Zhaoling

The Zhaoling Mausoleum of Tang Taizong is the mausoleum of Tang Taizong Li Shimin. It is the largest mausoleum among the "Eighteen mausoleums of Tang Dynasty" in Guanzhong, Shaanxi Province. It is also the largest mausoleum with the largest area and the largest number of accompanying tombs in China's imperial mausoleum. There are a large number of precious cultural relics on the ground and underground.

There are many historic sites and cultural relics in the current cemetery. The most famous one is the six steeds of Zhaoling (two of which have been stolen and the other four are collected in the Museum of stele forest) in the East and West rooms of the altar, which symbolizes the six horses that Li Shimin rode and his outstanding military achievements.

Zhaoling

Zhaoling is the joint Tomb of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and empress Wende Chang sun. It is located in jiugu mountain, Yanxia Town, Liquan County, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province. It is a national AAA tourist attraction.

From the first burial of empress Wende in 636 to the 29th year of Kaiyuan (741), the construction of Zhaoling has lasted for 107 years, with a circumference of 60 kilometers and an area of 200 square kilometers. There are more than 180 accompanying tombs. It is the "Eighteen tombs of Tang Dynasty" in Guanzhong, and the largest and most accompanying tombs among the Imperial Mausoleums of all dynasties in China. It is a representative Mausoleum of Tang Dynasty An imperial mausoleum, known as the "world famous mausoleum.".

Zhaoling is the physical witness of the early Tang Dynasty to the prosperous Tang Dynasty. It is a rare treasure house to understand and study the politics, economy and culture of the Tang Dynasty and even China's autocratic monarchy.

geographical environment

Zhaoling is the joint Tomb of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and empress Wende Chang sun. It is located at the main peak of jiugu mountain, Yanxia Town, Liquan County, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province. It is 70 kilometers away from Xi'an, 30 kilometers away from Xianyang and 25 kilometers away from Xianyang International Airport.

Jiugu mountain is an abrupt mountain with an altitude of 1188 meters. It is located in the Yin of the Jing River and the Yang of the Wei River. It is separated from the Guanzhong Plain in the South and faces the peaks of Taibai and Zhongnan. On both sides of the East and the west, the mountains rise and fall, extending to pingye. Around the main peak, there are nine mountain beams with high arches. In ancient times, the small mountain ridge was called Gu, so it was named jiugu mountain (or "jiugu mountain").

Jiugushan is a fault block mountain formed by rifting after early folding. It is composed of siliceous, dolomitic and breccia with strong corrosion resistance. Therefore, the terrain is high, gentle in the north and steep in the south. In the section from mountain to zhuanghegou, the gully is crisscross and the original surface is broken. The gully density is large and deep. The gully density is 2.827 kilometers per square kilometer. The cutting depth is generally 50-250 meters, and the relative height is about 200 meters. The soil is zonal black loessial soil with local natural shrubs.

The river in situ and limestone landform in the north of jiugu mountain area were formed under mild climate conditions. During the period surrounded by Jinghe River, Weihe River and Ganhe River, there were abundant products, numerous woodland and green space, and the coverage rate reached 90%.

On the meaning of the name of the mausoleum

There is no special explanation for the name of Zhaoling. Ancient posthumous interpretation of the word "Zhao" said: "Shengwen Zhou Da said Zhao, Zhao de meritorious said Zhao.

”In ancient times, there were also some beautiful words such as Shun, Zhen and Xian.

According to the practice of selecting auspicious, auspicious and peaceful words in Tang Dynasty mausoleums such as Xianling, Zhenling and tailing, it is obvious that Zhaoling was also named with the meaning of "gathering the spirit of the emperor" and "literary and martial arts".

Historical evolution

Site selection background

In 636, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the empress's eldest grandson was critically ill, and his last words were sparsely buried on his deathbed

. In accordance with empress Chang sun's last words, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty temporarily placed the empress in a newly excavated grotto in jiugu mountain, named Zhaoling. He decided to take Zhaoling as his destination. After his death, he was buried with the queen, and then large-scale construction began.

Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty chose jiugu mountain as the site of Zhaoling Mausoleum, which has a strong cultural and political background. In ancient China, the so-called geomantic omen theory of mausoleum Kanyu was gradually perfected with the continuous expansion of surnames and the spread of the theory of five elements Yin and Yang. By the time of the northern and Southern Dynasties, a set of theories for evaluating geomantic omen was basically formed. Jiugu mountain meets all the requirements of the imperial mausoleum. Since the Tang Dynasty, the imperial mausoleum of Zhaoling has been regarded as the best one in China.

In addition, Emperor Taizong's choice of Zhaoling had additional political background. According to the original idea of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, the emperor's Mausoleum should imitate the Changling Mausoleum of Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty. However, Yu Shinan, who is well versed in the classics and history, put forward his objection, saying that the Han system not only cost the people's strength, but also made the thieves happy. Therefore, most of the tombs of the Han Dynasty were stolen, and the emperor's bones were abandoned in the wilderness, which is really a hundred harms but no benefits. He suggested that Taizong should be like Emperor Yao, because the mountain is a mausoleum, and there is no gold and jade in the mausoleum, and set up a stele outside the mausoleum to explain it

. Yu Shinan's suggestion that "because of the mountain is the mausoleum" can not only save the people's resources but also guard against theft, which has played an ideological and theoretical enlightenment for Emperor Taizong's final decision to choose jiugu mountain as the mausoleum site of Zhaoling.

