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The layout and structure of the caves
 Only a rough estimation of the workload involved in building these
five caves is awe-inspiring. The four caves cover an average floor surface of
1,200 square meters, so each of the caves should have involved excavation of
36,000 cubic meters of stone. Since a total of 24 such caves have already been
found in Shiyanbei Village, the overall excavation would be 900,000 cubic
meters. If one man can dig and carry out 0.5 cubic meter of stone everyday, then
building these 24 caves would require 1,000 strong men to work 24 hours a day,
seven days a week for about 5 years. However, this is only a conservative
estimation, because the deeper the cave goes, the more difficul in excavation
and transportation will be. What's more, it is believed that some more caves are
yet to be found near the Shiyanbei Village. Therefore, the actual workload may
probably double, or even, triple.
Obviously, this project was not finished by some single person in a short
time, but rather a historical and national program with strong financial support
from the government, like other projects with this same character in China, such
as Terra-cotta warriors and the Great Wall.
The Great Wall is an aboveground construction, which had been continually
built over a time span of 2,000 years. In the Qin Dynasty (221-207BC) alone, the
government mobilized 300,000 soldiers and 500,000 laborers. The Terra-cotta
Warriors is a large-scale underground, only Pit One occupies 14,260 square
meters. The time and labor force involved in project can still not be confirmed.
The problem is that the other two projects have been
well known with tremendous fame, while Longyou Grottoes was absolutely a secret
without any historical records. Why? Was it actually built by ancient Chinese as
we have expected? What are the technical problems to build such caves? Is it a
manmade project or a miracle on earth?
(Author:
Jeff)
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