Secrets of China's Clay Army/Mystery of the 13th floor

Send us a text

Most archaeological discoveries offer glimpses into the past—the Terracotta Army throws open the doors to an emperor's obsession with eternity. Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, unified warring states through brilliant strategy and ruthless determination, standardizing everything from writing systems to cart axle widths. His legacy? A underground clay battalion 8,000 strong, each soldier bearing unique features, standing in silent formation for over two millennia.

The warriors themselves are merely sentinels guarding something far more mysterious: the emperor's actual tomb. Ancient historians described rivers of mercury flowing through a miniature landscape, ceilings adorned with pearls representing constellations, and deadly traps awaiting intruders. Modern soil analysis confirms abnormally high mercury levels around the site, lending credibility to these accounts. Yet the tomb remains largely unexplored—a testament to both preservation concerns and the enduring power of the emperor's legacy.

Our journey doesn't end in ancient China. We also investigate the peculiar absence of 13th floors in modern buildings worldwide. Is this merely superstition and clever marketing, or something more? Some suggest these "missing" floors represent liminal spaces—tears in reality where the laws of physics bend and entities from other dimensions might slip through. Whether you believe in supernatural gateways or simple human psychology, the persistence of this architectural anomaly across cultures reveals our complex relationship with symbols, fears, and the spaces we create. What mysteries have you encountered in the everyday world around you? Share your thoughts and follow us for more explorations into history's enigmas and modern mysteries.

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Forget what you think .
You know.
We're here to questioneverything.
This is the end of reason, andyou're about to enter a world
where reason is just thebeginning.
Today, we're not justscratching the surface.
We're excavating the depths ofone of history's most
awe-inspiring and enigmaticarchaeological finds the

(00:21):
Terracotta Army.
And at the heart of thiscolossal undertaking lies a
figure of immense power andequally immense ambition Qin Shi
Huang, the first emperor ofChina.
Qin Shi Huang's rise to powerwas nothing short of meteoric.
Before him, China was afractured landscape of warring
states each vying for supremacy.

(00:42):
He, however, was a masterstrategist, a ruthless conqueror
and a visionary leader.
He systematically dismantledhis rivals, employing military
might and cunning politicalmaneuvers.
He didn't just unifyterritories, he unified systems.
He standardized weights,measures, the writing system and

(01:02):
even the width of cart axlesweights measures, the writing
system and even the width ofcart axles, forging a cohesive
empire from disparate parts.
But this unification came at aterrible cost.
He was a legalist believing inabsolute power and harsh
punishments.
Scholars who dared to criticizehis regime faced brutal
consequences, and books thatchallenged his authority were
burned.
And books that challenged hisauthority were burned.

(01:24):
This iron-fisted rule laid thefoundation for China's imperial
system, but also sowed the seedsof fear and resentment.
The Terracotta Army wasn'tmerely a symbolic gesture.
It was a meticulously craftedreplica of Qin Shi Huang's
entire imperial army, atestament to his obsession with
control even in the afterlife.
Each soldier, from the generalsto the foot soldiers, was

(01:50):
uniquely crafted, bearingdistinct facial features,
hairstyles and armour.
Archaeologists believe thesewere modelled after real
soldiers, giving us a glimpseinto the faces of the Qin
dynasty.
The pits themselves are amarvel of engineering, designed
to house thousands of soldiers,chariots and horses in battle
formation.
The original paintwork, thoughfaded, would have been a vibrant

(02:10):
spectacle, a testament to thewealth and artistry of the Qin
dynasty.
The sheer scale of thisundertaking speaks volumes about
the emperor's ambition and theresources at his disposal.
The Terracotta Army is merelythe outer guard of Qin Shi
Huang's Grand Mausoleum, asubterranean palace that remains
largely shrouded in mystery.
Ancient historian Sima Qiandescribed it as a microcosm of

(02:33):
the empire, complete with riversof mercury, a celestial ceiling
studded with pearls and trapsdesigned to deter tomb raiders.
The presence of mercury, thoughdangerous, is supported by
scientific analysis of the soil.
This suggests that Sima Qian'sdescriptions might have more
than a grain of truth.
The decision to leave the tomb,largely unexcavated, is driven

(02:56):
by a combination of scientificcaution and cultural sensitivity
.
The delicate artifacts withinare vulnerable to damage and the
potential for mercurycontamination poses a
significant risk.
Qin Shi Huang's pursuit ofimmortality was fueled by a
deep-seated fear of death and adesire to extend his absolute
power beyond the mortal realm.

