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Ulink Travel Center
Home> China City Guide> Xi'an
Providing detailed travelling information on the ancient capital of 11 dynasties -- Xi'an, terra-cotta warriors and horses museum of Emperor Qin Shihuang, and numerous other places of interest.
Introduction
An episode in the history of Sino-Western exchanges runs as follows: One day when Julius Caesar went to attend a theatre performance, he found himself the object of the surprised stares of the whole audience. His glamorous gown made of Chinese silk had triggered their interest. From that time onwards, Chinese silk was high fashion in Rome and people competed with each other, dressing up in it to display their wealth. As a result, the price of silk went up so sharply that it equaled the gold price. The home of this Chinese silk so popular with the ancient Romans was Xi'an, called Chang'an over 2,000 years ago and then the capital of the Han Dynasty.
Xi'an was called Chang'an in Han Dynasty. The connotation of "Chang'an" is "a place of permanent peace". It was not until the prosperous Tang Dynasty that Chang'an became famous both at home and abroad as the largest and busiest international metropolis of that age in the world. Xi'an obtained its present name in 1369. It stands first on the six largest ancient capitals. From the 11 century B.C. onwards, Xi'an or its vicinity was established as the capital city by 11 dynasties successively, including the Western Zhou, the Qin, the Han, the Sui and the Tang, and it also served as the capital of two peasant regimes respectively under the rule of Huang Chao and Li Zicheng. The city's capital status lasted for 1,608 years. As regards the number of dynasties and span of time, Xi'an served as an ancient capital beyond compare.
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Xi'an was the largest city in the world. Chang'an, was linked to many central Asian regions and Europe via the Silk Road, with thousands of foreign traders living the city.
Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi Province and also the political, economic and cultural center of the Northwest China. With the development of travel industry and the implementation of the open policy, it has become one of the nation's key tourist cities and tourism has become the mainstay in Shaanxi's economy.
Xi'an lies at longitude 103
east by latitude 34
, and an average annual precipitation of 604 mm. The rainy season comes in July, August and September. The city now has under its jurisdiction eight districts -- Xincheng, Beilin, Lianhu, Yanta, Weiyang, Baqiao, Lintong and Yangling, and five counties -- Chang'an, Lantian, Huxian, Zhouzhi and Gaoling. As a whole, Xi'an covers an area of 9,983 square kilometers and has population of 5,860,000. The city proper occupies an area 861 square kilometers, and reaches a population of 2,650,000.
With an elevation of 500 metres, the Weihe Plain extends between Baoji in the west and Tongguan in the east and borders the Qinling Mountains in the south and the Huangtu Plateau in the north. Lying in the warm zone, the plain has a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. Chequered with the Weihe, Jinghe, Luohe, and Bahe rivers as well as the Jinghui, Weihui and Luohui canals, the fertile land on the plain has easy access to irrigation facilities and an abundant yield of farm produce. Xi'an lies in the centre to the south of this plain, a favourable geographical location surrounded by water and hills.
The area around Xi'an was inhabited by the progenitors of the Chinese nation as far back as 500,000-600,000 years ago. In the 1960s, archaeologists discovered in Lantian County to the southeast of Xi'an human fossils and cultural relics belonging to the Paleolithic Period. In the 1950s, the remains from the Neolithic Period were discovered at Banpo Village to the east of Xi'an City. In the 70s, the Jiangzhai Ruins from a later part of the Neolithic period were discovered at Lintong County to the northeast of Xi'an City. These archaeological discoveries indicate that the area around Xi'an is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization.
As one of the six ancient capitals in China, Xi'an served as the seat of 12 imperial capitals for 1,120 years after Chinese society had entered the civilized stage.
Xi'an is also a world-famous tourist city, a treasure house of cultural relics. The remains of past civilizations furnish evidence of every major epoch in China's half a million history, making for a particularly illustrative textbook of Chinese culture. The history apparent in Xi'an is so ancient and continuous that the city has no parallel anywhere as a cultural site. Here one can visit the sites once inhabited by its primitive people; admire the bronze wares manufactured in the Bronze Age; wander through the city ruins of the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties; imagine for oneself the clamour of the old Oriental metropolis; explore the imperial tombs of the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties, testimony to the pervasive power of the feudal ruling class; ramble in temples and pagoda courtyards, tracing vestiges of the Silk Road; and study stone inscriptions to appreciate Chinese calligraphy. Not least, Xi'an is the site of excavation of the vast army of terracotta warriors and horses from the tomb of China's First Emperor, Qin Shihuang, from whom the country derives its name.
Xi'an was the starting point of the world-famous Silk Road. It can be well likened to a history museum. Moving around this old city is like going through thousands of years back in time. In this vast museum you will see the Banpo Village Remains of a matriarchal community; the Huaqing Hot Springs which was noted as early as the Zhou Dynasty more than 3,000 years back; Qin Shihuang's terra-cotta warriors and horses, known as the eighth wonder of the world; the imperial cemetery grounds of the Han and Tang dynasties; the Great Mosque with unique features; the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty; the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower of the Ming Dynasty; and the Forest of Steles with a rich collection of age-old stone steles.
Shaanxi Provincial History Museum
The Shaanxi Provincial History Museum, a massive modern museum up to the national standard, is located one kilometers northwest of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. It is a magnificent architectural complex in the Tang Dynasty style. It covers an area of 70,000 square meters, with the construction area of 5,000 square meters. It collects the highlights of the Shaanxi culture and shows a development of the Chinese civilization.
The architecture of the Museum is simple, unsophisticated, elegant and unique in style. It combines the construction of the ancient Chinese palaces and courtyard buildings, harmonious and graceful in hue, and demonstrates the Chinese traditional architectural style. It also has local characteristics and epoch-making essence.
The Museum possesses a treasure of 113,000 historic and cultural artifacts unearthed in Shaanxi, and it covers an area of 1,100 square meters for exhibition.
The Museum has established a science and technology center for the preservation of cultural relics. It has an advanced technology of examination and laboratory test and the means of repair and restoration. To promote international cultural exchanges, it has also set up a computer-controlled, international symposium hall where six different languages can be employed in the spontaneous interpretation.
In the Preface Hall of the museum, the massive picture that faces you show the surging and roaring Yellow River and the Vast Loess Plateau, which are the natural habitat of the Shaanxi residents and the cradle of Shaanxi ancient civilization as well.
The giant lion in the center was originally erected in front of Shunling, the Mausoleum of the mother of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty. Its exquisite craftsmanship and imposing look rank it the " No.1 Lion in the Orient". China's ancient stone lions and the technique of its sculpturing were introduced into the country from Afghanistan. So this lion is not only representative of the Shaanxi civilization, but also the product of the cultural exchange between the East and the West.
The Shaanxi History Museum offers a full display of historic relics mainly excavated in the province. The exhibition can be divided into seven sections which emphatically reveal the Han, Wei, Jin, North and South, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The exhibition vividly and systematically depicts Shaanxi history, ranging from 1,150,000 years ago up to the year 1840. In Chinese history, eleven dynasties established their capitals in Shaanxi Province, lasting more than 1000 years. It is the area that was made the country's capital by more dynasties and for longer periods of time than any other places in China. In a way, the ancient history of Shaanxi is a highly condensed version of Chinese history.
