The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is the mausoleum of Ying Zheng, the first emperor in China history (259 BC ~ 265438 BC+00 BC). It is located at the northern foot of Lishan Mountain, 5 kilometers east of Lintong District, Xi, Shaanxi Province.
The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was built from 246 BC to 208 BC, which lasted for 39 years. It is the first large-scale and beautifully designed imperial mausoleum in the history of China. There are two rammed earth walls inside and outside, symbolizing the imperial city and Miyagi in the capital. The mausoleum is located in the south of the inner city, in the shape of a bucket, with a height of 5 1 m and a base circumference of 1.700 m. According to historical records, there are various palaces in the Qinling Mountains, displaying many rare treasures. There are a large number of burial pits and tombs with different shapes and connotations around the Qin Mausoleum, and more than 400 have been proved, including the world-famous "eighth wonder of the world" Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit.
The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is one of the largest, strangest and richest imperial tombs in the world. It fully shows the artistic talent of the working people of Han nationality in ancient China more than 2,000 years ago, and is the pride and precious wealth of the Chinese nation.
geographical environment
The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor faces Mount Li in the south, with overlapping mountains and lush trees, and twists and turns in the north, like a silver snake lying on the bank of the Weihe River. Surrounded by towering peaks, the tall mausoleum and Mount Li are integrated, with beautiful scenery and unique environment.
Qin Shihuang was in power in Xianyang, the capital, but the cemetery was chosen in Lishan Mountain, which is far away from Xianyang. The reason for this is that Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty explained it this way: "The first Qin Emperor was buried in the Rongrong Mountain in Lantian, which was rich in yin and beautiful in yang. The first emperor was greedy for his good name, so he was buried. "
Li Daoyuan's view has been affirmed by most scholars in academic circles. However, some scholars have raised objections. On the one hand, those who hold negative opinions think that the selection of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in Lishan depends on the ritual system at that time, while on the other hand, it is influenced by the traditional concept of "building a mausoleum on the mountain".
The tombs of the ancestors of Qin Shihuang and the Empress Dowager were buried in Zhiyang, west of Linzhang County, and the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang was chosen in Lishan, east of Zhiyang, which was decided by the ritual system at that time, because the tombs of ancient emperors were often arranged according to their ages. Books such as The Book of Rites and Er Ya record that "South, North and West are the most important". "The southwest corner is called this Olympics, which is also respected." The book Lun Heng in the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded it more clearly: "The husband is in the west, the land of the elderly, and the position of the venerable is also. The honorable person is in the west, the humble person is in the east ... the husband's grave is hidden by the dead; Tian, who eats what; The house, the place where people live, the three are in people, and it is appropriate to wait. " Even the Xuan Empress of Zhiyang hopes that her tomb can be buried between her husband and son, that is, "look at my husband in the west and my son in the east", which seems to be based on the principle that the elders are in the west and the younger generation is in the east. The ancestors of Qin Shihuang already knew that Qin Zhaoxiang, Qin Zhuang Township and Qin Xu Antai were buried in Zhiyang. Because the ancestral graves are buried in the west of Linzhang County, Qin Shihuang, as a junior, can only be buried in the east of Zhiyang. It is obviously against traditional etiquette to locate the mausoleum in the west of Zhiyang. It can be seen that the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was chosen at the foot of Mount Li, which fully conforms to the etiquette of the younger generation living in the East.
The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor faces Mount Li in the south and Wei River in the north, with beautiful natural environment. The whole Lishan Mountain is only from Lintong County to Ma 'e section, where the sea level rises, and the mountains are undulating and overlapping. Seen from the north bank of Weihe River, this mountain range is symmetrical from left to right, like a huge screen standing behind the first mausoleum, standing at the top of the mausoleum and looking south. This mountain range is arc-shaped, and the mausoleum is surrounded by peaks of Mount Li, which is integrated with the whole Mount Li.
On the east side of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, there is a artificially transformed fish pond water. According to "Notes on Water Classics", "Water flows out of the northeast of Mount Li and flows northward. Later, Qin Shihuang was buried in the north of the mountain. When the water meandered, it turned from east to north, and the first emperor built a tomb to borrow soil. The land is deep and the water accumulates into a pond. This is the so-called fish pond ... The water in the pond flows through the north of the first emperor in the northwest. " It can be seen that the fish pond water originally came from the northeast of Lishan Mountain, and the water flowed from south to north. Later, when the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was built, an east-west dam was built in the southwest of the mausoleum. The dam is 1000 meters long, generally 40 meters wide, 70 meters at its widest point and 2 to 8 meters high. It is what people usually call Wuling site. It is this dam that turned the fish pond water originally from Li Dongbei into a northwest flow, bypassing the northeast of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.