(03:17):
This obsession led to theexploitation of countless
laborers who were forced to toilunder harsh conditions to
create his grand mausoleum.
The sheer scale of theTerracotta army and the
emperor's tomb required animmense workforce, likely
numbering in the hundreds ofthousands.
Many of these labourers wereconvicts, prisoners of war or

(03:38):
conscripted peasants.
The construction was a massiveundertaking and it came at the
cost of countless lives.
Modern technology isrevolutionising our
understanding of the TerracottaArmy and Qin Shi Huang's legacy.
Ground-penetrating radar, 3dscanning and chemical analysis
are allowing us to explore thesite without disturbing its

(03:59):
delicate contents.
These technologies arerevealing hidden chambers,
analyzing the composition of theartifacts and even
reconstructing the originalcolors of the soldiers.
The story of the TerracottaArmy is a complex tapestry of
ambition, artistry and tyranny.
It serves as a reminder of theenduring power of history and
the importance of understandingthe past to shape the future.

(04:22):
As we continue to unravel themysteries of Qin Shi Huang's
reign, we gain a deeperunderstanding of the forces that
shaped China's imperial legacy.
Our next story is about theperplexing mystery of the
missing 13th floor.
You've seen it, haven't you?
The elevator panel skippingfrom 12 to 14, the ghostly

(04:45):
absence in building layouts.
Is it mere superstition orsomething more profound?
Let's start with the practical.
Superstition, yes, but morethan that, triskaidekaphobia,
the fear of 13, runs deep.
Developers know it, hoteliersknow it.
They're not just catering tothe overly cautious, they're

(05:06):
playing a psychological game,knowing that even a hint of
unease can deter potentialoccupants.
We can't forget that somepeople experience real anxiety
when confronted with the number13.
But it's not just fear.
There are architecturalwhispers too Older buildings,
perhaps with structural hiccups,a floor omitted for unforeseen

(05:28):
reasons, or tall buildings withhidden service floors causing
numbering confusion.
And then there are culturalechoes.
In some languages, 13 soundslike a curse, a dark omen.
But what if the practical isjust a veil hiding something
else?
What if the thirteenth floor isa liminal space, a tear in the

(05:50):
fabric of reality?
Imagine the thirteenth floornot a floor at all, but a
gateway, a place where the lawsof physics bend, where entities
from other dimensions slipthrough, malevolent entities
drawn to the negativity thatclings to that number.
And perhaps these gatewaysbecome more active during

(06:12):
certain times of the year whencelestial alignments shift and
the stories they persistwhispers of people vanishing, of
cold spots, of apparitionsglimpsed in the dark.
Could it be a vortex ofnegative energy, a conductor for
the dark emotions that linger?
The number 13, some claim, actslike a magnet, drawing in

(06:35):
psychic residue manifesting asstrange phenomena.
Or perhaps it's a haunting, atragic event, a lingering spirit
trapped between worlds drawn tothe vulnerable or even darker.
The whispers of covens, ofrituals performed on these
unseen floors, fueling thedarkness with their intent.

(06:57):
The truth, as always, iselusive.
It might be a blend of fear,practicality and the truly
unknown, but the absence of the13th floor?
It remains a chilling enigma, asilent testament to the things
we don't, or perhaps can't,understand.
This is where the conversationbegins.

(07:19):
What are your thoughts, yourtheories, your own encounters?
Leave a comment and follow usfor more journeys into the
unknown.