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Starting
with the second Tang Emperor, mausoleums
were built in hills instead of on flat
land, making them much easier to construct.
The next 17 Tang emperors were buried
in hills, and with each emperor occupying
one hill, the group of mausoleums stretched
about 100 kilometers. |
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| Of
all the Tang mausoleums, |
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Qianling,
on top of Liangshan |
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Hill, is the best preserved. Emperor Gaozong (r.
650-683), the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty,
and his wife Empress Wu Zetian were buried together
here. Wu Zetian ruled the country after her husband's
death and in 690 she actually took the throne,
calling herself Emperor Shengshen. She was the
only woman "emperor" in the history
of China. She died in 705. |
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| The
construction of the Qianling Mausoleum began in
683 at the order of Wu Zetian, when, despite protests,
she moved the remains of her husband Gaozong from
Luoyang, where he died, to Chang'an. It took 23
years to complete and was finished in 706, the
year after her death. According to Changan Tuzhi
(Maps of Changan), the mausoleum, with two 2.4-metre-thick
perimeter walls, occupied an area of 240 hectares.
Unfortunately the walls no longer exist. |
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| The
Qianling Mausoleum had several "firsts".
It was the first imperial mausoleum in which husband
and wife were buried together. Sixty-one foreign
envoys attended Emperor Gaozong's funeral and,
for the first time, the envoys were sculpted and
the statues laid in front of the tomb. Unfortunately,
all we can see today are the statues without heads,
which have been stolen. It was also the first
mausoleum with stone tablets standing in front
of it. One was engraved with the inscription Shu
Sheng Ji Bei, a eulogy of Emperor Gaozong's attainments.
Another is blank and it is said that the empress
Wu Zetian intended posterity to make their own
judgment about her merits and errors. It is also
the only imperial mausoleum untouched by grave
robbers. It is believed that the passage leading
to the vault is blocked by several thousand cubic
meters of refined sand. While no robber could
get in either can archaeologists and so far, specialists
have not yet worked out a way to enter without
damaging the grave. |
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Tel.:0086-29-86690058.85393283.85392885.85395069
Fax:0086-29-85257619
Postcode:710061
E-mallL:xian@regencyholiday.com
Add:No.52 Xiaozhai East Road,Xi'an,China.
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