The Huaqing Hot Springs is located about 35 kilometers east of the city of Xi'an. Historically, during the Western Zhou Dynasty the construction of the Li Palace was undertaken on this spot. In the Qin Dynasty, a stone pool was built and was given the name Lishan Hot Springs. The site was enlarged into a bigger palace during the Han Dynasty, and was renamed, the Li Palace. During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong ordered the construction of the Hot Springs Palace. Emperor Xuanzong had a walled palace built around the Lishan Mountain in the year 747. It was known as the Huaqing Palace. It also had the name Huaqing Hot Springs because of its location over the hot springs.
Huaqing Hot Springs is located at he foot of the Lishan Mountain, a branch of the Qinling Range. Standing 1,256 meters high, it is covered with pines and cypress and looks very much like a dark green galloping horse from a long distance away. In ancient times, a black horse was called "Li", and this is bow it got its name, Lishan.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Huaqing Hot Springs was destroyed, during the An Lushan Rebellion. The present-day site is only a small part of the Tang Huaqing Palace. The Huaqing Hot Springs which we see today was rebuilt on the site of the Qing Dynasty structure. The palace covers an area of 85,560 square meters.
Entering the West Gate of Huaqing Hot Springs, you will see the Nine-Dragon Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool and the Frost Drifting Hall, etc. All these structures were rebuilt in 1959 according to Tang architectural style.
The Tang Emperor, Xuanzong and his favorite lady, Yang Guifei (Lady Yang), used to make their home in the Frost Drifting Hall. There is always mist and vapor in the air over the pool that is in front of the Hall. In winter, snowflakes fly in the air, and everything in sight becomes white. However, the snowflakes thawed immediately, in front of the Hall. This owes a great deal to the lukewarm vapor that rises out of the hot spring; hence the name of the Frost Drifting Hall.
Close by the Frost Drifting Hall lies the Nine-Dragon Pool. According to legend, the Central Shaanxi Plain was once stricken by a severe drought, in time very long ago. By the order of the Jade Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Heaven), an old dragon came with eight young ones, and made rain here. Yet when the disaster was just abating, the dragons lowered their guard, and the drought became serious again. In a fit of anger, the Jade Emperor kept the young dragons under the Jade Causeway, with the Morning Glow Pavilion and the Sunset Pavilion built on the east and west sides of it to make the young dragons spout clear water all day long to meet the needs of local irrigation. He had the old dragon confined to the bottom of the Roaring Dragon Waterside Pavilion which was situated at the upper end of the Jade Causeway. The old dragon was obliged to exercise control over the young.
The Nine-Bend Corridor, which lies to the west of the Nine-Dragon Pool leads directly to the Marble Boat. This boat resembles a dragon boat, floating on the water's surface. In the Marble Boat lies the Nine-Dragon Hot Spring Palace where emperor Xuanzong would take his baths. He would lead his court ladies and hundreds of his officials to Huaqing Palace to spend his winter days, beginning in October of the Lunar Calendar, and return to Chang'an City as the year drew to its close. The Nine-Dragon Hot Spring Pool was originally built with crystal jade. Its surface was decorated with carvings of fish, dragons, birds and flowers. In the pool, twin lotus flowers were also carved, and white jade could be seen there as well. The spring water wells up from a break in an earthen jar, and spouts up to lotus flowers. Hence the name, Lotus Flower Pool (the Lotus Flower Hot Springs).
The source of the hot springs that flows into Huaqing Pool and the historical site of the Five-Room Hall, in the Xi'an Incident, are all situated to the east of the Huaqing Pool.
At this spa there are four hot springs. They have a flow of 112 tons an hour and a constant temperature of 43șC. The spring water contains lime, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate and other minerals, which makes it suitable for bathing and the treatment of quite a few diseases such as dermatitis, rheumatism, arthritis and muscular pain. The "Fine Sunset—Bathed Pavilion" makes the first source of the spring water, which was discovered some 3,000 years ago, roughly in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Its water flow averages 25 tons per hour.
Climb the steps east of the source of hot springs, and you will gradually see the Five-Room Hall where Chiang Kaishek stayed temporarily during the Xi'an Incident.
The Xi'an Incident took place on December 12, 1936. It is also known as the Double Twelfth Incident. After the Incident of September 18, 1936, Japanese imperialists seized the three provinces in northeastern China, and intensified their invasion efforts in the North China. This was a very vital time for the Chinese nation. Yet Chiang Kaishek doggedly persisted in carrying out his reactionary policy "domestic tranquility is a must for the resistance against the Japanese invaders". He commanded the Northeast and the Northwest Armies, headed by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, to attack the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region. Inspired by the Chinese Communist Party's policy "let us stop the civil war and unite to resist the Japanese aggressors", these two generals put forward to Chiang Kaishek, the proposal of forming a united front with the Communist Party for the resistance drive. Not only did he reject the proposal, but flew to Xi'an to scheme the "suppression of the Communist Party", and "the slaughter of the patriotic youth". Out of patriotism, Zhang and Yang started the famous Xi'an Incident.
Very early on the morning of December 12, 1936 their plan began. Zhang Xueliang, together with Yang Hucheng, ordered a squad of bodyguards, to surround the Huaqing Hot Springs. They fought a fierce battle there, and wiped out Chiang's bodyguards in one vigorous effort. The sound of firing came to Chiang Kaishek, and he was so terrified that he crept out of a window in his nightgown and slippers. What's more, he hurt his back, and lost one of his slippers while crossing over the back wall. He staggered up Lishan Mountain, and hid himself behind a stone in a crevice, halfway up it. Those brave soldiers began to search the mountain immediately after they had rushed into the Five-Room Hall and found that Chiang's hat and clothes were still there and that his quilt was still warm. In the end they found Chiang, and escorted him to Xi'an.
In order to avoid a civil war and try to establish a united national front for the resistance against Japan, Mao Zedong, on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, insisted on a peaceful settlement of the Incident. Therefore, a delegation headed by Zhou Enlai, was sent to Xi'an. Zhou Enlai and his delegates did a large amount of work there and took everything possible into consideration. Ultimately he forced Chiang Kaishek to accept the proposal that was made by his two generals. On December 25, Chiang was freed, and flew to Nanjing. The Xi'an Incident was settled peacefully.
The peaceful settlement of the Incident put an end to the civil war which had lasted for ten years, and accelerated the formation and development of the United National Front for the Anti-Japanese Drive. Moreover, it showed that the beginnings of cooperative relationships between the Communists and Nationalists arrived at a new level. It marked a great turning point in modern Chinese history.
In the year of 1946 the Nationalist Government had the "National Rejuvenation Pavilion" built near the crevice where Chiang Kaishek had hidden himself during the Incident. It was also called the "Vital Energy Pavilion". After the national liberation it was renamed the "Catching-Chiang Pavilion". Now it has the name of "the Remonstration Pavilion". Close to the pavilion, stands a wooden board, which carries a brief introduction to the Xi'an Incident. Iron chains and rings are fixed up to the crevice, east of the pavilion, by which visitors can climb up, to take a look at Chiang Kaishek's shelter.
Up the winding path, east of the Five-Room Hall, you will see a bridge-like structure. On summer and autumn evenings the sun shines off this bridge in a way that makes it look very much like a rainbow. So it was named the Hovering Rainbow Bridge.
