The mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang (the first Emperor of Qin)
is five kilometers east of Lintong County, 35 kilometers from Xi'an
City in Shaanxi Province. On its south is Lishan Mountain and to
the north is Weihe River. It is the biggest imperial mausoleum in
ancient China. In 196I, the State Council decided the Mausoleum of
Emperor Qinshihuang would be a key cultural relic under state
protection.
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Emperor Qinshihuang was named Ying Zheng and was a great
politician and militarist of China's ancient feudal society. He
made many political decisions that had enhanced the State of Qin
and built its military might. He used his strong military force to
annex other six states in the east and founded the first united and
centralized state in Chinese history. After unification he adopted
many measures to develop politics and the economy and consolidate
centralization. Because of his tyranny and excessive tax
collections the Qin Dynasty ended soon after his death.
Portrait of Emperor Qinshihuang
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As the first huge ancient mausoleum in China, with a river in
front and a mountain towering behind, Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum
displays the skill and craftsman-ship of the country's tomb
construction and has spawn many anecdotes which have endured
through the ages.
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According to historical records, Emperor Qinshihuang spared
neither labor nor money to construct his huge Epang Palace. Because
he wanted a long life in this ornate palace, he sent the
necromancer Xu Fu to lead several thousand boys and girls to look
for elixir vitae in the sea. A couple of years later they returned
empty-handed and lied to the emperor: "There is a huge fish in the
sea so our ships can't reach Penglai Hill."
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Then Emperor Qinshihuang himself, carrying many bows and arrows,
went to shoot the huge fish in the sea. It is said he actually
killed a huge fish in the sea northeast of Fushan County in
Shandong Province. After that Xu Fu and the children went to the
sea and never came back. According to popular legends they settled
in Japan.
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Still, Emperor Qinshihuang attached much importance to
construction of his mausoleum while searching for elixir vitae.
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According to the Records of the Historian: Emperor
Qinshihuang succeeded to the throne of Qin at the age of 13 (246
BC). Soon after his enthronement he started building the mausoleum
north of Lishan Mountain.
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After he united the country he requisitioned more than 700,000
laborers from all over China to help in the construction. Despite
the efforts, the mausoleum was not yet complete when the Emperor
died 37 years later at the age of 50 (210 BC). The project lasted
another two years after the Second Emperor of Qin ascended the
throne. When adding the first phase of construction, nearly 40
years were used in building the mausoleum.
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There is some description about the underground tomb and its
layout in the Records of the Historian. The tomb was very
deep and solid and lined with stones. A vermilion stone wall
blocked off groundwater, making it waterproof. Inside the tomb were
palaces and the burial places of all the high officials of Qin.
Treasures and jewels were kept there and candles of man-fish oil
(from a type of man-fish with four feet multiplying in the East
Sea) burned 24 hours a day. Automatic hidden arrows protected the
tomb from robbers and looters. A belt of quicksilver poured in a
ditch around the tomb looked like a protective river.
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On the ceiling was the pictographic celestial body and on the
ground were pictographic mountains and rivers. According to
records, at the burial ceremony of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the
Second Emperor of Qin forced all the imperial palace maids who had
no children to be buried alive with the dead ruler. In order to
prevent disclosure of secrets from the tomb's interior, the
door
was closed on the builders and craftsmen as they completed their
work inside the tomb.
According to writers from the Three Kingdoms Period (220-265),
the Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang "is more than 120 meters high
and 2, 167 meters around at the base." Grasses and trees planted on
the tomb mound made it look like a normal mountain. According to Li
Daoyuan (466 or 472-527), the great geographer of the Northern Wei,
the geological structure around the tomb was sandy and lacked the
more compactable loess soil, so the loess needed was carried from
the low-lying land near Wujia Village, 5 li northeast of
the tomb. Thus, the tomb hill was a completely man-made mountain
and its grandeur could rival the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Both
demonstrate the great intelligence and capability of laborers of
ancient times.
However, the loess-made tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang has, over
the centuries, been lowered to 64.97 meters (to slightly more than
half its original height) by wind erosion and man-made damage. In
spite of this, its location in such a plain still hints of its
former magnificence.
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To offer sacrifice to deceased emperors and kings in ancient
times burial temples were built to contain articles and dresses
used by the deceased and spirit tablets for worship. A city wall
was built around the tomb to protect it, and this combination of
temple and wall was called Yuanqin (Garden Temple). This
custom began in the Qin Dynasty.
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A distinctive characteristic of the tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang
was that it had two city walls, one interior and one exterior, the
shape of the tomb was like the Chinese character "回," but somewhat
longer from north to south. The rectangle formed by the exterior
wall was 2,173 meters from north to south and 974 meters from east
to west, making it more than 6,000 meters around the base.
Originally, watchtowers were built at the four comers of the
mausoleum's city wall. The rectangular tomb was located in the
southern portion of the mausoleum. Three doors in the outer wall on
the closest sides (east, west and south) were built opposite the
three doors in the inner wall to the tomb.
