the Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang

Qinshihuang Mausoleum is the first emperor mausoleum in Chinese history. Its huge scale and rich funerary objects rank first in the mausoleums of the emperors of all dynasties. According to the principle that the first emperor of Qin still enjoys glory and wealth after his death, the mausoleum was built in the layout of Xianyang, the capital of Qin state. It is generally in the shape of Hui. It took 38 years for the cemetery project to stop from site selection, design, construction and construction. It ranked first in the history of mausoleum construction in China, and its construction time was 8 years longer than that of Khufu pyramid in Egypt. The large-scale ground buildings in the mausoleum area are the ruins of the dormitory hall, biandian hall, Yuansi Lishe and so on.

Due to the limited archaeological technology, the tomb of Qin Shihuang has not been excavated yet. Visitors can only see a tall tomb surrounded by mountains, which is closely related to Lishan Mountain.

essential information

geographical environment

Qinshihuang Mausoleum is located on Lishan Mountain in the South and Weishui River in the north.

Lishan is a branch of the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, stretching about 25 kilometers from east to west and 7 kilometers from north to south. It is said that the mountain is like a horse in black, hence the name. Lishan Mountain is a Horst formed during the Himalayan orogeny. It is about 1000 meters above sea level. Faults are scattered, and mountains and gullies alternate with each other, forming a north-south Valley, from which rivers develop. The mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty is located on the alluvial fan formed by rivers at the northern foot of Lishan Mountain.

This area has a beautiful natural environment. The whole Lishan Mountain has only the section from Lintong county to ma'e with high altitude. This section of the mountains is symmetrical, with lush trees and alternate valleys and peaks. The mountain is slightly curved in the south of the mausoleum, like a blooming lotus. The imperial mausoleum is surrounded by the mountains of Li mountain. It is integrated with the whole Li mountain, like a lotus pistil in the middle. From the practical point of view at that time and the concept of Feng Shui of later generations, this place is an ideal place to set up a cemetery.

In the east of Qinshihuang Mausoleum, there is an artificial fish pond. According to shuijingzhu: "the water flows from the northeast of Lishan Mountain to the north. Later, the first emperor of Qin was buried in the north of the mountain. The water flows through the mountain and turns to the north. The first emperor built a mausoleum to collect soil. The ground is deep and the water accumulates into a pond, which is called a fish pond." The water flows northwest through the north of Shihuang tomb. " It can be seen that the water in the fish pond originally came from the northeast of Lishan Mountain and flowed from south to north. Later, when the Qin Shihuang mausoleum was built, an east-west dam was built on the southwest side of the mausoleum. The length of the dam is more than 1000 meters, the width is generally more than 40 meters, the widest part is more than 70 meters, and the residual height is 2 to 8 meters. It is commonly known as the Wuling site. It was this dam that changed the original water from the fish pond in the northeast of Li River into the northwest flow and passed around the northeast of Qin Shihuang mausoleum.

In addition, in the east of the cemetery, there is a continuous stream of hot spring water. According to shuijingzhu, "there is hot spring water in the southwest of Yuchi water, which is used to treat diseases.". "San Qin Ji" records: "there are hot springs in the northwest of Li mountain." It can be seen that the hot spring in that year corresponds to the fish pond water in the northwest.

In the south, it is backed by mountains and surrounded by water on three sides. "Surrounded by mountains and water" is the most important geographical feature of Qinshihuang Mausoleum.

Historical evolution

Construction history

Site selection

For the dual needs of reality and psychology, the ancients often chose higher terrain and beautiful environment to set up mausoleums, especially the imperial mausoleum. Qin Shihuang was in power in Xianyang, the capital city, but his mausoleum was located in Lishan Mountain far away from Xianyang. According to Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the reason why he did this is that "the first emperor of Qin was buried in the mountains of Lirong. He was named Lantian. His Yin was rich in gold and his Yang was rich in jade. The first emperor was greedy for his good name, so he was buried."

Li Daoyuan's viewpoint has been affirmed by many mathematicians in the academic circle. However, some scholars have raised objections. The negative side thinks that the selection of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum in Lishan depends on the ritual system at that time, and is influenced by the traditional concept of "building mausoleum according to the mountain".

The mausoleum of Qin Shihuang's ancestors and Empress Dowager Xuan was buried in Lintong county

In Zhiyang area to the west, Qin Shihuang's mausoleum was selected in Lishan Mountain to the east of Zhiyang, which was decided by the etiquette system at that time, because the mausoleums of ancient emperors were often arranged according to the dignity and inferiority of their living time. "The book of Rites", "Erya" and other books record: "south, north, West is the best.". "The southwest corner is called this Ao, and the place of respect is also.". The book Lun Heng of the Eastern Han Dynasty records more clearly: "husband in the west, the land of the elderly, the position of the venerable, the venerable in the west, the humble in the East The tomb of the husband is the place where the dead hide; the field is the place where the people eat; the house is the place where the people live; the three are for the people, and it's appropriate to be cruel. " Even in Zhiyang, Empress Dowager Xuan also hoped that her tomb could be buried between her husband and son, that is, "looking at my husband in the West and looking at my son in the East", which seems to be based on the principle that the elder is in the West and the younger is in the East. The ancestors of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty have already known that there are king Zhaoxiang of Qin, King Zhuangxiang of Qin and Empress Dowager Xuan of Qin buried in Zhiyang. Since the ancestors' tombs were all buried in the west of Lintong County, Qin Shihuang, as a younger generation, could only be buried in the east of Zhiyang. If the mausoleum is located to the west of Zhiyang, it is obviously contrary to the traditional ritual system, so the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is selected at the foot of Lishan Mountain, which is completely in line with the ritual system of the younger generation living in the East.