Located on the Xixiu Ridge (the West Embroidery Ridge) of Lishan Mountain, the remains of the beacon tower of the Western Zhou Dynasty is easily identified.
The beacon tower was built at the top of the mountain to give alarm of border attack in ancient times. It was constantly manned by special guards. Once the enemy pressed towards the border, the signal from the beacon tower would be sent. It was made to smoke during the day and would light the sky with fire at night.
A famous story is told about Baosi, Queen of the Western Zhou Dynasty. She was highly honored, yet she never cracked a smile. King You tried many ways to put a smile on her face, but he failed over and over again. He "called his court band to toll bells and beat gongs", and she put on a long face. Then the band was asked to "play the bamboo flute and strings", and she remained displeased. Afterwards, "maids of honor served wine, festively singing and dancing", and she still did not let out a smile.
"You don't like music! What on earth are you fond of?" the King asked.
"I don't have much of a liking for anything. But I can still well remember when I was a child, I liked to listen to the sound of colored silk being torn. It was clear and melodious." she replied. King You said in excitement, "That is very simple. How come you didn't let me know that earlier?"
Thus he ordered the officially appointed property manager to produce colored silk and he assembled fresh and energetic maids of honor and had them tear it into pieces, but Baosi remained unmoved.
" Why didn't you let out a single smile then?" he asked.
"I have not smiled so far," the Queen replied.
The King tried over and over again, but failed repeatedly, and in the end he gave order: "Anyone, either in or out of court, who can amuse Baosi will be awarded one thousand pieces of gold."
Afterwards, Guo Shifu, a treacherous court official, came, and offered advice: "Set the beacon tower on fire and fool your sovereign rulers." That night the King and Queen reached Lishan Mountain by carriage, and gave the order. In a split second, the flames of the fire lit up the sky and the sovereign rulers moved their troops immediately to Lishan Mountain. There they found the King and Queen enjoyed Drinking festively. The King then dispatched his bodyguard to inform them that "Everything is all right. I have just been joking with you." When they found out this, they looked at each other in blank dismay, and left disappointed. Sure enough, Baosi burst into laughter, stroking her hands when she noticed all the troops who had come in vain and now returned noisily. Accordingly, Guo Shifu got a prize of one thousand pieces of gold. Later, King You repeated his joke more often than not. In 771 B.C., Quan Rong (a then minority tribe) staged an armed rebellion against the Western Zhou Dynasty. King You urgently ordered the beacon tower set on fire, but all the sovereign rulers did not come. Consequently King You was killed, and Baosi was taken away. The Western Zhou Dynasty vanished. Herein come the Chinese idioms "A single smile costs one thousand pieces of gold" and "the sovereign rulers are fooled by the beacon fire".
In April 1982, on a construction site that was well under way, the ruins of the Imperial Pools in the Tang Dynasty Huaqing Palace were discovered. After excavation and sorting out the information at hand, archaeologists found the ruins of the five pools in an area of 4,200 square meters. They proved them to be, the Star Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool, the Crabapple Pool, the Crown Prince Pool and the Shangshi Pool, all of which were recorded in history. The Museum of the Imperial Pools in the Tang Dynasty Huaqing Palace was built on their ruins and was opened to public in October 1990. "The Chinese Flower Crabapple Pool" was specially built by the order of Tang Emperor Xuanzong for his favorite lady Yang Yuhuan, to bathe in. Therefore it was also called Lady Yang's Pool. The pool was like a platform with two layers, 3.6 meters in length, 2.9 meters in width. It was built of eight stones. The overall view of the pool resembles a Chinese flowering crabapple in full blossom.
Besides the five pools, on display in the museum, there are also several pottery water tubes, and various types of tiles that were unearthed during the excavation. These were building materials during the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
The Banpo Village remains are located between the Chanhe and the Bahe rivers, to the east of Xi'an city. The village was an authentic matriarchal clan community of the Yangshao Culture. More than 400 sites like this have been discovered on the Central Shaanxi Plain in the Yellow River Valley. The Yellow River Valley has always enjoyed the reputation of being the birthplace of China's ancient culture.
The Yangshao Culture belonged to China's Neolithic Age. It was named after the Yangshao Village which was discovered in Mianchi County, Henan Province in 1921. The culture was located mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Valley. Production tools, such as the knife, axe, daze and chisel, were mostly made of stone by means of grinding and polishing. There were also chipped stone implements and bone objects as well. Pottery utensils for daily use wee chiefly made from refined terra-cotta and red sandy clay. Some objects of refined terra-cotta were decorated with zoomorphic and geometric designs. Agriculture dominated the economic life of that age, while fishing and domestic animal rearing came second. All these finds give evidence to the fact that matriarchal clan communities came to their prime. With so many pieces of painted pottery, Yangshao Culture is also known as the Painted Pottery Culture.
The matriarchal clan community shows the first signs of primitive communes after advancing from the primitive tribes, and came to an end not long before patriarchy society was established. This happened in approximately the period spanning the late Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. Women then played an important part in society. This stage can be divided into two periods: an early period and a developmental period. As far as the first period was concerned, women were engaged in collecting wild fruits while men were occupied with fishing and hunting. As a result of the intertribal communal marriages, children were closely associated with their mothers from morning to night. Yet their fathers remained something of a stranger to them. They followed their mothers in the family pedigree. The latter period saw the transition to exogamy. Women took up farming, and managed the tribal affairs and the economic life as well. Husbands lived in the homes of their wives, and they were also recorded together with their property in the family pedigree after their wives.
The Banpo Village covers an area of 50,000 square meters and is divided into three sections: the Residential Section, the Pottery-making Section, and the Burial Section. There were five excavations between 1954 and 1957, a total area of 10,000 square meters. The discoveries include 46 horse remains, two pigsties, 200 cellars, 174 adult tombs, 73 child's burial urns, six pottery kilns and many production tools and living utensils. All these depict the production and lives of the Banpo ancestors 6,000 years ago during the prosperous period of the matrilineal clan society.
In 1958, the Banpo Museum, the first on-the-spot museum in China was set up, on the basis of the archaeological excavation. The museum consists of two exhibition rooms and a great hall that houses the remains of the village.
The Bell Tower and The Drum Tower
In the downtown area of Xi'an at the intersection where the North, South, East and West Streets meet, stands a magnificent classical building, with carved beams and painted rafters. It is known as the Bell Tower. It has gained its name from the function it used to perform, to tell the time in the morning. Ever since its establishment, the tower has become the symbol of Xi'an. Now it is a historic monument in Shaanxi Province.
The Bell Tower was first built in 1384, in the Yingxiang Temple which used to be located in the center of the city. The tower was moved to its present place in 1582 as a result of the city's expansion program.
There have been various legendary tales about the Bell Tower. In the Ming Dynasty, tens of thousands of people were killed in several earthquakes on Central Shaanxi Plain. People said that a gigantic dragon in the huge undercurrent that flowed beneath the city caused all those quakes. When the governor of the city heard this, he ordered all the smiths in the city to make a chain 300 meters long to chain the dragon at the bottom of the undercurrent, right in the center of the city. He then ordered 5,000 skillful craftsmen to build the tower over the place where the dragon was chained so that it would be weighed down to the bottom of the undercurrent forever, and to stop forever, its evil spells.
