The Terra Cotta Warriors of Emperor Qin were intended to protect him in the afterlife.
Emperor Qin (秦始皇) is legendary for uniting China, burning the books, burying the scholars, and building the most impressive tomb for himself in the known world. Our students got to check out a little of his handiwork at the museum for his terra cotta warrior (兵马俑) army in Xian (西安). His tomb is close by, but it has not been excavated yet. When asked about it, the official answer is that it is so large and deep, there are too many technical barriers to excavation. But unofficially it is rumored to be well protected with traps and curses. No one seems willing to find out if this is true or not.
After a trip back in time to see the relics of a dead empire, we went to study one of China’s most important intangible cultural heritages. My teacher, Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong (陈全忠), welcomed our group to study Chen Tai Chi (陈氏太极) at his school. His son Chen Xili and his grandson, Chen Bin, performed demonstrations of Chen Tai for our students. Afterwards they held a special private seminar for them.
Enjoy this video of Master Chen Xili demonstrating a combination of old frame (Lao Jia, 老架) and new frame (Xin Jia, 新架) Taijiquan form movements.
I was introduced to tai chi by a friend. I must say that I did not really know much about it before this. He told me that it had helped him no end in controlling his depression. His name is John and he has many issues in his life which not only affect his self-confidence but also makes him very depressed at times. John has been attending tai chi classes for nearly two years and has seemingly become a new man. For whatever reason he did not tell people about what he was doing. On a night out I mentioned to him that he had been a lot happier in the recent months. This is when he talked to me about tai chi. He also asked if I would like to attend the classes with him, which I duly agreed to. I am very glad that we had this conversation as I can also quite easily spiral into a state of depression.’