The legend that never burned

"We have continued our work on the site because it offers a good reference for many other Qin and Han constructions. It was a large construction project for which Qinshihuang chose the site and pushed for its development after Qin unified China. There are also clear date records in historical literature, so when studying other sites that lack evidence of dates and times, we can make comparisons with this one," says Liu.

During the following dynasties, the name of Epang Palace continued to appear in literature, but whether these references relate to the same site or another site remains to be seen. The latest discovery of five small Tang Dynasty tombs within the excavation area indicates that the site was possibly used as a cemetery for lower-level tombs during the Tang era.

Liu says the poet Du's description of the Epang Palace's splendor must have been false."Du couldn't have seen ruins of splendid architecture during the Tang period," he says.

"In another of his articles, he explained that his vivid depiction of a magnificent Epang Palace was drawn from historical imagination — a literary device intended to satirize Emperor Jing of the Tang Dynasty at the time, who, much like Emperor Qinshihuang, indulged in lavish construction after ascending the throne."

"Through our work, Epang Palace is emerging from its legendary image, revealing itself once again to the world in its true, intricate, and astonishingly engineered form," he adds.