The tale may sound absurd; however, it is not without reason. The first emperor of the Ming Dynasty was born into a poor family. His parents died when he was young. He had to work as a shepherd, herding sheep for the rich landowners. Later, he went to a temple and became a monk. When he ascended the throne, he was afraid of being deposed by someone of "real dragon" (i.e. royal descent). Therefore, he ordered bell towers to be built all over the country to repress the "dragon spirits". Xi'an has been the site of imperial capitals ever since ancient times. Just as popular then as now, the saying that the "dragon spirits" must be running rampant here comes from this belief. This made Zhu Yuanzhang, the Emperor, all the more afraid. Therefore, the Bell Tower in Xi'an was not only built earlier, but also taller than the other ones in the country.
The square-shaped base of the tower occupies an area of 1,337.4 square meters and is 8.6 meters high and 35.5 meters wide. The base was completely laid with blue bricks. The building proper is a mixed structure of bricks and wood, and it is 36 meters high. Three storeys of eaves are seen from the exterior of the buildings. The interior of the building is only two storeys. The eaves are supported by colorful dougong -- a unique Chinese architectural style of brackets inserted on the top of columns and crossbeams. They not only made the whole building firm, but also look artistic. In fact, the dougong architecture has a long history, dating far back to the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 B.C.). A comparatively complete design of dougong can still be seen, from the engravings on bronze wares dating back to the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.).
Since 1949, the Municipal Government of Xi'an has launched three repair programs on the tower. As a result, the tower now looks as great and magnificent as when it was first built hundreds of years ago. Today, if you climb the tower by way of its wooden stairs, you will command an extensive view over the whole city. If you are lucky to go on a fine day, your eyesight might reach as far as Zhongnan Mountain in the far southern suburb of the city.
About 300 meters to the northwest of the Bell Tower, stands another magnificent building the Drum Tower, which was built in 1380, four years older than the Bell Tower. There used to be a huge drum in the tower which told the time at dusk; hence, the name Drum Tower. The bell in the Bell Tower and the drum in the Drum Tower, have been referred to as "the Morning Bell" and "the Dusk Drum". Later, the drum was no longer used to tell time but only to give warnings to people in times of war.
The base of the Drum Tower covers an area of 1,924 square meters and is 34 meters high. It was also built with blue bricks. The building is rectangular with tiers of eaves and has golden-tiled roof. It is only two storeys inside. There are corridors around the tower on each tier and the outer eaves are decorated with networks of wood arches. The elegance and grandeur of its structure reveals much of the superb workmanship in architecture of the Chinese people.
The Drum Tower is now a historic monument in Shaanxi Province. After two large-scale renovations, the tower has been restored to its former beauty.
With the two towers rivaling each other, the ancient city of Xi'an is more beautiful and spectacular than ever before.
At the time when Zhu Yuanzhang captured Huizhou, long before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he was admonished by a hermit named Zhu Sheng, who told him to "built high walls, store abundant provisions and take your time in proclaiming yourself emperor", advice which Zhu Yuanzhang heeded. Once the whole country was unified, he sent orders to the local governments to built city walls on a large scale. Zhu assumed that "out of all the mountains and rivers in the world, the central Qin is the most strongly fortified and strategically impregnable." The city wall of Xi'an is an extension of the old Tang Dynasty structure, as a result of this wall building campaign. Xi'an's city wall after its enlargement in the Ming Dynasty stands 12 meters high. It is 12-14 meters across the top, 15-18 meters thick at bottom and 13.7 kilometers in length.
There is a rampart every 120 meters. The ramparts are towers that extend out from the main wall, the top of the rampart being at the same level as the top of the wall. The ramparts were built to allow soldiers to see those enemies who would try to climb the wall. The distance between two ramparts is just within the range of arrow shot from either side. This allowed soldiers to protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy. They are altogether 98 of them on the wall; each has a sentry building on top of it.
The weapons in ancient times were primitive. The gates of the city wall were the only way to go into and out of town. Therefore, these gates were important, strategic points, that the feudal rulers racked their brains to try to defend. In Xi'an's case, the east, west, south and north gates, each consists of three gate towers. The main tower is called Zhenglou. Zhalou is the gate tower with the suspense bridge, and Jianlou is the narrow tower. The Zhalou tower stands away from the wall. It is used to lift and lower the suspense bridge. The Jianlou tower is in the center of the others. Its front and the two outer sides have square windows to shoot arrows from. The Zhenglou tower is the inner one. It is the main entrance to the city. Jianlou and Zhenglou are connected by tunnels, called Wengcheng in which soldiers could be stationed. From the Wengcheng there are also horse passages leading to the top of he wall. These are gradually ascending steps made so that it is easy for war horses to ascend and descend. There are all together 11 horse passages around the city.
A watch tower is located on each of the four corners of the wall. The one at the southwestern corner is round, probably after the model of the imperial city wall of the Tang Dynasty, but the other three are square-shaped. On top of the watch towers there is a corner rampart, higher and larger than the ordinary ramparts. This shows the strategic importance of the corners of the city wall in war times. Along the outer crest of the city wall there was constructed crenellations or battlements, 5,984 of them. Under each crenel there is a square hole, from which arrows wee shot and watch was kept. The lower, inner walls are called parapets. They have not crenels. They were not crenels. They were used on the inside of the wall to prevent soldiers from falling off the wall when traveling back and forth on top of the wall.
The first city wall of Xi'an was built of earth, rammed layer upon layer. The base layer was made of earth, quick lime, and glutinous rice extract, tempered together. It made the wall extremely strong and firm. Later, the wall was totally enclosed with bricks. On top of the wall, there is a brick water trough every 40-60 meters. They are used for drainage. They have played a very important role in the long-term protection of the city wall of Xi'an.
A moat, wide and deep, runs around the city. Over the moat, there used to be a huge suspense bridge which would cut off the way in and out of the city, once lifted.
Thus, the Ming Dynasty city wall formed a complex and well-organized system of defense. It is also the most complete city wall to have survived through China's long history. The city wall itself is a true display of the ability and wisdom of the working people in ancient times. It provides invaluable and substantial material for the study of the history, military science, and architecture of the Ming Dynasty.
Today, after the repairs that have been made on the wall by the local government, the city wall has taken on a new look. A circular park has been built in between the high wall and the deep moat, all around the city. The thriving trees and flowers, the rockeries in the park, and the buildings of classical Chinese architecture, together with the city wall, make Xi'an all the more beautiful.
When you take a city tour in Xi'an, the ancient capital, if you pass through the Drum Tower and come to the Moslem residential area, you would find a large complex of the old and huge architecture. That is the famous Islamic mosque in China-Xi'an Great Mosque.
According to the historical records carved in the stone tablets which are still preserved in it, the mosque was set up in 742 AD during the Tang Dynasty. So it has already had a history of over 1,250 years. The mosque was restored and widened in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Especially after the founding of New China, and owing to the correct religious policies for the minority nationalities by the Communist Party and the People's Government, the authorities concerned allocates special funds for the renovations of the mosque every year. So that, the mosque has gradually become such a large and brilliant complex of the historical architecture. With many beautiful storied buildings, platforms, pavilions and halls, it is looks very solemn and respectful.
