After more than a year's excavation and research in Northwest
China, archaeologists now believe an ancient tomb belonged to the
grandmother of Qinshihuang, the country's first emperor.
Zhang Tian'en, an expert with the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeology
Institute, said the tomb was probably built on the emperor's orders
and was chronologically the closest to the mysterious mausoleum of
Qinshihuang.
It is estimated that more than 720,000 workers laboured 38 years
to build the mausoleum for the emperor, who ruled the Qin Dynasty,
China's first unified dynasty, from 221-206 BC.
"We are hoping that the excavation of his grandmother's tomb
will help unravel the mystery about the first emperor's mausoleum,
which still cannot be excavated. It will also contribute to
research into Qin Dynasty burial culture," Zhang said.
The tomb, located on the southern outskirts of Xi'an, provincial
capital of Shaanxi, is the second largest ancient tomb excavated in
China.
Only the tomb of King Jinggong of the State of Qin (897-221 BC)
is bigger, said Zhang.
Located under the new campus of the Xi'an Business College, the
tomb is about 30 kilometres southwest of Qinshihuang's famous
mausoleum. Qinshihuang united seven warring states and founded the
Qin Dynasty in 221 BC.
With a length of 550 metres and a width of 310 metres, the tomb
covers an area of 17.3 hectares.
Archaeologists unearthed two carriages designed to be driven by
six horses, which could only be used by kings and queens in the
State of Qin.
The seals of court officials responsible for running errands on
behalf of queens, queen mothers and princes, have also been found,
said Wang Hui, an expert with Shaanxi Normal University.
After further examination on the unearthed articles and
comparisons with Qin mausoleums, the archaeologists concluded that
the tomb belonged to Qinshihuang's grandmother, Queen Mother
Xia.
According to Ding Yan, an associate researcher with the Shaanxi
Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the main
tomb for the Queen Mother is 140 meters long, 113 meters wide and
15 metres deep, with the tomb chamber covering an area of more than
100 square meters.
Ding said that since the tomb was raided and burned several
times, only fragments of Qin coins, grey clay vases and red clay
boilers have been unearthed, as well as shards of decorative and
ritual jade objects, broken pottery and pieces of bronze.
Sadly, Qingshihuang's grandmother's inner and outer coffins were
also burned, Ding added. The tomb is still under excavation.
Zhang Tian'en said the Queen Mother lived until Qinshihuang was
20 in the seventh year of his reign. The royal lady is believed to
have exerted considerable influence on the politics of the later
years of the State of Qin and on Qinshihuang in particular.
China's survey of the 2,200-year-old Qinshihuang mausoleum has
lasted nearly 40 years. What has been discovered is believed to be
just the tip of the iceberg. The site remains a mystery even if the
terra cotta warrior underground army has long been unearthed and
hailed as the world's eighth wonder.
"The best choice is to leave the ancient tomb untouched because,
given the complicated conditions inside, excavation errors could
lead to its destruction," said Duan Qingbo, a top archaeologist
with the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeology Institute.
"Current techniques cannot ensure that the mausoleum will be
properly protected after excavation."
Archaeologists, using remote sensing equipment, have located
symmetrical staircases leading down into the tomb and wooden
structures inside the tomb.
They have also discovered that the tomb was built with an
effective drainage system that has prevented ground water from
seeping inside, according to Duan.
Legends maintain that a huge underground palace was modeled on
the emperor's realm with rivers flowing with mercury and the
ceiling studded with pearls and diamonds representing the stars and
sun.
"Our survey shows that the mercury density in Qinshihuang's
cemetery area is vastly higher than that in the surrounding area,
and confirms that the mercury comes from the mausoleum," Duan
said.
The mausoleum was also said to have architectural designs that
archaeologists believe have successfully kept out tomb robbers.
Stone top retrieved
In Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province, cultural
relic experts have retrieved the top piece for a 1,100-year-old
religious stone pillar inscribed with Buddha's incantation and
inscriptions which were discovered earlier in the province.
The eight-square stone top is 24 centimeters thick, with the
longest diagonal of the top surface 70 centimeters and Buddhist
patterns including lotus petals, curtains, streamers and pearls
carved on each side.
It fits the pillar trunk engraved during the Tang Dynasty (AD
618-907) and re-discovered in June in Anle, Henan Province, the
same town where the top was found, experts say. The octahedral
pyramid trunk, 142 centimeters high and 2,000 kilograms in weight,
was collected by a local folklore museum.
Experts are repairing and studying the stone pillar, which will
be shown to the public soon, a source with the local cultural relic
bureau said.
Oldest piece of paper
Meanwhile, a 2,000-year-old piece of paper inscribed with legible
handwriting has been found in Gansu Province, suggesting China's
paper-making and handwriting history are older than previously
thought.
The 10-square-centimetre piece of paper, made from linen fibres,
was found during restoration of an ancient garrison near the Yumen
Pass at Dunhuang in Northwest China. The garrison was in use during
the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), a report in the
Beijing-based Guangming Daily said. Experts say so far over 20
ancient Chinese characters on the paper have been identified, and
that the piece of paper was likely part of a letter.
"The paper was made in 8 BC, more than 100 years ahead of Cai
Lun, who used to be widely considered the inventor of paper-making
process in China. It also shows that the ancient Chinese have been
writing on paper for much longer than we thought," said Fu Licheng,
curator of the Dunhuang Museum.
Cai Lun, a craftsman of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220)
imperial court, is now believed by experts to have improved the
paper-making process in AD 105, making paper possible for mass
production. Cai's paper-making process used tree bark, cloth, and
fishing nets as raw materials.
According to the report, ancient paper has been found over the
last 20 years in Dunhuang, which used to be one of the ancient
Chinese military strongholds, and a major exchange spot on the Silk
Road. The oldest piece of paper found by now was made in about 65
BC, 170 years ahead of Cai Lun. But no handwriting was found on the
previously found paper.
Paper is prided as one of the four great inventions of the
ancient Chinese, alongside moveable-type printing, gunpowder and
the compass. The light, durable, yet cheap paper became most
commonly used material for people to write on after the 16th
century. Prior to the invention of paper, people used various
materials for writing, including clay tablets, palm leaves,
goatskins, bones, bamboo, silk and papyrus, an Egyptian plant.
(China Daily August 15, 2006)