Only scattered debris, packed earth and exposed stone steps
remain in the northern part of the mausoleum where the sacrificial
hall and its auxiliary structures had stood. It was called in
surviving documents the "Dew Terrace Shrine," namely, Emperor Qin
Sift Huang's Shrine or Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Temple. In the ruins
of the city gates and buildings, piles of tiles, brown clay and
ashes can be found. There are probably the ruins of "the former
palace ground," according to the "Biography of Liu Xiang' in the
History of the Han Dynasty. Other ruins of Qin buildings
can be seen, such as a doorstone, a post stone, tile ridges, big
eave tiles 0.5 meter in diameter, stone waterways, ceramic
waterways, etc. No burial treasures have been found from the tomb,
but the ruins inside and outside suggest the tomb's luxury of
old.
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There were passageways to the underground tomb from the four
directions of east, south, west and north. These passages were very
large and peculiar in layout. For example, horses and chariots were
excavated in one of the chambers in the western tomb passage. Some
were painted wood with canopies, others were bronze, hitched to
horses and decorated with colored drawings. Every chariot had a
single shaft and double wheels and was harnessed to four horses.
These bronze chariots and horses, excavated in November I980, were
two groups of imperial chariots: Four of "security" and four high
ones. High chariots, driven by drivers wearing swallow-tailed caps,
battle robes and swords preceded the "security" chariots ridden by
drivers sitting back to the rear. The castings are in proportions
half the size of live men, horses and chariots. These vivid
excavations are precious bronze arts.
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Raising horses was a tradition for people in the Qin Dynasty.
Horses were indispensable for fighting and transportation, so great
importance was attached to horse breeding and management, with
horses placed under strict public control according to their
classification and specific uses. Figurines depicting various
aspects of horse-raising and burial pits for horses were discovered
on the east and west sides of the tomb wall of the Qin mausoleum,
and the name of a stable and proper feeding portions were inscribed
on a manger.
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For its location on a piece of flood plain at the north foot of
Lishan Mountain, the mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang included a
dam 10 meters high and 1,400 meters long to prevent flood. The
river to the south of the mausoleum was diverted to run northwest,
and into the Weihe River in the north. So the mausoleum was given
complete safety from mountain floods.
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The entire plan testifies of a massive project. It is estimated
that I2.8 million cubic meters of earth were needed just for the
coffin pit, auxiliary burial pits for pottery figurines and the
dam. In addition, some 1.2 million cubic meters were required for
the tomb itself. A great deal of manpower was likewise needed for
excavation, filling and hauling of the earth. The engineering and
construction of the coffin chamber, tomb passages, paved paths
leading to the tomb, side rooms, side halls, burial pits and ritual
pits outside the tomb required large number of designers and
craftsmen, including carpenters, masons, bricklayers and repairmen.
Other crafts-men must have spent years on burial articles of gold
and silver jewelry, paintings, drawings, clothing, ceramics and
chariots. Labor, materials and time for all these works are
difficult to calculate.
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Stones needed in building the mausoleum were quarried from
Ganquan Mountain, more than 200 kilometers northwest near Chang'an
(modern Xi'an). A ballad tells about the stone quarrying: "Stones
were carried from Ganquan Mountain and the Weihe River was stopped.
With work songs by the laborers, stones were piled mountain
high."
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Under primitive conditions without modem means of
transportation, it was a gigantic task for people to push, pull and
move the stones that distance. There is no way of knowing how much
manpower, blood and sweat went into the project, nor how many lives
were paid on the way to construction of the burial site in Lintong.
In Zhengzhuang Village, northwest of the mausoleum, iron fetters,
iron hammers and semi-finished stones were discovered, suggesting
that Zhengzhuang Village was a stone-processing site.
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Those who worked on the mausoleum included social criminals,
unpaid feudal peasants, craftsmen and slaves. A tomb for criminals
was excavated in Yaochitou, 1,400 meters southwest of the
mausoleum. It was a burial pit covering an area of 1,020 square
meters containing a very thick layer of bones. That was the
end-result of the lives of many of the builders.
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The mausoleum itself was evidence of the crimes of oppression
and exploitation of the people by feudal rulers. A poem titled
"Passing by the Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang" was written by
Wang Wei (701-761) of the Tang Dynasty:
Like a green ridge is the ancient
tomb,
Deep is the palace like a purple
terrace.
……
? ?The soughing of
pines can be clearly heard,
It sounds like the wail of the
people.
The wondrous monument made by the laboring people of ancient
China was destroyed in the war-tom years of the late Qin Dynasty.
According to Commentary on The Canon of Rivers, Xiang Yu
(232-202 BC) led his 300,000 soldiers to loot all the burial
articles in the tomb and set many architectural structures on fire.
The great fire lasted for three months. Later a shepherd went into
a cave of the mausoleum, dug by Xiang Yu, to look for his sheep
with a torch in his hand and a second fire was ignited to burn away
all the remaining tomb structures inside and out.
