Baling is the joint Tomb of Emperor Xiaowen of Han Dynasty Liu Heng and Empress Dowager Dou of Western Han Dynasty. It is sometimes written in baling. Ba, namely Ba River. Because baling is close to the Bahe River, it gets its name. Located in the northeast corner of Bailuyuan in the eastern suburb of Xi'an, maoyaoyuan village, Xiwang street, Baqiao District, is known locally as "fenghuangzui".
In 2015, through archaeological research, Shaanxi Academy of archaeology considered that baling is located in the "Jiangcun tomb", which is the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
Location structure
Located 57 kilometers southeast of Weiyang Palace site in Chang'an city of the Han Dynasty, baling is one of the two Western Han mausoleums southeast of Chang'an city of the Western Han Dynasty (the other is Du Mausoleum of Xuandi Liu Xun of the Han Dynasty, and the other nine Western Han mausoleums are on Xianyang plain to the north of Weihe River). As for why the site of the baling is located here, it is speculated that it is related to the "Zhaomu system" that was still followed in the early Han Dynasty. However, judging from historical records, the baling mausoleum was built close to the mountain, and anti-theft was considered as a very important factor. Baling is the first imperial mausoleum in the history of China, which has a great influence on the establishment of the mausoleum in the Six Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty.
The reason for Ba Ling's "no more tombs due to the mountains" is that the tombs are dug according to the mountains, and there is no sealed soil to be found. In addition, there are few records of Baling in historical documents, so we can only infer the specific location and internal structure of Baling according to the only records. Baling cemetery is known as "Shengde garden" in history, with built-in bedroom hall, biandian, etc. But no remains of the cemetery were found. According to the records, a cave was dug in Yuantou cliff of Bailuyuan to form a Xuangong palace. The interior of the palace was built with stone and drainage system. The gate, passage and chamber of the tomb were built with pieces of stone. However, it is estimated that the drainage system was later blocked by sand and stone, so that the door of the tomb was later washed open by water, and the structure of the tomb chamber was damaged. At the latest, baling was excavated in the Western Jin Dynasty, and a large number of funerary objects were found at that time.
Burial Mausoleum
We should pay attention to the mausoleum system of Han Dynasty. In the Western Han Dynasty, the empress and the empress were buried together in different tombs. Therefore, there are no tombs on the ground of Emperor Wen's mausoleum. The two visible tombs on the ground are the tombs of Empress Dowager Mu Bo and empress xiaowendou.
The mausoleum of Empress Dowager Bo, the mother of Emperor Wen, is called Nanling (Empress Dowager Bo's Mausoleum) because it is in the southwest of baling. Nanling is located in the northwest of baoqizhai village, Dizhai Town, the eastern suburb of Xi'an city. The mausoleum is in the shape of a bucket, with a height of 29.5 meters and a circumference of 560 meters. There are rammed earth walls around the mausoleum, and a gate is built in the middle of the wall. In the northwest of the cemetery, there are dozens of burial pits. Now more than 20 of them have been cleared, and many pottery figurines, pots and coffins have been unearthed. Because Nanling looks at the Changling Mausoleum of emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty across the Weihe River in the west, there is a saying in historical books that "I look at my son in the East and my husband in the west", and the local people call it "wangzizhong". Empress Dowager Bo is the concubine of Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. She was honored as empress dowager after her son Wendi of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne. Because empress dowager Lu Zhi and Liu Bang were buried together, Empress Dowager Bo could not be buried with Liu Bang, but with Liu Bang. Therefore, judging from her location and the local name of wangzizhong, Nanling must be near baling.
