The major difference between architectural art and other arts in terms of the method of appeal is that the former has unmatched tremendous size in structure. From the high mountains and large rivers, tall trees and huge rocks of nature, ancients experienced the loftiness contained in exceptional size. And from the thunder and lightning, the raging tide and the roaring fire they felt the fear contained in the superhuman strength. When these experiences were transplanted into construction, hugeness was transformed into dignity and importance. Therefore, the grave of the monarch was particularly high and large, and was called either a "mausoleum" or "imperial tomb". The original meaning of "mausoleum" was a high and big mountain. The graves for other persons, being smaller, were called "graves", "tablets" or "tombs" and referred merely to an earth mound.
From the Qin and Han until the Ming and Qing dynasties, the emperors' tombs were always covered with a huge mound.
Great achievements were made in the combination of natural environment during the Tang Dynasty, and the vast scene was given strong memorial character. There was a distinguishing feature in the Tang dynasty mausoleum, in that the entire mausoleum district was modeled on the capital city. The design of the mausoleum, like the capital city, was permeated with ritual logic, so as to give prominence to the dignity of the imperial authority.
The Ming and Qing dynasties paid still higher attention to, and recorded still greater achievements, in the application of geomancy. Their shape and structure were somewhat different from those witnessed in the Han, Tang and Song dynasties, theMing Tombsand the East andWest Mausoleums of theQing Dynastybeing famous examples.
The Qinshihuang Mausoleum in Lintong, Shanxi, is the largest mausoleum of the Qin and Han dynasties. The earth mound is square, each side measuring about 350 meters, and resembling the Egyptian pyramids in the form of a three-layer square pyramid platform ail piled up manually. The existing remnant is still 43 meters high. The top is vast, flat and smooth, and royal halls were possibly once built on it. There are two layers of mausoleum walls around it, with doors opening on all four sides. The north door is possibly taken as the front gate. The southern part of the mausoleum rests onLishan Mountainand its north faces the Weihe River The terrain is high in the south and low in the north, with the north door taken as the front gate, so that the Lishan Mountain becomes the natural background of the mausoleum.
The Tang Dynasty witnessed the second climax in the construction of mausoleums in China, following Qin and Han dynasties. There are 18 mausoleums on the northern bank of the Weishui River inShanxi Province.
Tang Dynasty imperial mausoleums are mostly built at the foot of mountains. Tombs were set up in the rocks on naturally isolated mountains, and their great momentum Surpassed manually earth-sealed graves. TakeQianling, where Emperor Gaozong is buried' together with Wuzetian, for example. Qianling is about 70 meters above the path leading to tombs before the mausoleum, and so is much more magnificent than Qin andHan dynastygrave mounds which generally are only 20-30 meters above the path. The various tombs take Beishan Mountain as the background, with their south face pointing across the vast central Shanxi plain. These tombs, and the distant Zhongnan andTaibai mountains, face one another. The Weishui River lies horizontally before them, and the Jingshui River meanders between them. In the vicinity are shallow ditches and deep gullies. Looking ahead, one finds a stretch of flat land, which serves as a foil to the height and prominence of the main peak of the mausoleum mountain.
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