The Maoling Mausoleum

Maoling Mausoleum (Chinese: ??)

Brief Introduction
Maoling Mausoleum is the tomb of the Han Emperor,named Liu Che. It located in Xingping County, Shaanxi Province. The tomb was built of rammed earth in the shape of a four-sided dipper ,46 meters high and 240 meters long. The tomb covers over 54,000 square meters. The mausoleum is square and consists of the inner and outer city, with bounding wall around it.It is the biggest mausoleum among the imperial mausoleums of the Western Han Dynasty. Many cultural relics were found in this area, such as the fancy black jade knocker-holder with patters of animals, the steel rhinoceros wine vessel with pattern of clouds etc.There are more than hundreds unearthed cultural relics are displayed in the Maoling Mausoleum Museum.The Mausoleum as we see today appears magnificently tall and grand in the shape of a huge flat-topped pyramid.And now the tomb it's a AAAA scenic spot and has been declared a National Important Cultural Protected Site.

The history of Maoling Mausoleum
Emperor Wudi began to build the Maoling Mausoleum in the second year of his reign,it was built in 139 BC,he greatly expanded the territory. As an emperor with great achievements in Chinese history, he governed the nation smoothly and reinforced his power. The construction of this mausoleum took 53 years.At the age of 71, Wudi died and was buried at the Maoling Mausoleum. The tomb was built of rammed earth in the shape of a four-sided dipper ,46 meters high and 240 meters long. The tomb covers over 54,000 square meters. The mausoleum is square and consists of the inner and outer city, with bounding wall around it. According to the records, the funeral objects were so abundant that the tomb could hardly hold even before Emperor Han Wudi died. one third of the yearly taxes and tributes of the state was spent to construct Maoling Mausoleum.There are over 20 satellite tombs of high officials and noble relatives around the Maoling Mausoleum, such as the tombs of Quo Qubing , Huo Guang, Wei Qing and Jin Ribei.In those days,officials and nobles showed great respect when they moved nearby. Inside the cemetery there were many places and houses inhabited by tomb keepers and palace maids.In 1978, the Maoling Museum was set up and a lot of unearthed cultural relics are displayed here.

What to see in Maoling Mausoleum

1.The structure of Mausoleum
There are number of "satelite"tombs around the Emperor's tomb due to it is the practice with most royal mausoleums, the surrounding tombs were the ministers, royal relatives and some generals were buried after death-a paramount honor. To preserve and display the cultural relics unearthed at the Mausoleum, a Maoling Mausoleum Museum has been built based on the tomb site of Huo Qubing, one of the Emperor’s most brilliant generals, His tomb is shaped after Mountain Qilianshan to commemorate his strategic military victories there.

2.State-Level Cultural Relics of China
At present there are 3,500 objects in the collections of the museum. Most of these date from the early period of Western Han.But they are Fourteen “State-Level Cultural Relics of China” are being well preserved in the Maoling Museum, some of which are displayed below.Stone sculpture is the main attraction in ths mausoleum,like: a war horse tramping on a Hun soldier,the most famous one. A group of stone sculptures were erected in front of Huo Qubing's tomb in memory of his military accomplishments against the Huns.A water-leaking time-meter, that measures the elapsed time by observing level of the left water  in the container.Bronze rhinoceros and Gold gilt bronze horse.Other pottery or bronze wares excavated at Maoling Mausoleum. They occupy a significant place in the art history of world sculpture.

Travel Guides

1.Opening Hours: 08:00-18:00
2.Admission: CNY 80 ( peak season); CNY 60 ( low season).
3.Time for Visit: 2-3 hours
4.Transportation
(1) Take the tourist bus ( west line) from Xian train station to Maoling Museum
(2) Take bus from Xian west bus station to Xingping, and get off at Fujia Bridge station then transfer to          No.11 to Maoling Museum.