Historical Background
The Great Mosque which is located at Huajue Lane is the major spot for the religious activities of over 60,000 Moslems in Xi'an. It is also an important historic monument in Shaanxi Province. Unlike Arabic mosques which have splendid domes, minarets reaching into the clouds, and colorful engraved sketches with dazzling patterns, the mosque in Xi'an possesses much Chinese tradition in both its design and its artistic outlook. Different from the style peculiar to Islamic mosques, this mosque also has characteristics of Chinese pavilions, with painted beams and engraved ridgepoles.
However, further discussion about the mosque would be useless without an explanation of the introduction of Islam into China.
Islam as a religious order was founded in the early part of the 7th century A.D. and was introduced to China in the mid-600s. At that time, Arabian merchants and travelers came to the northwest of China by way of Persia and Afghanistan, to establish diplomatic, trade, and military contacts with China. At the same time, another route saw a group of sea voyagers find their way through Bangladesh Bay and the Malacca Strait to Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and other Chinese cities, where many of them settled and married local women who gave birth to babies that became the first generation of Chinese Muslems.
However, massive immigration of Muslems to China did not take place until, as late as, the early period of the 13th century. As a result of his expedition against the west, Genghis Khan had conquered vast expanses of land stretching from Central Asia to Eastern Europe, including the north part of Iran. Many of the Moslems in these conquered areas were thus forced to enlist and were later settled in China.
Among the enlisted, many were soldiers; some were smiths and officials. They were called the Hui people in the history books of the Yuan Dynasty. The Hui people later followed Kublai Khan down to the south, helping him unify China and establishing the Yuan Dynasty. In the wake of this conquest, Islam spread all over China and mosques began to appear everywhere. In the Yuan Dynasty, many Moslems held positions both in the military and civilian organs of the country. A lot of Moslems took part in the Zhu Yuanzhang's uprising in the early 14th century and made great contributions to the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, all the emperors of this dynasty issued mandates to protect Islam, and to set up mosques in praise of the Moslems for their great contributions. In the early 16th century, Islam dominated Xinjiang and spread its influence to Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai. It controlled the minority nationalities, including the Huis, the Uygurs, the Kazaks, the Kirgizes, the Tajiks, the Tartars, the Ozbeks, the Dong Xiangs, the Salars and the Bonans. The Moslem in Xi'an are mainly the Huis, being a small portion out of the 17 million in China.
The Mosque at Huajue Lane is the largest in Xi'an, and it is also one of the earliest built on a comparatively large scale, and the best preserved mosque in China.
A Visit to the Great Mosque
With a total area of more that 13,000 square meters and the buildings covering over 6,000 square meters, the Great Mosque was built in the shape of a rectangle from the east to the west, and is divided into four courtyards.
In the first courtyards, there is an old wooden archway standing opposite a huge screen wall decorated with the clay- brick- carvings. It has special upturned eaves, many layers of brackets, and glazed rooftiles, so that it is very magnificent. The archway was built at the beginning of the 17th century, dating back to over 360 years. On both sides of the archway, there is some old furniture on display made in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Through the Five-Room Hall, in the middle of the second courtyard, there stand three connected stone mimorial gateways supported with the four pillars. On the top of the main gate, there is a title inscribed in Chinese calligraphy. It says:" The Court of The Heaven". There are stone carved fences around the gateways with the two passages on both sides. This stone complex was built in the Ming Dynasty. Behind it, two stone tables are erected there with the decorations of carved dragons. Both of them are carved with the inscriptions about the repairing of the mosque at the imperial orders in the Ming and Qing dynasties. At the backs of them are also inscribed with some big Chinese characters written respectively by the two famous calligraphers. These writings are regarded today as some of the best works in China.
The Imperial Hall in the third courtyard is the oldest building in the mosque. There is a piece of stone, called " The Moon Tablet", in it with and inscription in Arabic. It was written by a late famous imam, and was about the way of the calculation of the Moslem Calendar. Now this stone tables is a very valuable historical record about the development of Islamism in Shaanxi Province.
In the middle of the courtyard, " The Introspection Tower" serves as the minaret, which is the tallest building in the whole mosque for calling Moslems to pray. With two stories, three layers of eaves, and an octagonal roof, it stands high and solid so that it is very impressive. On the southern side of the minaret is the Official Reception Hall , in which the hand-written copy of " The Koran " of the Ming Dynasty are well preserved. To the east of the Official Reception Hall, there is a bath house for Moslems to wash before they pray.
Through the three connected doorways decorated with the fine brick carvings, that is the last courtyard. What visitors would view first is " The One God Pavilion". It is a very special building with a combination of the Chinese traditional archway and pavilion. The pavilion as the main body in the middle is shaped in a hexagon with its eaves upturned and its top protruded. While, both of its side parts are shaped in triangles and are upturned like archways. The whole architecture seems to a phoenix which is opening its wings and is about to fly. As it is very lifelike, that is why it is also named " The Phoenix Pavilion". Under the eave of it, a small board with the decoration of carved dragons is hung over there. Its inscriptions, " One God", were written by a high ranking official in the Ming Dynasty. There are some side houses on both sides of the pavilion too. The southern ones were build specially for receiving those officials and generals who came to announce the edicts from the emperors in the successive dynasties. Today in these houses, there are many historical and cultural relics of the Miming and Qing dynasties on display, such as a beautiful fishbone-inlaid screen made of the 12 pieces of boxwood, some old tables, chairs, porcelains, paintings and so on. In the northern houses, there is now preserved an old stone sundial and several stone tablets with the important inscriptions about the mosque of the Tang and other dynasties.
When you walk further and take the stairways to the big and wide platform, the lofty and magnificent hall for worship would appear in your sight. With the huge eaves and brackets, its roofs are all covered with the blue glazed rooftiles, while its ceilings are carved with over 600 classical scriptures, in which all the letters are shaped in the colourful decorative patterns of grass and flowers, Around the hall inside, all the pages of " The Koran" are carved in the 600 pieces of huge wooden boards, 30 of them are in Chinese, the others are in Arabic. They are really marvelous carvings of art, and are rarely seen in the other mosques of the world. The hall can hold a thousand believers to do their religious services at the same time.
In 1956, the mosque was decreed to be an important historical and cultural site under the protection of the Shaanxi Provincial Government. In 1988, it was further promoted to be one of the most important sites in China. Since we opened we opened the gates of China to the world in 1978, this mosque has received over 600,000 visitors, and ,Moslem brothers, whom came from over 100 countries and areas of the world. It has also received many heads of the states and governments. After your visit, you would surely have the better understanding of this old mosque and the religious life of the local Moslems in Xi'an.
Situated in the Da Ci'en Temple, about four kilometers from the urban center, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is one of the famous Buddhist pagodas in China.
Originally built in 589 A.D. in the Sui Dynasty, the temple was named Wu Lou Si Temple. It was not until 648 A.D. when Emperor Li Zhi, then still a crown prince, sponsored a repair project on the temple. This was a symbol of thanksgiving to his mother for her kindness, after she had suffered an early death. The temple then assumed the present name Temple of Thanksgiving. The Emperor Gaozong was said to pay homage to the temple twice a day by looking in its direction from the Hanyuan Palace. The temple, with 13 separate courtyards, contained 1,879 magnificent-looking rooms altogether and was a place of grand extent in the Tang Dynasty. However, it went into gradual decay after the downfall of the Tang Dynasty. The halls and rooms that have survived the age are structures that were built in the Ming Dynasty.
The Tang Regime gave orders to build a chamber for the translation of Buddhist scriptures in an effort to have the then widely renowned Master Xuanzang (Monk Tripitaka) agree to be the head of the temple.