In addition, on the east side of the cemetery, there is a steady stream of hot spring water passing by. According to the Water Classic Note, "there is hot spring water in the southwest of fish pond water, which can cure diseases all over the world". "Three" says: "There are hot springs in the northwest of Mount Li." It can be seen that the hot springs of that year corresponded to the fish pond water in the northwest.
This shows the geographical features of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor: it is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and water on three sides. "Mountain by water" is a treasure trove of geomantic omen specially selected by Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.
The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum are located in the burial pit of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum in Lintong District, 35 kilometers east of Xi City, Shaanxi Province, and were built from 246 BC to 208 BC. So far, nearly 8,000 terracotta figures and horses similar in size to real people and horses have been found. There are chariots, cavalry, infantry and other different arms, arranged neatly and orderly. Pottery figurines are known as "the eighth wonder of the world" and "one of the great discoveries in the archaeological history of the 20th century".
Brief introduction of mining process:
1March, 974, in the south of Xiyang village, which is 5 kilometers away from the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor 1.5, more than a dozen villagers, such as Yang Zhifa and Yang, started the drought-resistant well-drilling project in the persimmon forest without crops. When they dug to a depth of 2 meters, they found braised clods; At a depth of 3 meters, the broken body of pottery figurines was found; At a depth of 4-5 meters, a brick floor, a bronze shovel, a bronze crossbow machine and eight broken pottery figures were found. They stopped the project and immediately reported to the local government. Later, Zhao Yi, an expert in cultural relics and archaeology, collected the lost cultural relics, and on the other hand, carried out preliminary cleaning. At the same time, Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin went back to his hometown Lintong to visit relatives. He reported in People's Daily that a large pottery figurine was found in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum. After seeing the reported materials, Li Xiannian immediately gave instructions: "It is suggested that the Cultural Relics Bureau discuss with the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and take prompt measures to properly protect this key cultural relic." National Cultural Heritage Administration immediately sent relevant experts to investigate the site.
1974 July 15, the provincial cultural relics bureau sent an archaeological team of Qin figurines to the excavation site. Later, teachers and students majoring in archaeology from Northwest University also came to help. In the trial excavation of 965 square meters, they cleared up more than 500 terracotta warriors and horses similar to real horses, 24 terracotta warriors and horses, 6 wooden chariots and a large number of bronze weapons and chariots and horses. Through trial excavation and drilling, the total area of Terracotta Warriors Pit No.1 is14,260 square meters, including about 6,000 terracotta figures and horses. 1976, the State Council decided to build an exhibition hall on the site of No.1 Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit. 1April 23, 976, during the infrastructure project of the exhibition hall, No.2 Terracotta Warriors Pit was found on the north side of the east end of No.1 Terracotta Warriors Pit. Then, in May of the same year 1 1, No.3 Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit was discovered on the north side of the western end of No.1 Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit.
1986, archaeologists carried out a second excavation in the middle and north of No.1 pit, covering an area of 2,000 square meters, but it stopped halfway for unknown reasons and lasted only one year.
On June 13, 2009, after being qualified as the leader of the archaeological team, the Museum of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Dynasty began to excavate the No.1 pit of the Qin figurines for the third time. The excavation site is located in the middle of the north side of No.1 pit, with archaeological number T23 and an area of 400 square meters. By the end of 20 12, 2 chariots, 3 groups of pottery horses 12 horses, more than 70 pottery figurines12 horses, and nearly 400 small objects (groups) were unearthed; Clean up dozens of important relics such as drums, reeds, weapons, crossbows, arrows and towers. In the second excavation, a large number of painted Qin figurines were found, some of which were successfully preserved.
The Terracotta Warriors and Horses in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang are the precious wealth of human culture in the world, which can be compared with Egyptian pyramids and ancient Greek sculptures. They fully demonstrated the artistic talent of China people more than 2,000 years ago and are the pride and precious wealth of the Chinese nation. However, in the face of such a world-class treasure as the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, archaeologists at home and abroad are afraid to dig it. Just like a eunuch guarding a beautiful woman, but he can't kiss her. How painful!
The detection results of the archaeological team show that the tomb is surrounded by an extremely thick palace wall, and the intact ancient tomb has a lot to do with this palace wall. This newly discovered tomb form is called "Qin Mausoleum Style".
How deep is the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang? In ancient times, due to technical limitations, it was not easy to construct under springs. Moreover, if the underground palace is located below the groundwater level, long-term infiltration of groundwater will definitely cause the underground palace to be "soaked". Qin Shihuang and the designers of his mausoleum could not have failed to take this into account. Of course, these are just speculations, and the specific situation is unknown.
