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Home> China City Guide>Xi'an> Qianling Tomb
Detailed travelling knowledge about Qianling Tomb where Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian, the only empress in Chinese history was buried and its major satellite tombs.
Qianling Tomb
Qianling is the joint tomb of Gaozong (Li Zhi, 628-683 A.D.), the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty and his Empress Consort, Wu Zetian (624-705 A.D.). Wu Zetian was the only Empress in Chinese history. The tomb lies on Liangshan Hill, 6 kilometers north of Qianxian County, and about 80 kilometers from Xi'an.
Qianling Tomb was built in 684 A.D. It took 23 years to complete Qianling Tomb. It is located on Liangshan Hill, 1,047.5 meters above sea level. Of the three peaks of Liangshan Hill, the north peak, where Qianling is located, is the highest. The two peaks in the south, face each other, east to west. On each of the two peaks stands a watch tower made of earth. According to historical records there used to be two city walls that formed an inner and outer city here. There were four gates and many other splendid buildings, such as the dedicatory hall, and several gate towers.
It was been proven through exploration that the total area of the inner city was about 240 square meters. On each side of the inner city, there was a gate, the Phoenix Gate in the south, the Tortoise Gate in the north, the Blue Dragon Gate in the east and the White Tiger Gate in the west. A monument to Emperor Gaozong located on the western side of the Phoenix Gate, consists of seven joints, which symbolize the Seven Elements, that is, the Sun, the Moon, Metal, Wood, Water, Earth, and Fire. The ancient Chinese believed that the world was composed of these Seven Elements. It measures 6.3 meters high, 1.86 meters wide and weights 61.6 tons. The pedestal for the tablet is carved with various figures of beasts. The inscription on the tablet was composed by Wu Zetian and written by Zhongzong. It contains over 8,000 words, singing the praises of Gaozong's political achievements and military exploits. When the tablet was carved, the strokes of characters were coated with gold fillings, and even today the remains of gold filings on some characters can still be discerned.
The Wordless Tablet on the eastern side of the Phoenix Gate is 6.3 meters high, and weights 98.9 tons. The sides of the tablet were carved with figures of dragon. On the top part of the tablet were carved eight oysters intersecting each other. Placing a tablet with no word, before an emperor's mausoleum, has never been found before in China.
The towers on the eastern and western sides of the inner city are flanked with 61 stone statues. In order to commemorate the heads of the Chinese minorities and the envoys from foreign countries that attended Gaozong's funeral, Wu Zetian ordered these stone statues carved. Dressed in close-sleeved clothes, wide belts round their waists and boots on their feet, they obviously showed no characteristic of the costume of the Han Nationality of the Tang Dynasty. They were saying prayers with their hands cupped before their chests. Most of their heads were damaged long ago. Now only two statues have heads. They have high noses and deep-set eyes and they probably were envoys from the Western Regions of Central and Western Asia. Originally on the back of each stone statue were carved its nationality, official position and name. Being exposed to the weather over the years, most of the characters are already undecipherable, only those on the backs of the two stone statues coming from Iran and Afghanistan, can still be seen.
Qianling Tomb is large in scope with a circumference of 40 kilometers, and 17 satellite tombs of princes, kings and high ministers.
The Tomb of Princess Yongtai is one of the 17 satellite tombs of the Qianling Tomb.
The name of Princess Yongtai was Li Xianhui. She was the seventh daughter of Tang Emperor Zhongzong (Li Xian), and the grand daughter of Tang Emperor Gaozong and his wife Empress Wu Zetian. Her husband was Wu Yanji, son of Wu Chengsi, who was Wu Zetian's nephew. In 701, Princess Yongtai died in Luoyang, Henan Province, at the age of 17. According to the epitaph, She died during childbirth. The historical records, though, say that she was beaten to death.
After rising to the throne, Zhongzong posthumously conferred the title of Princess Yongtai upon his daughter, who died a tragic death. And in 705 A.D., he ordered the remains of his daughter and her husband be buried together in the southeast of the Qianling Tomb.