The Wild Goose Pagoda was finished in 652 A.D. Its five storeys are 60 meters in height. The decay of the earth-cored pagoda caused the new construction of a 10-storey pagoda from 701 to 704. However, the winds of war, in the years to come, reduced the pagoda almost to ruins, which in turn resulted in the construction of a 7-storeyed, 64-meter-high structure today.
The storyed pagoda was an architectural marvel. It was built with layers of bricks but without any cement in between. The bracket style in traditional Chinese architecture was also used in the construction of the pagoda. The seams between each layer of bricks and the " prisms' on each side of the pagoda are clearly visible. The grand body of the pagoda with its solemn appearance, simple style and high structure, is indeed a good example of ancient people's wisdom and talent.
Pictures of the Heavenly King and of Buddha are on the door frame sand horizontal bars on four sides of the pagoda's base. These stone sculptures display peak workmanship, and show vivid shapes and smooth lines. They now serve as an important source of material for the study of painting and sculpture of the Tang Dynasty. Out of these artistic works, the one on the horizontal bar of the west door is the most precious. It is a rare piece of art, now used for the study of the Tang architecture.
Inside the temple where the pagoda is situated, there are two small buildings: the one on the east side houses a bell, and the one on the west side a drum. The bell, an iron cast from the Ming Dynasty, weights 15 tons. Together with the drum, the bell was used to strike time for the monks in the temple.
Inside the Great Hall of the Buddha in the temple there are three incarnations of Sakyamuni. The one in the middle is called Dharmakaya. The one on the west side is called Bao Shen Buddha, and the one on the opposite side is called Ying Shen Buddha.
In the Doctrine Chamber stands the Amitabha Buddha. On the wall at the east side of the chamber, there are three rubbings. The one in the middle is called Xuanzang (Monk Tripitaka) carries the Scriptures to Chang'an.
In the Tang Dynasty, every successful candidate who passed the imperial examinations would have to climb up the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and wrote poems and inscriptions there. This ritual would symbolize a soaring career in the future. The fashion of writing poems and leaving inscriptions on the horizontal bars over different doors and stone frame-works by the successful candidates of the imperial examinations went on as far as the Ming Dynasty. These poem sand inscriptions have survived till this day as a fine mirror to the city's past.
The Small Wild Goose Pagoda stands in Jian Fu Temple, one kilometer south from the downtown area. If the Big Wild Goose Pagoda can be compared to a stalwart young man, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda is then like a delicate, slim girl.
Inside the temple there is a huge iron bell dating from the Kin Dynasty (1192). The sound of the bell is crisp and pleasant, and can be heard as far as five kilometers away. People here simply call it the "Magic Bell". It is 4.5 meters in height, 7.6 meters in diameter along the rim, and 10 tons in weight. It is carved with characters that denote the following: Long live the Emperor; the vessels help Him for ever; May the Buddhist principles prevail in the time to come. In fact, there is an interesting story about the Bell. It is said that if one missed his beloved relations who are living far away from him, the only thing he needs to do was to write their names and addresses on a piece of yellow paper, and the sound of the Bell would pass the message to them. Hence, the " Morning Bell Chimes of the Pagoda" is one of the eight famous scenic features in the province.
Jian Fu Temple was built in 684, in order to pay homage to the Tang Emperor, Li Zhi, upon the centenary of his death. Therefore, it was originally named Xian Fu Temple. The present name did not come into being until 698 A.D. The Temple was also the place where the great translator Monk Yijing translated Buddhist scriptures. Yijing set out by sea for India in search of Buddhist principle in 671. He came back with some four hundred volumes of holy Sanskirt scriptures after traveling over thirty countries, for more than 20 years. On his way back to China, he stayed on Island of Sumatra in Indonesia and did some investigation there. Yijing translated altogether 56 volumes of scriptures in Jian Fu Temple and wrote the book Biography of Eminent Monks in the Tang Dynasty in Search of Buddhist Truth in India. The book can be regarded as a companion to Pilgrimage to India by Xuanzang, and is of great help to the study of Chinese and Indonesian history, as well as the history of the cultural relationship between China and Indonesia.
The Small Wild Goose Pagoda was set up in 707. It has 15 storeys and is about 45 meters in height. The story goes that when Yijing appealed to the imperial court for funds to build a pagoda, so as to preserve the holy scriptures that he had brought back from India, the cowardly Emperor Li Xian asked for the Queen's advice as he often did. When she heard of this, she ordered all the imperial concubines and court maids to donate money for the construction of the pagoda. The ladies were so generous in their donation, that there was still money left over even after the pagoda was finished.
In the long history of its existence, there has even been a "magic healing" of the Pagoda! In 1847, there was an earthquake of 6 points on the Richter scale and a one-foot crack formed in the Pagoda from the top to the bottom. However, in 1521, 34 years after the quake, there came another one. The crack healed overnight. This amazed the local people. Therefore they began to call it the "Magic Healing". In September 1555, an official from the capital, named Wang He, stayed in the temple for a night on his way home. After he heard the story of the "Magic Healing" from a monk called Kanguang who had personally witnessed the incident, out of disbelief he engraved this story on the lintel of the Pagoda's north gate. However, when repair work started after 1949, it was found that the healing was not "magic", but "human". The early builders of the pagoda had made the foundation into the shape of a hemisphere in accordance with the geographic nature of Xi'an. The foundation therefore evenly divided the stress of the earthquakes. Thus, after enduring 70 quakes, the pagoda still stands as firm as when it was first established. Looking at this, we can only admire the marvelous workmanship of the ancient builders.
Maoling, the mausoleum of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty is located about 9 kilometers southeast of Xingping County and 45kilometers from Xi'an. The mausoleum was in Maoxiang Town in Huaili County, during the Western Han Dynasty; hence the name Maoling (the mausoleum at Maoxiang).
Emperor Wudi (140-87 B.C.), also called Liu Che, was the fifth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty. At the age of 7, he was made the crown prince. He came to the throne at 16 and was in power for 54 years. He was the emperor for the longest period in the history of China. Emperor Qin Shihuang and Emperor Han Wudi are usually mentioned together at the same time. This is because the autocratic state of centralized power in the feudal society was established by Emperor Qin Shihuang, but it was thoroughly consolidated by Emperor Han Wudi. In order to centralize the power under the feudal imperial court, Emperor Han Wudi deprived every dependent state of their titles of nobility by means of various pretexts. For example, in 112 B.C. he revoked the titles of 106 princes with the excuse that the gold they offered as an oblation to their ancestors was not pure or short of measure. Before the reign of Wudi, the ministers of the imperial court were mostly those who had rendered outstanding service, and their sons and younger brothers. Even ordinary officials mostly came from wealthy, powerful or noble families. However, Emperor Wudi did not stick to the old rule. On the contrary, he was unconstrained and broad-minded in choosing talents. He even established the Imperial College from which to train and choose qualified officials. These measures were adopted to strengthen further the system of centralization of the feudal autocracy. To bring the financial and economic right sunder the control of the imperial court, Emperor Han Wudi announced that coin-minting was forbidden among the people and the local governments, and only the coins minted by the central government could be in circulation. Metallurgy and salt processing were also forbidden among the people. The business run by the government enjoyed the exclusive right to sell salt and iron. Meanwhile the government levied a property tax on industrialists and businessmen and so the income of the court increased greatly. The Western Han Dynasty became unprecedentedly rich and powerful, centralization strengthened and its feudal economy flourished. Emperor Han Wudi launched three important battles, and defeated its formidable enemy, the Hun invaders on the northern border. He also sent men, more than once, to establish relations with the Western Regions. The well-known Silk Road was opened during his reign.