Wen Tao, a warlord of the Five Dynasties (907-960), emptied the
mausoleum again under the pretext of raising funds for soldiers'
pay and provisions. What was left then were scattered rubble and
scorched earth in evidence of Xiang Yu's burning and looting.
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Found in recent few years are a set of bronze chimes inscribed
with "Official Music Conservatory," a bronze weight inscribed with
imperial edicts on the unification of weights and measures, a
bronze bell of "Beautiful Lishan Garden" and spears and arrowheads
on the mausoleum site. These are the remaining reminder of great
calamities.
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In the spring of I974, however, when peasants sank a well near
Xiahe Village three li east of the Mausoleum of Emperor
Qinshihuang burial terracotta warriors and horses were found. A
team of archaeologists was sent to the burial site and after
several years' excavation, an unrecorded wonder was brought to
light that had caused a sensation all over China as well as
throughout the world. It has provided another opportunity for study
of the civilization of that period.
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Excavators found three burial pits for terracotta figures of
warriors, horses and chariots. One is to the south and the other
two lie north of the mausoleum site. All the figures face east. The
pits are designated as numbers 1, 2 and 3. The two pits of the
north are over 20 meters from Pit No. 1 which is the southern pit.
Pits 2 and 3 are northwest and northeast, respectively, of Pit
1.
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The burial pits are 1,000 meters from the east wall of Emperor
Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum and north of the east gate. The figures
are placed in battle array as palace guards to protect the
underground imperial palace.
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Thousands of life-sized pottery figures of warriors and
horses were buried in battle array from 5 to 7 meters deep in the
earth of the three pits.
Qin terracotta soldiers and horses
Head of a Qin terracotta horse
Qin terracotta soldiers in battle array
A Qin terracotta soldier
The three pits differ in size and shape. Pit 1 is 230 meters
from east to west and 62 meters from north to south. It is
rectangular and covers and area of 14,260 square meters. There is a
long corridor and eleven compartments in which pottery figures of
warriors, chariots and horses are lined up in a 38 column
formation. About 500 pottery warriors, six chariots with four
horses each, and such weapons as bronze swords, bending knives,
spears, crossbows, arrowheads and tongyi (a kind of bronze
weapon) have been found in the pit. It is estimated that, based on
the area excavated, about 6,000 pottery warriors and horses are
expected to be unearthed in Pit 1 when it is fully excavated.
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Pit 2 covers about 6,000 square meters in the shape of a
carpenter's square. The formation is mixed with foot soldiers,
crossbow soldiers, chariot soldiers and cavalry carrying such
weapons as bow, crossbow, spear, dagger axe, halberd, axe and
sword, according to their services and positions.
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Pit 3 covers an area of 500 square meters, with a "U" shape. At
the front of the pit, a canopied chariot facing east was followed
by four armored figures with long hats. In each of the two side
rooms of north and south there are 64 armored guards. According to
experts, it was the headquarters commanding Pits 1 and 2. Pits 2
and 3 have been filled in and closed after initial excavations
while excavation on Pit 1 is continuing and expanding.
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The figurines are vivid and artistic, and those who have seen
them associate them with the strong and powerful military forces of
the Qin which conquered other Six States and united China,
garrisoned the Five Ridges and drove back the Xiongnu people more
than 2,000 years ago.
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These terracotta warriors, horses and bronze weapons represent
the high level of handicraft of the Qin Dynasty. Each life-size
warrior and horse figurine was made individually. Some of the
warriors look majestic, some seem deep in thought and some look
intelligent. Each has a facial expression and posture of its own. A
few figures of leaders wear helmets and Armour, the rest wear short
war robes with waistbands and leg wrappings, carry bows and
arrow-bags and look vigorous.
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Colored drawings can still be seen on the robes of some
figurines. All the life-size terracotta horses, some with and some
without saddles, stand with their heads up, eyes wide open and ears
erect. They seem ready to neigh to jump out of the pit.
Some weapons excavated from the pits are still in perfect shape
and glittering sharp despite a 2,000 year burial.
Swords are included, reminders of the poem Emperor
Qinshihuang Drinks Himself Drunk by the Tang Dynasty poet Li
He (790-816): "Emperor Qinshihuang tours everywhere riding on a
tiger, the light of his sword makes the sky blue."
Chemical tests show that excavated swords and arrowheads were
made mainly of bronze and tin, with traces of rare metals. Chromium
treatment on the surface of the weapons made them rustproof for
centuries.
Discovery of the terracotta warriors and horses provides very
important material for research of the history, politics, military
affairs, economy, culture, art and science and technology of the
Qin Dynasty. Excavation of Pit 1 has excited the archaeological
world, known as "the Eighth Wonder of the World." To protect, study
and exhibit these cultural relics the people’s government has built
the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses at the Mausoleum
of Emperor Qinshihuang.
