The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is located in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi
province of China. This mausoleum was constructed over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BC, and is
situated underneath a 76-meter tall tomb mound. The layout of the mausoleum is modeled on
the Qin capital Xianyang, divided into inner and outer cities. The circumference of the
inner city is 2.5 km and the outer is 6.3 km. The tomb is located in the southwest of the
inner city and faces east. The main tomb chamber housing the coffin and burial artifacts is
the core of the architectural complex of the mausoleum.
The tomb itself has not yet been excavated. Archaeological explorations currently concentrate
on various sites of the extensive necropolis surrounding the tomb, including the Terracotta
Army to the east of the tomb mound. The Terracotta Army served as a garrison to the mausoleum
and has yet to be completely excavated.
History Work on the mausoleum began soon after Emperor
Qin ascended the throne in 246 BC when he was still aged 13, although its full-scale
construction only started after he had conquered the six other major states and unified China
in 221 BC. The source of the account of the construction of the mausoleum and its description
came from Sima Qian in chapter six of his Records of the Grand Historian, which contains
the biography of Qin Shi Huang: Some scholars believe that the claim of having
"dug through three layers of groundwater" to be figurative. It is also uncertain what
the "man-fish" in the text refers to, interpretation of the term varies from whale to walrus and
other aquatic animals such as giant salamander. Before the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
was completed, a peasant rebellion broke out during the late Qin dynasty. Zhang Han redeployed
all the 700,000 people building the mausoleum to suppress the rebellion, so the construction
of the mausoleum ceased. After Xiang Yu entered Xianyang, he is said to have looted the tomb.
Afterwards, it is said that a shepherd unintentionally burnt down the underground palace of the mausoleum.
The story goes that he went into a cave of the mausoleum, dug by Xiang Yu, to look for
his sheep with a torch in his hand, and a fire was started, burning away all the remaining
tomb structures. No solid evidence of this has been found, and some scholars think that
the mausoleum did not suffer any large-scale destruction.
In 1987, the mausoleum, including the Terracotta Warriors, were listed as World Heritage Sites.
Archaeological studies
The necropolis complex of Qin Shi Huang is a microcosm of the Emperor's empire and palace,
with the tomb mound at the center. There are two walls, the inner and outer walls, surrounding
the tomb mound, and a number of pits containing figures and artifacts were found inside and
outside the walls. To the west inside the inner wall were found bronze chariots and
horses. Inside the inner wall were also found terracotta figures of courtiers and bureaucrats
who served the Emperor. Outside of the inner wall but inside the outer wall, pits with
terracotta figures of entertainers and strongmen, as well as a pit containing a stone suit of
armour were found. To the north of the outer wall were found the imperial park with bronze
cranes, swan and ducks with groups of musicians. Outside the outer walls were also found imperial
stables where real horses were buried with terracotta figures of grooms kneeling beside
them. To the west were found mass burial grounds for the labourers forced to build the complex.
The Terracotta Army is located about 1.5 km to the east of the tomb mound.
The tomb mound itself at present remains largely unexcavated, but a number of techniques were
used to explore the site. The underground palace has been located at the center of the
mound. Archaeological survey and magnetic anomaly studies indicate a 4-meter high perimeter
wall, measuring 460 meters north to south and 390 meters east to west, which is made
of bricks and serves as the wall of the underground palace. On top is an enclosing wall made of
rammed earth of 30–40 meters in height. There are sloping passageways leading to the
four walls. The west tomb passage is linked to a pit where the bronze chariots and horses
were found. The tomb chamber itself is 80 meters long east to west, 50 meters north
to south, and is about 15 meters high. As to the depth at which the palace lies, there
are great disputes among the academic community, with estimates varying from 20 meters to 50
meters. According to the scientific exploration and
partial excavation, much metal is present in the underground palace and it also features
a very good drainage system. Sima Qian's text indicates that during its construction the
tomb may have reached groundwater, and the water table is estimated to be at a depth
of 30 meters. An underground dam and drainage system was discovered in 2000 and the tomb
appeared not to have been flooded by the groundwater. Anomalously high levels of mercury in the
area of the tomb mound were found. This gives credence to the Sima Qian's account that mercury
was used to simulate waterways and the seas in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.
However, some scholars believe that if the underground palace is excavated, the mercury
will quickly volatilize. In December 2012, it was announced that the
remains of a massive "imperial palace" was found at the site. Based on its foundations,
the courtyard-style palace was estimated to be 690 meters long and 250 meters wide, covering
an area of 170,000 square meters, which is nearly one fourth the size of the Forbidden
City in Beijing. The palace included 18 courtyard houses and a main building that overlooked
the houses. The archaeologists have been excavating the foundations since 2010 and have found
walls, gates, stone roads, pottery shards and some brickwork.
Disputes over possible excavation
Beginning in 1976, various scholars proposed to explore the underground palace, citing
the following main reasons: The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is
in a seismic zone, so underground cultural relics need to be unearthed for protection;
to develop tourism; and to prevent grave robbery.
However, opponents of such excavations hold that China's current technology is not able
to deal with the large scale of the underground palace yet. Many mistakes were made in the
case of the Terracotta Warriors. For instance, scientists were unable to preserve the colored
Terracotta Warriors, which resulted in the rapid shedding of their painted decoration
when exposed to air. Also the situation of the underground palace still remains unclear,
so any rash digging may cause damage. In popular culture
Creative works dealing with the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor include:
The Myth, a Hong Kong film, describes the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor as hanging
in the air hidden in a grotto underneath a waterfall. The movie also claims that the
Mount Li Mausoleum was built in order to disguise where the Emperor was really buried.
Fight and Love with a Terracotta Warrior, another Hong Kong film, includes the scene
in which the mausoleum builder seals the craftsmen into the coffin chamber. The exaggerated machine-operated
traps displayed in the movie are artistic license.
The Prince of Qin video game represents many types of machine-operated traps in the mausoleum,
and the design of the mausoleum is a game-typed maze.
Other "A Preliminary Study of Mercury Buried in
the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor", an article published in Archaeology magazine,
Volume 7, says that during the measuring of soil mercury content, one measured point reached
1440 parts per billion; the rest of 53 points reached an average content of around 205 ppb.
There is also a claim that the mercury content is actually a result of local industrial pollution.
It is reported in "Lintong County Annals" that from 1978 to 1980, according to general
investigation on workers involved with benzene, mercury and lead, 1193 people from 21 factories
were found poisoned." Notes and references
External links Disputes over Possible Excavation
Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang The Necropolis of the First Emperor of Qin
Excerpt from lecture