Emperor Han Wudi was not only a statesman but also a strategist of great talent and tactics, and a lot of poetry and music as well. He setup an organization called "Yuefu", an official conservatory for collecting and composing folk songs and ballads and for training musicians. It was because of this that many folk songs in the Han Dynasty were preserved and passed down through the ages till today. Yuefu poems had a great influence on later periods. Poets like Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty, used to imitate and develop the style of the Yuefu poems.
In order to consolidate feudal domination and to further achieve the unity of academic thought, Emperor Han Wudi accepted the Confucius, Dong Zhongru's proposal of "rejecting the other schools of thought and respecting only Confucianism". Thus the period of "contention between a hundred schools of thought" came to an end. From then on, Confucian thought gradually developed into an orthodox theory and had far-reaching influence on the history of China.
Emperor Han Wudi's great talent and bold strategy led the Han Empire to its prime. The feudal society of China made great developments in politics, economy, military affairs, and culture. China began to make a name for itself in the world as a highly civilized, wealthy and powerful nation.
At the age of 71, Wudi died and was buried at the Maoling Mausoleum. His mausoleum was constructed in the shape of a four-sided dipper, 46meters high and 240 meters long. Around the mausoleum there are vestiges of a wall that surrounded it. The wall was 400 meters long and its base was 5.8 meters wide. Today the vestiges of the eastern, western and northern watchtowers can be clearly seen. Among the tombs of the Western Han Dynasty, the Maoling Mausoleum was the largest in dimension, took the longest time to be built and had the richest funeral objects. Emperor Han Wudi was on the throne for 54 years, yet the construction of the Maoling Mausoleum took 53 years to be completed. By the time he died, the trees at the mausoleum had grown so large that one could hardly get his arms around them. According to historical records, one third of the yearly taxes and tributes of the state went into the construction of the Maoling Mausoleum and the purchase of funeral objects that the tomb could hardly hold even before his death. So after the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Maoling Mausoleum became the target of grave robbers.
During the Western Han Dynasty in the area around the Maoling cemetery there were a lot of dwelling houses built for high officials and noble lords. Inside the cemetery there were many places and houses inhabited by tomb keepers and palace maids. The cleaners and gardeners alone numbered more than 5,000. The town of Maoling County was purposely built to the southeast of the mausoleum. Generals, officials, noblemen and the rich lived in the town and numbered over 277,000. At that time, even high officials and noble lords felt great honor if they could move near to the emperor's tomb to live.
Through the archaeological research of both the Maoling cemetery and the remains of the town of Maoling County, many things have been discovered there, including several remains of construction sites, pentagon water pipes, cobbled roads and other building installations from the Han Dynasty.
There are over 20 satellite tombs of high officials and noble relatives around the Maoling Mausoleum. The famous young general Huo Qubing who, on six occasions, fought the Hun invaders bravely, was buried on the eastern side of the mausoleum one kilometer away from the main tomb. In 1978, the Maoling Mausoleum was set up. Eave tiles, Han bricks, pottery figures and other valuable historical relics that have been excavated at the Maoling Mausoleum as well as the giant stone carvings that were originally placed in front of Huo Qubing' tomb, are now on display there.
Zhaoling is the mausoleum of Emperor Taizong (Li Shimin), the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty. In 626 A.D, he came to the throne when it was abdicated by Gaozu (Li Yuan). In the following year, he changed the title of his reign to Zhenguan. He was in power for 23 years. During his rule there was a famous period of well being, the "Well-Managed Zhenguan Reign". In 636 A.D., Empress Wende died of an illness. According to her will, she was to be buried against the mountain and the funeral should be economical, and not so extravagant". Taizong chose Mt. Jiuzhong, 80 km from Xi'an, as the tomb site. He appointed Zhaoling to bury the Empress, and the construction started soon afterwards. In 649 A.D., Taizong died of an illness and was buried together with Empress Wende in the same tomb.
Zhaoling stands on the hilltop of Mt. Jiuzhong, 20 km northeast of Liquan County, in Shaanxi Province. This area is the largest burial site for dignitaries in China. In this area are the "18 tombs of the Tang Dynasty" on the Guanzhong Plain. Zhaoling was a masterpiece for tombs of its type. All the tombs of empresses, princes and royal ministers were constructed against mountains. Using a mountain as the tomb site meant choosing a natural peak of a mountain, and chiseling a hole from the outside inward to form a passage. At the foot of the mountain there would be built an underground palace. According to the data concerning Zhaoling, the tomb passage leading to the coffin chamber was about 230 meters long. Five strong gates were installed along the passage. The underground palace was spacious and splendid, almost the same as that of Chang'an City. Along both sides of the passage were the eastern and western rooms. There were placed stone chests in which iron boxes (caskets) that contained burial objects were stored. On the mountain top there were built houses and entertainment palaces for the tomb keepers. In order to solve the problem of the inconvenience of travelling up and down the mountain, plank roads were built along the cliffs. After over a thousand years of change, the large structures at the foot of Zhaoling disappeared without a trace. The Scarlet-Bird Gate and the Sacrificial Hall to the south, and the Sacrificial Altar, the Sima Gate and the eastern and western rooms to the north, and the Imperial City to the southwest, where most of the houses were constructed. According to historical records, these buildings were burnt down. In 798 A.D., 378 rooms were rebuilt. The upturned eaves of the palaces, 1.5 meters high, 150 kg in weight, were unearthed at the site of the Sacrificial Hall. From these house decorations, it is inferred that the palaces at that time were grand and magnificent.
Zhaoling Cemetery is 60 km in circumference. It covers an area of 20,00 0 hectares and is surrounded by 167 satellite tombs. Emperor Taizong's resting place is located in the northernmost part of the cemetery. Like the imperial palace in the northern part of Chang'an, it looks down at the other tombs from the peak. Among the satellite tombs, those of Wei Zheng, Li Jing and Li Ji (Xu Maogong) were particularly unique. For example, Li Ji's tomb was built in the shape of three peaks, which represent the mountains, Qilian, Tieshan and Wudejian, where he had great military success. In front of the tomb was placed a pair of stone men. To the left of the tomb, there were three stone sheep and to the right, three stone tigers. The gravest one is 6.65 meters high, and has Emperor Li Zhi's (Gaozong's) own writings inscribed on it. These three tombs are extraordinary enough to show the contributions of the tomb masters and their special relationship with the Imperial Court in the Tang Dynasty. Among the tombs are those of generals of the minorities in the northwestern region. They all held important positions during the Tang Dynasty. Several of them were even related to the royal family by marriage.
The construction of Zhaoling was designed by a famous artist, Yan Lide, who lived in the Tang Dynasty. It showed a unique style in dimension and layout. The world-famous Six Zhaoling Bas-relief Stone Horses were carved and installed in the north wall of Zhaoling by Tang Taizong's instructions. These six horses had been with Li Shimin, a famous general through all of the fighting and were instrumental in helping to win decisive victories for the unification of the Tang Dynasty. The stone horses were carved in various postures and all look strong and vigorous.