In front of Princess Yongtai the road is lined with a pair of stone lions, two pairs of stone figures, and a pair of obelisks (ornamental stone columns). The excavation of the tomb of Princess Yongtai was carried out between 1960-1962. It is the largest of the Tang tombs excavated since the liberation. The tomb is pyramid-shaped, 87.5 meters long and 3.9 meters wide. The tomb chamber is also 16.7 meters deep. The tomb consists of a main passage, five doorways, six sky-lights, a paved path leading to the tomb, eight small niches, an antechamber and a burial chamber. The burial chamber represents the house that she lived in before her death. The walls on both sides of the tomb passage are covered with murals of a blue dragon, a white tiger and warriors in uniforms, with gilded swords in their belts. In the eight small niches on both sides of the sky-lights there are a multitude of tricolour glazed pottery figurines, poetry and porcelain wares, and some other burial articles.
The tomb of Princess Yongtai held more than 1,000 valuable cultural artifacts. These treasures are murals, pottery and wooden figurines, tricolour glazed pottery figurines, gold vessels, jade articles, and copper wares. The tricolour glazed pottery figurines, which are beautifully shaped and have peculiar decorative designs in many bright colours, demonstrate the high artistic level found in the Tang Dynasty ceramic industry. Inside the tomb the walls are covered with rich and varied murals. The tomb passage, the doorways, the paved path leading to the tomb, the two chambers and their ceilings, are all covered with murals. The antechamber represents the drawing-room. The murals there mainly depict elegantly dressed ladies in waiting. With different articles in their hands, they carry themselves with grace and wear different expressions from one another. Some seem to be speaking in whispers, some nodding approvingly and others looking around. They look as if they are on the way to serve Princess Yongtai. On the ceiling of the burial chamber there are painted firmaments and celestial bodies. In the east there is the rooster with three legs, symbolizing the sun. In the west there is the Jade Hare representing the moon. In between runs the Milky Way, dotted with stars, each of which has its set position in the celestial body. This mural greatly reflects the highly developed astronomy at that time.
In the rear chamber lay Princess Yongtai's and her husband's palace-like outer stone coffins. In the middle of each coffin was a door, with a lady in waiting on each side. The outer stone coffin was carved with exquisite pictures on both sides. The inner wooden coffin had completely rotted away due to its saturation in silt over a long period of time.
The Tomb of Crown Prince Zhanghuai
The Tomb of Crown Prince Zhanghuai is one of the 17 satellite tombs of the Qianling Mausoleum. It lies three kilometers to the southeast of Qianling Mausoleum.
Prince Zhanghuai was called Li Xian and was the second son of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian. He was comparatively talented among Gaozong's children. Gaozong was fond of him and made him the crowned prince. Li Xian once summoned famous scholars from all over the country to annotate The Historical Records of the Later Han Dynasty. The book referred to the historical fact that Lu Hou, wife of Emperor Gaozu, founder of the Han Dynasty, put many people from her family important positions. She pushed out many courtiers and usurped the supreme power of the country which was held by the Liu family after her husband's death. Wu Zetian thought that she was attacked by insinuations and compared to Lu Hou. She felt angry about this. So she tried every means to bring harm to Li Xian. To protect himself, Li Xian had hidden some weapons in the stable at the Eastern Palace where he lived just in case something happened. When Wu Zetian discovered this, she deprived him of the title of crown prince and made him a commoner. She exiled him to Bazhou (present-day Bazhong County, in Sichuan Province), on the pretext that he had hidden weapons secretly and was plotting an armed rebellion. In 648 A.D., Li Xian died mysteriously in Bazhou at the age of 31. There are various sayings as to the cause of his death. But most people believed that Wu Zetian was afraid that he would stage a come-back, so she had him murdered. After Emperor Zhongzong returned to the throne, he had Li Xian's remains buried near Qianling. In 706 A.D., following Wu Zetian's death, Emperor Ruizong posthumously awarded him the title of Crown Prince Zhanghuai.
The excavation of the tomb of Prince Zhanghuai was carried out from July 1971 to February 1972. The grounds and the interior structure of the tomb are basically the same as those of Princess Yongtai, only a bit smaller in scale. The tomb consists of a long, sloping tomb passage, four sky-lights, four passages, six niches, a brick corridor, an antechamber and a burial chamber. The tomb passage is 71 meters long, 3.3 meters wide and 7 meters high. Although the tomb was once robbed, there were over 600 articles unearthed. They include various kinds of ceramic figurines, tricolour ceramic figurines, some objects for daily use and other burial articles. There were figures of civil officials sand warriors that are life-like, being over one meter tall. Together with guardians, they are worth special attention. There are more than 50 murals in the tomb, which occupy 400 square meters, and have remained basically intact. Of these paintings, Courtiers and Foreign Envoys, Hunting Procession, Polo Game and Watching Birds and Catching Cicadas are all life-like and skillfully drawn. The figures are well-proportioned and harmonious. These murals demonstrate the superb artistic skill of the Tang Dynasty.