Because mountains are Mausoleums

Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty built the Zhaoling Mausoleum on jiugu mountain and ordered his descendants to "take the law forever", which set a precedent for the mausoleum system of emperors in the Tang Dynasty.

Since the first burial of empress changsun in the 10th year of Zhenguan (636), large-scale construction of Zhaoling began. It was not until the 23rd year of Zhenguan (649) that Emperor Taizong was buried that the construction project was basically completed. In addition to the underground palace of the main mausoleum, a large-scale building complex was built around the mausoleum mountain.

Sacrifice in the past dynasties

In the Tang Dynasty, the mausoleum was supported by palace people and guarded by officers and soldiers. The rank of the officer guarding the mausoleum was general, and five grade mausoleum orders were specially set up to manage the mausoleum. Every spring and February, the court also appointed important ministers to offer sacrifices to Zhaoling. In case of Taizong's birthday and death day, the minister was arranged to serve Taizong's soul in Zhaoling. The guard of honor covered the way and never stopped.

According to Tang Huiyao, in the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Xuanzong paid a visit to Zhaoling and paid homage to the former Emperor. On the first day of the first month of the sixth year of Yonghui (655), Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty paid a visit to the Zhaoling Mausoleum, solemnly and solemnly, on an unprecedented scale. After the memorial ceremony, Gaozong issued an imperial edict to exempt Liquan county from the rent and tax of that year, and sent the generals and Lang generals who protected the mausoleum to the first rank of the nobility. He also issued an imperial edict to build a Buddhist temple on the side of the mausoleum.

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, the army of the Tang Dynasty returned triumphantly from the expedition, and the ceremony of offering prisoners was often held in Zhaoling. According to the traditional ritual system in ancient China, the ceremony of offering prisoners was usually held in Taimiao and Taishe, but Gaozong moved the ceremony to Zhaoling in order to comfort the former Emperor's regret of not destroying the stubborn enemy. According to Tang Huiyao, in the third year of Xianqing (658), Su dingfang captured the rebel general ashnahelu and captured him in Zhaoling on November 15; in the first year of Qianfeng (666), Li Ji defeated Koguryo and captured the king of Koguryo and captured him in Zhaoling on October 21.

In the Tang Dynasty, it was strictly forbidden to enter or leave the mausoleum area at will, let alone damage every plant and tree in the mausoleum area. According to Zizhitongjian, in the second year of Yifeng, general Quan shancai of zuowuwei and general fan Huaiyi of Zhonglang of youjianmen mistakenly named Baishu of Zhaoling and was removed according to the law. Dali Temple reported to Gaozong, and Gaozong was furious and "killed specially". Di Renjie, dalicheng, said: "two people should not die for their crimes." Gaozong said: "good talent and so on Zhuoling cypress, I do not kill is unfilial." Thanks to di Renjie's admonition according to law, he listed the examples of ancient sages and made it clear: "I dare not obey the imperial edict." Gaozong was a little angry, removed Quan and fan, and exiled to Lingnan.

On November 16, the 17th year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang paid a visit to Zhaoling, which may be smaller than that of Emperor Gaozong. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was accompanied by Gao Lishi in this memorial ceremony to Zhaoling. According to historical records, Gao Lishi was deeply moved by Taizong's frugality when he saw the combs and other things used by Taizong in his bedroom.

Since the Tang Dynasty, emperors of all dynasties have appointed officials to worship Zhaoling on behalf of the imperial court. Due to the lack of open space in front of the hall in the south of Zhaoling, the rough road and the inconvenient stone handling, all the steles for sacrificing mausoleum in the past dynasties were erected in beisima courtyard. Over time, people used to call beisima courtyard "altar". It is known that there are more than 30 tombs dedicated to emperors of all dynasties. The earliest memorial tablet was erected after emperor suzong of Tang Dynasty calmed down the Anshi rebellion. There are still 15 words on the tablet, which are "supervising the imperial censor and giving the Minister of Feiyu bag, Han Yunqing, to write a book about it". The second is the stele of "Yu Zhi Zhu Wen" set up by Zhu Yuanzhang in the fourth year of Hongwu. Among the more than 30 tombstone steles, Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty set up the most steles, with at least seven steles, followed by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, with at least three steles. Among the mausoleums of ancient Chinese emperors, only Zhaoling Mausoleum formed "altar" after it.

Mausoleum pattern

Design build

The Zhaoling project was carefully designed by the brothers Yan Lide and Yan Liben, who came from an engineering family and successively served as the great craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty. Its plane layout is different from that of sitting West to East since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it is not the system of "hidden burial" in the northern and Southern Dynasties, but the system design of Chang'an City in Tang Dynasty. Chang'an is composed of palace city, imperial city and waikuo city. The palace city is located in the north and central part of the city. It is the living place of the emperor. The palace city is in the south of the palace city. It is a political institution. The waikucheng is a residential area that guards the palace city and the palace city from the southeast to the north. The mausoleum of Zhaoling is located in the northernmost part of the mausoleum, which is equivalent to the palace city of Chang'an and comparable to Taiji palace.

Main mausoleum pattern

The Xuangong palace of Zhaoling is built on the south slope of the main peak of jiugu mountain. The cemetery has a radius of 60 kilometers. An underground palace is built at the bottom of the mountain, and it extends for tens of miles, including the accompanying tombs,

Chinese PinYin : Zhao Ling