景点介绍
Qin Shi Huang Tomb
Located at the foot of the Mountain Li and 2 km west of the Terracotta Army, is the tomb of the Qin Emperor that the warriors were built to protect. This is a very tourist oriented site and it leaves many people feeling cold. Today, it is hard to imagine the incredible glamour and grandeur that must have surrounded this tomb in 221 BC.
Speaking of Qin's Terracotta Warriors and Horses, I dare say that most people definitely have heard about it or even have paid a visit. Its grandeur and mystery really overwhelm you. However, people could have neglected the yet unexcavated mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang due to all this. Actually, the Museum of Terracotta Warriors forms only part of the tomb. Greater things are yet to come.
Qin Shihuangdi began supervising the construction of the Qin Ling, his burial tomb, as soon as he took the throne in 246 BCE. Work intensified after the conquest of the rival states, and continued for about 40 years, even after his death in 210 BCE. Only the fall of the dynasty itself in 206 BCE halted work on the elaborate funerary complex.
The site chosen was south of the Wei River beside the slopes of Black Horse Mountain in what is now Lintong County, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Xi'an. The entire site measures approximately seven and a half kilometres square. Interior and exterior ramparts were built around its edge, probably out of the earth removed in the course of digging graves and chambers within the mausoleum. The exterior of the mausoleum is in the form of a low earth pyramid (see photograph page 4) with a wide base about 350 metres (382 yards) square. Originally it was 115 metres (377 feet) high, but more than 2,000 years of erosion have reduced this to 76 metres (249 feet). The emperor's grave itself, Qin Ling, which lies less than two kilometres west of the burial ground of the terracotta army, has not been excavated. Beneath it is thought to lie the underground palace in which the remains of Qin Shihuangdi were laid to rest over 22 centuries ago.
The underground palace of the mausoleum is the core of the whole buildings. According to Sima, a great historian in the Western Han Dynasty, the Qin mausoleum was built deep down in the underground, where a foundation of bronze was laid and sarcophagus was coated there on .Rare objects and jewels were collected from the palaces and from various officials, and were carried there and stored in vast quantities. Artificers were ordered to construct mechanical crossbows, which, If anyone were to enter ,would immediately discharge their arrows .With the aid of quicksilver ,rivers and seas were made the flowing movement of which was affected by mechanical driving .On the vault top were the delineated celestial constellations, while on the floor, there were the geographical divisions of the earth. Candles made from the floor ,there were the delineated celestial constellations ,while on the floor, there were the geographical divisions of the earth .Candles made from the fat of the walrus were said to bum for a very long time .This indicates that the interior of the mausoleum is grand and gorgeous palace and treasure house.
The ancient people thought the spirit could be still alive in the next would after they died ,so did emperor Qin Shihuang . he attempted to move the earthly empire to the heaven and establish an underground empire that was as glorious and dignified as the one he ruled over when alive.
Around the emperor Qin's tomb approximately 600 satellite tombs and pits have been discovered in the vicinity of mausoleum. Among them is a pit containing the emperor's bronze chariots and horses symbolizing the journey of his spirit to the world of the dead: various pits containing rare birds and animals indicate the emperor's love of hunting; stable pits depict the imperial studs ;and three pils containing the terra-cotta warriors and horses represent the mighty army of the Qin Dynasty.
At present, three places of the burial pits have been investigated ,which are 17 pits outside the east wall of the mausoleum; 20 pits inside the small city; and some burial pits in the north gate between inner and outer walls.
Furthermore, in the southwest of the mausoleum the massive graves for the builders have been discovered .Not any coffins found to hold the remains of the mausoleum builders; their bodies were roughly put together with one overlapping the other.
Investigations have confirmed that there was an inner and outer enclosure and preliminary archaeological investigations have revealed what appears to be the underground palace's wall just four metres below the surface. What actually lies in the underground palace will remain a mystery for the moment, since the Chinese Ministry of Culture has no plans to excavate the site. The official line is that Chinese archaeologists are reluctant to open the tomb until they know a way to preserve what may be very delicate remains.
The mausoleum is thought to have been plundered at least once, by a rebel general called Xiang Yu in 206 BCE, but no excavations have yet been done. It is known, however, that not only was the body of Qin Shihuangdi interred in the tomb (in 209 BCE, a year after his death), but also those of his childless wives-who were buried alive-together with artisans who had knowledge of the inner structure of the mausoleum.
Information about the construction of the mausoleum comes almost entirely from Sima Qian, the chronicler of The Historical Records-China's first large-scale work of history which was written about a century after the fall of Qin. He recorded that a labour force of 700,000 was used to construct the mausoleum. The underground palace was said to comprise various chambers, the most important being the burial chamber. It featured bronze walls with heaven and the known world- the Qin empire-being reproduced on the ceiling and floor respectively. The sun, moon and stars-the last represented by pearls-were depicted, while features on the floor included the 100 rivers of the empire flowing mechanically into a sea on which floated golden boats. Tests on the mausoleum have shown minute traces of mercury over an estimated area of 12,000 square metres (14,352 square yards), adding substance to this claim. In all, some 17 skeletons, probably of princes and princesses, and perhaps of Qin Shihuangdi's parents, have been unearthed.
The Historical Records
Sima Qian, a great historian who wrote in early Han dynasty, offered archeologists great insight on the mausoleum's construction. We learned from him that the tomb is huge. The coffin of Emperor Qin Shihuang was cast in bronze. Underground Palace was gem-studded replica of imperial housing above ground. Moreover, booby traps with automatic-shooting arrows were installed to deter would-be tomb robbers. Heaven and earth were represented in the central chamber of the tomb. Ceiling shaped into sun, moon and stars by inlaying pearls and gems symbolizes the sky and the ground was an accumulation point of rivers, lakes and seas, like Yellow River and Yangtze River, which stands for the earth. It is said that the underground palace was brightly lit by whale oil lamps for eternity. Nowadays, the records in this book have been definitely proved right by archaeological findings and the underground palace of the tomb is presumably well preserved.
Remains of the Mausoleum
As a part of the mausoleum, the terracotta warriors have dazzled the world. But the materials unexcavated are also worth studying. Qin bricks and tiles, engraved with decorative patterns, are strew everywhere around the tomb. There are many satellite tombs built for accompanying Qin Shihuang. Ministers, princesses and princes, the famous and the not so famous were inhumed there. The burial pits for horses, rare birds and pottery figures were ever regarded as the sacrificial objects to the Emperor. Hence the remains from these tombs and pits
