Shanxi Province - Xianyang 咸阳市 - The Qianling Mausoleum 乾陵

The Qianling Mausoleum is located along the northern edge of 400-square-kilometer Qinshuan Plain in central Shaaxi Province, where 19 emperors of the Tang Dynasty weree buried in 18 mausoleums. The Qianling Mausoleum, lying 80 kilometers in the Liangshan Mountains in Qianxian County, north of Xi’an, is the only tomb shared by two emperors and its environs look like a sleeping woman from afar. Because of Wu Zetian’s unusual experiences and great achievements, the mausoleum’s unusual topographical features make it all the more mysterious. Construction of the mausoleum began in 683 and lasted nearly 30 years. On the surface, there used to be 378 elegant winding corridors and halls. All have disappeared with the passage of time. At present, the most conspicuous relics are 103 large stone sculptures lining the passageway that leads to the mausoleum. Known as a museum of stone sculptures, they include tablets as well as statues of generals, civil officials, heads of ethnic minorities, foreign kings, princes, envoys and animals. The most sculptures are : the tablet without characters and the 61 headless statues of leaders of ethnic minorities, foreign kings, princes, and envoys. Dedicated to Wu Zetian (624-705, reigned 690-705), the tablet is made of a single stone piece weighing 98.8 tons. With a height of 7.5 meters, it has no carved characters when it was erected. Emperors liked erecting tablets with articles eulogizing their achievements. There are two explanations about why Wu Zetian had a wordless tablet erected. One is that Wu Zetian considered her achievements were beyond the description of any high-sounding words. The other holds that Wu Zetian wanted her achievements and errors to be judged by later generations rather than by herself and her courtiers.

With different costumes, positions and weapons, the 61 stone statues show the strength of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and people from afar come to show their respects. Hiatory books do not record why the statues lost their heads. However, legend has it that the son of a statue was very unhappy to see his father standing in front of Wu Zetian’s Mausoleum to show respect for the dead empress and came up with an idea. One evening, he ruined the crops in the fields nearby and spread rumours that the statues had turned into evil spirits, which destroyed the crops. Local peasants believed what he said and cut off the statues’ heads. After the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, most of its imperial mausoleums were robbed. But robbers from different dynasties tried in vain to rob the Qianling Mausoleum. When robbers started their work, it was said that there was heavy rain, harsh wind and flying stones, which frightened away the superstitious robbers.

As the Tang Dynasty was one of the most thriving periods in Chinese history, experts believe that the archaeological findings might yield what could be called the ninth wonder in the world as the Qianling Mausoleum is opened one day. They believe the archaeological discoveries in the mausoleum might be as important as, and ever more important than that of the terracotta warriors and horses. Included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization List of World Heritage, the terracotta warriors and horses of Qinshihuang List of World Heritage, the terracotta warriors and horses of Qinshihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, are accredited (hailed) as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

The Tang imperial cemetery extends some 50 kilometers from Liangshan Hill in the west to Jinsu Hill in the east. For more than 1,000 years, these tombs representing imperial power and dignity often made people recall the most brilliant period of Chinese feudal society. The Qianling Mausoleum, speculated as the grandest, is the joint tomb of Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi, 628-683, the third emperor of the Tang Dynaty) and his Empress Consort Wu Zetian (624-705, reigned 690-705) the first and only female emperor in Chinese history. Experts believe that there are very rich and valuable treasures in the mausoleum. According to “Records of the Holy Deeds of Emperor Gaozong,” the emperor asked in his last words to have his favourite calligraphy and paintings buried in his tomb. From 1960 to 1971, Chinese archaeologists excavated five imperial tombs around Qianling and found more than 4,000 rare cultural relics. Because Chang’an (today’s Xi’an) was China’s most open city at that time, and may also find treasures from Western countries in the tomb. Archaeologists found that although the treasures have been in the tomb for more than 1,000 years, they remain untouched, because the tomb’s structure has stopped grave robbers. Archaeological prospecting proved that the tomb passage, from the entrance to the tomb gate, was built of rectangular stone blocks layer upon layer, 39 in all. Each layer of the stone blocks was fastened together with iron bolts and all the crevices between two layers of stone blocks were filled with molten lead. It was too difficult to open the tomb under the conditions in the past. And there were no holes found around the tomb, and the stone blocks and rammed earth along tomb passages remain untouched as when the emperor and empresses were buried.

In 1950, Shaanxi’s archaeologists finally found the tomb passage after a lot of hard work, and in April 1960, the province organized experts to excavate the passage and make a careful preparation for the opening of the Qianling Mausoleum. The central government did not approve the excavating plan, making it clear the conditions could not meet with the requirements of protection. Over the last 50-odd years, local archaeologists excavated many important ancient cultural spots in Shaanxi, including the accompanying tombs of Emperor Qinshihuang, where archaeologists discovered the terracotta warriors and horses, underground storehouse of Famen Temple and Mausoleum of Qin Gong. The researchers in the world have not yet found the best ways to protect the ancient murals, silk, paper, and lacquerware. The relics buried underneath from more than 1,000 years are usually well kept because the environment within the tombs is balanced out with little oxygen and disturbances from other organisms. Archaeological excavations break off the ecological balance suddenly within a tomb and bring in oxygen, light and other matters that destroy the relics in a couple of hours. During the excavation of the underground storehouse of the Famen Temple, researchers had no way of dealing with the rolls of ancient silks, which stuck together and whose colour began to darken immediately after the silks were exposed to light and air. As a result, the silks are still stored in a refrigerator underground. Some people fear that the excavation of the Qianling Mausoleum will actually open a “Pandora’s Box﹡,” which will start a new wave of diggings and damage ancient Chinese heritage.

Shaanxi Province, already the largest living museum of ancient Chinese cultural relics, should be able to make the best use of the already excavated sties for the promotion of the local archaeological studies and tourism. Cultural relics are mainly an educational tool, not a money-making machine.

There are 17 subsidiary tombs of nobles. Gao Zong’s tomb is still unopened, but five of the nobles’ tombs have been exhumed, as have those of Princess Yong Tai永泰公主 and Prince Zhang Huai张怀太子. Princess Yong Tai was a grand daughter of Emperor Gao Zong, who died at the age of 17. Her underground palace consists of an archway, courtyards and chambers. The ceiling of the archway is painted with dragons, tigers, and guards of honour in grand array, while the chamber ceilings are decorated with golden birds, rabbits, and a constellation. Ladies-in-waiting are picture on the wall. The murals are of a consistently high artistic level. Among the 1,300 burial objects are gold and silver articles, pottery and porcelain vessels and coloured figurines. Most of these objects are on display in the Qianling Museum.

﹡Pandora’s Box A present which seems valuable, but which in reality is a curse; like that of Midas, who found his very food became gold, and so uneatable. To punish Prometheus, Zeus ordered Hephastus to fashion a beautiful woman who was named Pandora (i.e.the All-gifted), because each of the gods gave her some power, which was to bring about the ruin of man. According to Hesiod, she was the first mortal female and was sent by Zeus as a gift to Epithemus who married her, against the advice of his brother, Prometheus. She brought with her a large jar or vase (Pandora’s box), which she opened and all the evils flew forth, and they have ever since continued to afflict the world. Hope alone remained in the box.潘朵拉（Pandora）下凡时Zeus 神送给他的盒子（打开一看，一切灾难罪恶全从里面跑出来散布到世上，只有希望还留在里面）。

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