On the western wall of the tomb passage there are over 20 figures on horseback depicted in the painting Polo Game. With mallets in their hands, the five at the head are trying to chase the ball. One of them hit the ball dexterously behind his back. His posture is strong and vigorous. This painting conjures up the excitement and thrilling spectacle of players trying to chase the ball at a polo match in the Tang Dynasty. Polo was introduced to China from Persia (present-day Iran) during the Tang Dynasty. It was very popular at the royal court. All the people of the court, from the Emperor to civil and military officials and even women liked playing polo. There were polo grounds in most of the imperial palaces and hunting reserves. Some noblemen had their own polo grounds. After the Tang Dynasty, polo became popular throughout the country. It gradually diminished towards the end of the Ming Dynasty.
The painting of Courtiers and Foreign Envoys on the eastern wall, in the middle of the tomb passage, vividly reproduces the scene of Tang officials greeting foreign envoys. In the front, are two enthusiastic Tang officials, and behind them are three foreign envoys. Research confirms that the first envoy came from India, the second from Korea, the third from the Tujue tribe, an ethnic tribe in ancient China. This mural reflects the active exchange of friendly and diplomatic visits between China and foreign countries during the Tang Dynasty.
Watching Birds and Catching Cicadas on the western wall of the antechamber depicts the life of the maids in the imperial palace. There are three maids in the painting. The elder one seems to have had suffered a lot in life in the palace. She looks as if she was thinking of something. She gazes at the sky and complains of its infinity. The other two are trying to get rid of their worries by watching birds and catching cicadas.
The Tomb of Crown Prince Yide lies to the southeast of Qianling Tomb.
Prince Yide, called Li Chongrun, was the first son of Li Xian, the fourth emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He was killed for his anger with Wu Zetian's dictatorship in Luoyang in 701 A.D. when he was only 19 years old. In 705, when Li Xian returned to the throne he was awarded posthumously the title of Crown Prince Yide and in 706 his remains was moved from Luoyang to the Qianling Tomb area to be buried as a satellite tomb.
The excavation of the Tomb of Crown Prince Yide was carried out from July 1971 to May 1972. There were a mound and enclosure walls. To the south of the walls were a pair of stone lions, two pairs of stone figures (one was destroyed and only the pedestal remains), and a pair of obelisks (destroyed and buried in the earth when collapsed). The tomb consists of a tomb passage, three doors, seven air-shafts, eight niches, front and back tunnels as well as front and back tomb chambers. It is altogether 10.8 meters in length.
The tomb is large in scale and abundant with burial articles. There are 40 well-preserved mural paintings on the walls of the tomb passage, doorways, air-shafts, front and back tunnels as well as front and back chambers. On the paintings are guards of honor, the Blue Dragon, White Tiger, city walls, watch towers, musicians, men-servants and maids of honor, which show Li Chongrun's special identity and extraordinary social position. Take Guard of Honor as an example: In the Tomb of Princess Yongtai, there are painted 12 halberds; in the Tomb of Prince Zhanghuai, 14 halberds; yet in his tomb, there are painted 48 halberds just as in an emperor's mausoleum. The guards of honor are made up of three parts: infantry, cavalry and carriages. As many as 196 people, the guards of honor look strong and powerful. There are also mural paintings of Eagle Out For Hunting, Maids of Honor, Display of Halberds and so forth. The two Maids of Honor are done symmetrically against the south and the north walls of the front chamber, each consisting of seven maids. Rich in colour and different in carriage, the Maids of Honor truly represents the daily court life in the Tang Dynasty. These mural paintings in the Tomb of Prince Yide are an expression of good painting skills and a feast for the eye. The tomb is an important discovery of the Tang Dynasty mural paintings in Shaanxi Province.
The carved sketches on the stone outer coffin are fine and smooth and they give a good expression to the features of the Tang-style carved sketches: smooth, clear and powerful.
More than 1,000 pieces of historical relics have been unearthed from the Tomb of Crown Prince Yide, including pottery figures, tricolour glazed figures, earthen wares as well as gold, bronze and iron wares.
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