A Rare Mausoleum with Emperor and Empress Buried Together

The Tang Dynasty (618-907) witnessed the second climax in the construction of mausoleums in China, following Qin and Han dynasties (221BC-220AD). The Tang imperial mausoleums are mostly built at the foot of mountains. Take Qianling, where Tang Emperor Gaozong was buried together with his wife Wu Zetian, for example.

The Qianling Mausoleum is about 70 meters above the path leading to tombs before the mausoleum, and so is much more magnificent than Qin and Han grave mounds which generally are only 20 to 30 meters above the path.

The Qianling Mausoleum, with a circumference of 40 km, is equivalent to Chang'an in magnificence and scale. The stone carvings are splendid. Arranged on both sides of the path leading to the tombs are stone carvings, such as stone pillars, winged horses, ostriches, stone horses and persons leading horses, as well as stone figures. In addition, in the Qianling Mausoleum, between the stone figures and the third watchtower, there are a characterless tablet and a recorded tablet narrating the history of a sage; there are also a total of 61 statues of guests of the king. The east, west and north gates in the inner city are like the south gate, with a pair of stone lions and a pair of earthen watchtowers.

The Qianling Mausoleum is the only one of the 18 Tang imperial mausoleums that hasn't been stolen and also a rare example of emperor and empress being buried together. Since the1960s, more than 4,300 precious cultural relics have been unearthed from five newly discovered satellite tombs. The 10,000-odd beautiful murals excavated in the mausoleum are really a rare underground art gallery.

It can be seen that this mausoleum system is identical with the planning idea of the city of Chang'an. The entire mausoleum area is equivalent to the walled city; the subordinated tombs are in the suburbs' the area stretching northward from the second door is equivalent to the imperial city; the stone figures and stone lions symbolize the guards of honor posted when the emperor goes out. The design of the mausoleum, like the design of the capital city, is permeated with strict ritual system logic, both designed to give prominence to the dignity of imperial power.