Other scholars believe that the site selection of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum at the northern foot of Lishan Mountain and the establishment of a new mausoleum away from his grandfather's and father's mausoleum is a reflection of his idea of one tomb's exclusive respect. After Ying Zheng completed the great cause of reunification, he thought that he was "virtuous and three emperors, and merited Five Emperors", so he separated his mausoleum to show his special and noble status. In addition, from the perspective of geomancy, the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty has Lishan Mountain in the South and Weihe River in the north. It is a place of "mountain rush" with "leaning against the mountain peak and facing the plain". It is just in the open area between Dashuigou and fengwanggou on the north slope of Lishan Mountain. It is located on the tableland between the third terrace on the South Bank of Weihe River and Lishan Mountain. It is not only higher than the East and West, but also protected by the water flow on both sides An ideal graveyard.

Builder

Li Si, the prime minister, was the designer of the mausoleum, and the Shaofu ordered Zhang Han to supervise the work. A total of 720000 people were recruited, and nearly 800000 people were employed to repair the mausoleum.

Construction process

The scale of the project, the number of workers and the duration of the project are unprecedented.

The construction of the mausoleum project was accompanied by Qin Shihuang's political career. When he ascended the throne at the age of 13, in the first year of the reign of the king of Qin (247 BC), the construction of the cemetery began. It was not the first creation of Qin Shihuang that ancient emperors built mausoleums during their lifetime. For example, the Shouling Mausoleum of marquis Zhao Su "started in 15 years" and the mausoleum of Zhongshan king in Pingshan County were also built during his lifetime. However, the first emperor of Qin advanced the time when the emperor built the mausoleum to the early stage of his accession to the throne, which is an improvement of the first emperor of Qin. It took 39 years to build the mausoleum, but it was not completed until the death of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty. The second emperor Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, and then it took more than a year to complete the construction.

Throughout the cemetery project, before and after can be divided into three construction stages.

The initial stage. In the 26 years from the accession to the throne of the king of Qin to the unification of the whole country, the design of the cemetery project and the construction of the main project were carried out successively, which initially laid the scale and basic pattern of the cemetery project.

The middle stage. It took nine years from the unification of the whole country to the first emperor of Qin Dynasty. Up to 720000 prisoners came to build the cemetery on a large scale, basically completing the main project of the cemetery.

The final stage. From the 35th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (212 BC) to the 2nd year of the second emperor of Qin Dynasty (208 BC), it took more than three years. This stage is mainly the finishing project and earth covering task of the mausoleum. At this stage, the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out, and they hit the place near the water playing (now near Xinfeng Town, Lintong county), which was less than a few Li away from the cemetery. The Qin Empire was in danger. At this time, Zhang Han, who has been promoted to the rank of Shaofu, suggested: "the bandits have arrived in many areas of Xinjiang, and now they are less than the counties. There are many people in Lishan. Please forgive them and give them troops to attack them.

”The second emperor immediately ordered Zhang Han to lead the army to fight back against the uprising army, and the unfinished cemetery project had to be hastily completed.

Historical situation

In the first year of Qin Ziying (206 BC), the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang suffered the first and possibly the biggest disaster. According to records of the historian

The first chapter of Gaodi Ji

The sixth biography of the king of Chu and Yuan

According to the records, Xiang Yu destroyed the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty on a large scale after he invaded Guanzhong, destroyed the ground buildings once, and excavated the mausoleum.

After defeating Xiang Yu, Liu Bang established the capital of Chang'an and established the Western Han Dynasty. In order to win the hearts of the world, in 195 B.C., Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty ordered that the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin should be properly protected, and 20 families should live near the mausoleum and take care of it as guardians. Since then, the rulers of all dynasties have ordered to protect the mausoleums of the Qin emperors.

But even so, the Qin mausoleum was not stable. Liu Xiangzhuan of the Han Dynasty records that a child was herding sheep near the Qinling mausoleum. As a result, a sheep fell into a cave. The child hit a torch and went to the cave to look for it. Unexpectedly, he went into the underground palace of the Qinling mausoleum, causing a fire and burning the coffin of the first emperor of Qin

. According to the book of the Han Dynasty, the Weishui River in shuijingzhu also makes a supplement: "the shepherd looks for the sheep and burns it, and the fire lasts for 90 days."

In the late years of Xinmang, the red eyebrow army stole the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty and melted the unearthed burial utensils and bronze coffins to obtain copper materials.

In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Shi Hu, the ruler of the later Zhao Dynasty, once again robbed the Qin mausoleum.

At the end of Tang Dynasty, Huangchao invaded Guanzhong, and the mausoleum of Qinshihuang experienced a large-scale destruction

Chinese PinYin : Qin Shi Huang Ling