The six stone horses reflect the relief sculpture of Buddhist artists, and were carved with skilled techniques and a simple style that creates liveliness. These stone carvings are of great artistic value. Unfortunately, in the 1820's these pieces of art were destroyed. Two of the figures were shipped abroad, and are now kept in the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, USA. The other four are on display in the Forest of Steles in Xi'an. The details of the relief sculpture, the names, the hair features, the deeds of the six horses, were engraved on the stones, with technical line drawing. So was recorded the whole content of the praise by Taizong for the horses. Placed along with the stone carvings of the six horses, at the altar, were stone statues of 14 dukes. These statues were also destroyed many years ago. Only the pedestals for the statues have remained. The images of the statues are still unknown so far, since they were not recorded in detail.
During the Tang Dynasty, it was fashionable to install steles before tombs and to put epitaphs in coffin chambers. Therefore in front of most of the Zhaoling tombs there are steles and in almost every coffin chamber there is an epitaph. Most of these artifacts are new preserved in Zhaoling Museum.
The Tang Dynasty was the peak and the most prosperous of the feudal societies in China. Tang Taizong was considered the most capable and able-minded emperor of all. Therefore, Zhaoling was accepted as an important national monument and the Zhaoling Museum was built.
Xianyang Museum, which was originally a Confucian temple, was altered, reconstructed and opened to the public in 1962.
Xianyang City is 28 kilometers away from Xi'an. It was the capital of the famous Qin Dynasty in Chinese history. Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, gained power in Xianyang and finally established the first centralized feudal unitary multinational state. After the unification of the six kingdoms, the new country was ordered by Qin Shihuang to build "racing roads", these wide roads used for the galloping of horses and carts. There were three major roads which radiated from Xianyang. One goes eastward to Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong. Another goes south to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui, and the third to Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. The roads played an important role in the flow of products, army movements and the consolidation of the country's unification. In order to strengthen the power of the central government, Qin Shihuang gave orders to set up palaces with distinctive features on the northern slope of Xianyang. Here all members of the imperial families from the former six kingdoms were put under house arrest. At the same time, Qin Shihuang had the noble and rich men of almost 20,000 families move to Xianyang. Xianyang was already a prosperous metropolis with about one million people at that time.
Xianyang was a vital communication line to the northwest part of China during the Han Dynasty. It was also the imperial resort area during the Western Han period. Of the emperors of this period nine were buried here. Near the imperial mausoleums, there are also tombs of many imperial kinsmen and civil and military officials. Therefore , Xianyang is known for its wealth of cultural and historical relics from both the Qin and the Han dynasties, from above and below the ground. Xianyang Museum focuses its exhibition on the historical relics of the Qin and the Han dynasties.
The construction area is 3,855 square meters and the exhibition area is 1,216 square meters. It houses 15,000 or more cultural relics, out of which 4,000 are on display. The museum consists of seven exhibition areas.
The Famen Temple is located in Famen Town 120 kilometers west of Xi'an. It is a famous temple in China. It was built in ancient times to house the bones of the fingers of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism.
Famen means the initial approach to become a Buddhist believer. The Famen Temple was constructed in the Eastern Han Dynasty because of the stupa there. The Famen Temple stupa also known as "the Real Spirit Pagoda", is famous for the fact that it houses a finger bone of Sakyamuni, and the Famen Temple and its stupa enjoyed the reputation of being the "forefather of pagodas and temples in Central Shaanxi".
The Famen Temple was originally called Asoka Stupa. During the years of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty it was reconstructed into a wooden four-storey structure. After 1,502 years of existence, the wooden stupa, in1569, fell down due to an earthquake. In 1579, Buddhists in Fufeng County collected alms and donations to rebuild the stupa into an exquisite and splendid brick octagon of 13 storeys, 47 meters in height. It took 30 years to complete the whole project. Because of the massive weight of the stupa and relatively small underground palace, a problem developed due to the great weight above ground and the small foundation underground. Fifty-four years after its completion, the stupa began to tilt toward the southwest. In 1976, because of constant rain in Fufeng County and the impact of the Songpan earthquake that occurred in Sichuan , the tilt of the stupa increased toward the southwest. In 1981, the western side of this tilted stupa fell off after being subjected to constantly rainy season. Most of the body of the stupa collapsed shortly thereafter. Only part of the body remained on an incomplete platform of broken bricks.
In 1985, the Shaanxi Provincial Government decided to rebuild the stupa imitating the brick one from the Ming Dynasty. While clearing the stupa foundation, the underground palace was accidentally discovered. For more than 1,000 years, the palace had housed the remains of the finger bones of Sakyamuni and other valuable relics that enshrined these precious bones.
According to tablet inscriptions discovered in the underground palace, the finger bones (Buddhist relics) had always been kept inside the Famen Stupa.
The underground palace at Famen Temple is 21.2 meters long, and covers an area of 31.84 square meters. It is the largest palace in all the temples and stupas discovered so far in China. The four finger bones discovered there are most riveting. The first one was kept in an eight-layered chest in the back room. The finer bone, 40.3 millimeters long and hollow on both sides, hung vertically on a silver column on a gold stupa base. The second , which is like the first in shape, was kept in a double-eave marble coffin in the center room of the palace. The third one was kept in a five-layered marble chest, which was retained in a secret niche in the back room. This finger bone is tube-like, 37millimeters long and is white and yellow in color. The fourth one was kept in a color-painted King Asoka stupa in the front room. Its color and shape are very much like those of the first and second finger bones. Zhao Puchu, Chairman of the All-China Buddhism Association and Zhou Shaoliang, Vice-chairman of the Buddhism Association, determined that the third finger bone is a bier stone, which means it is the only real one of the Buddhism master. The other three were "shadow bones", imitations which the Tang emperor had made in order to protect the real one.
The Buddhist relics discovered at the Famen Temple are the only real finger bones that have been discovered and maintained in the world. There are many other relics that unearthed with the underground palace. They are considered to be national treasures.
The technique of gold brocade weaving developed in the Tang Dynasty was surprisingly exquisite. The gold thread used in weaving was only 0.1 millimeter thick, finer than a hair. Silk thread was taken as the core around which the gold thread turned one circle after another. 1 meter of thread could make 3,000 circles. The embroidered skirts that Empress Wu Zetian had consecrated were made out of this material.
The secret seladon is made of Chinese green porcelain. The techniques used are very complex and it is difficult to process. The court kept all of this information secret, which is indicated by its name, "secret seladon". Finding the secret seladon that was discovered at Famen Temple was a breakthrough for the study of the history of Chinese porcelain. It provides much information used for the determination of age and characteristics of this type of porcelain.
The four-faced, twelve-ringed gold and silver relics discovered at the Famen Temple are of high quality and great value. The gold gilded monk's cane is the most precious Buddhist staff found in terms of style, technology and material. Its discovery is unprecedented in all the archaeological findings of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the discovery at the Famen Temple, of so many treasures of different types, whose quality and preservation are incredible.
The Famen Temple stupa has been rebuilt based on the model from the Ming Dynasty. The underground palace remains intact, and a passage into it for visitors has been constructed. On the right side of Famen courtyard, a museum housing the treasures was built according to a model of the temple from the Tang Dynasty.
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