully brushed away the soil, they could see the colorful colors on the terracotta warriors, pink faces, red belts, purple or red. , Or green clothing, even the cuffs and neckline are carefully matched with different colors, these gorgeous colors cover the whole body.
However, the terracotta figurines began to disappear little by little as the color became more exposed. Some photographers have rushed to record these residual colors and can see their once gorgeous appearance.
The colorful original appearance of the terracotta warriors and horses
Some experts said, "Each terracotta warrior has a color. After more than two thousand years of deep burial, the preserved pigments begin to change within 15 seconds after being unearthed, and complete within 4 minutes. Dehydration, warping, peeling.”
You know, the terracotta warriors have been buried underground for more than 2,000 years. The underground environment is quite humid, and their painted layers are already very fragile. After unearthed, the color was exposed to dry air,The water loss is very serious, the paint layer will dry up, cracks, deform, curled up and fall off. Eventually, the terracotta warriors and horses will become as gray as they are now.
And such a change process does not even need more than 5 minutes, basically it is to take a look at one less time, and every eye is new.
The restored terracotta warriors and horses look
The dust of the years is brushed away, and a colorful Great Qin Empire emerges. The restored colorful terracotta warriors and horses can indeed subvert people's cognition. Vermillion, purple, pink, pink green, pink purple, medium yellow, orange, white, and ocher can even have more than a dozen colors on a terracotta warrior.
Color simulation of Pit No. 1
p0spans more than 2000 years ago, people can synthesize various artificial pigments. Explain that their skills are developed. Among these colors, there are some very important colors, such as Egyptian blue, Chinese purple .
Some experts said that this Chinese purple is very rare and precious, because it is a substance that can be synthesized with new science and technology, and its chemical name is copper barium silicate. This kind of purple pigment has not been found in nature, and it is currently a pigment that was only found in China at that time.
How the people of Qin produced this rare color in nature is still a mystery.
Color protection problem
Although the archaeologists have been careful enough-during the excavation, it was found that the lacquer on the terracotta warriors would curl and peel off, so they would use bamboo sticks, tweezers, cotton balls and other small tools for excavation.But even so, it is difficult to prevent the color from falling off in a large area. Therefore, how to do a good job of protecting the surface of terracotta warriors from peeling off is a very important problem.
It is caused by some rapid damage to the terracotta environment, temperature, humidity, and even rapid fading of microorganisms.
Therefore, experts have accelerated the research work of protection and restoration. In order to preserve the original color of the terracotta warriors, two methods have been explored. One is to use polyethylene glycol and reinforcing agents to slow down the loss of water; Hydroxyethyl acrylate is protected from a chemical level. At present, the technical difficulties in the protection and repair of the raw lacquer layer have been overcome.
In people’s inherent impression, cultural relics seem to be earthy gray from birth, they should be so old, it seems that only in this way, it has a taste of history and is a real cultural relic. It is a misunderstanding.
If you think about it, how could it be possible that something made by ancient people was so old in the first place. Colors have been used in ancient times. When they were just made, these artifacts must be new and bright. status. It's just that most of the cultural relics are deeply buried in the ground. After a long time, those colors have fallen off, corroded, and become the old look that we often see now. Therefore, the cultural relics can be magnificent and magical at the very beginning.
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