What is the structure of the catacombs? Judging from the remains excavated from the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, it seems that Qin Shihuang wanted to bring his palaces, mountains and other things to the underground world, and it was difficult to achieve this without building a huge mausoleum.
The underground palace is the place where coffins and funerary objects are placed, and it is the core of the building of Qin Huangling. There have always been different opinions about the location of Qinling underground palace. About the depth of the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, it is introduced in the historical material Nine Meanings of Han Dynasty: In 2 10 BC, Prime Minister Lisi reported to Qin Shihuang that he had taken 720,000 people to build the tomb of Mount Li, which had been dug deep, as if it were underground.
After hearing this, Qin Shihuang ordered "to walk another 300 feet or even." The statement of "300 feet away" makes the location of the Qin Mausoleum even more confusing. It has been said that the underground palace of the Qin tombs is on Mount Li, and there is an underground passage between Mount Li and the Qin tombs. Every time it rains on a cloudy day, there are "Yin soldiers" in the underground passage. People are cheering and horses are neighing, which is very lively. It is reported that archaeologists have conducted many investigations according to this legend, but they have never found this legendary underground passage.
Is there mercury in the underground palace?
The detection results of the archaeological team show that mercury does exist in the underground palace, which is stronger in the southeast and southwest and weaker in the northeast and northwest. "Taking mercury as a hundred rivers and seas" in Historical Records was initially proved.
Mercury in the palace is antiseptic and anti-theft. According to Records of Historical Records-Biography of Qin Shihuang, mercury is regarded as the hundred rivers and seas in the underground palace.
Liu Shiyi, a researcher at China Geological Survey and Research Institute, said that geophysical exploration proved that there were obvious mercury anomalies in the underground palace, and the mercury distribution was stronger in the southeast and southwest, and weaker in the northeast and northwest. If the distribution of mercury represents rivers and oceans, it coincides with the distribution of Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea in China.
"Qin Shihuang has been to Bohai Bay personally, so it is likely to sketch the Bohai Sea into his underground palace. If this is confirmed, it shows that the Qin Dynasty conducted an investigation and study on the geography of China, which is also a new discovery. " Liu Shiyi said.
Qin Shihuang used mercury for rivers and seas, not only to create a magnificent natural landscape, but also to make the buried bodies and funerary objects not rot for a long time because of the mercury gas in the underground palace. Moreover, mercury is a highly toxic substance, and a large amount of inhalation will lead to death, so mercury in the underground palace can also poison grave robbers.
How many graves are there?
The detection results of the archaeological team show that there are only two tombs in the east and west. From Shang and Zhou Dynasties to Han Dynasty, there were usually four emperors' tombs. This new discovery has aroused great concern of experts.
It has been reported by well-known media that archaeologists discovered five tombs in the east of Fengtu by drilling holes, and found 1 in the west and north of Fengtu. Duan Qingbo, captain of the archaeological team of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, clarified that according to the exploration results, except for a pyramid-shaped mound in the east and one in the west, the rest are all burial pits. From Shang and Zhou Dynasties to Han Dynasty, there are generally four tombs of emperors, which run through the southeast, northwest and four directions respectively, and are symbols of aristocratic status and status, while ordinary officials and ordinary people have one or two tombs. At present, only two tombs have been found, but according to common sense, there should be four tombs of Qin Shihuang.
Why don't you dig up the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang?
Because there is no such good preservation technology now, the excavated things are well preserved. The terracotta warriors and horses are just not in place and fade. Some scholars believe that the terracotta warriors and horses are a group of figurines buried for Qin Shihuang. The purpose of building the Terracotta Warriors cannot be confirmed. A great man, Qin Shihuang, was hidden in many mysterious graves.
In addition to the tomb pit, the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor also found a website of a stone processing factory. Architectural relics include door anvil, column foundation, tile, ridge, tile, stone waterway, ceramic waterway and so on. The scale of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum can be seen, but does Qin Shihuang's mausoleum have a blueprint? According to historical records, "the water phase makes the world's prison slaves to 720,000 people as tombs, and chisels the articles of association". The construction of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is by no means arbitrary, and it must be built in a planned way according to the design drawings. It is not difficult to imagine the relevance of the whole history of the construction of imperial tombs. The specific design blueprint is still under further study.
Who presided over the construction of the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang? It is speculated that Shaofu is responsible for the construction and the National Mausoleum should be managed by it. Of course, the highest management level is true, but true nature is busy, and it is handled by Shaofu. However, there is still a problem here, that is, there is an office in Shaofu named after the reunification of Qin Dynasty. It is impossible to verify whether this office existed before reunification, but whether it exists or not, there must be an institution specializing in civil engineering of the imperial court. As for the name of this institution, further research is needed.