Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum

A Brief Introdution
Located in Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum is the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221BC-207BC) and also of China. Covering 2.13 square kilometers, the four-layered mausoleum, like a well-structured city, includes an underground palace, which is the center of the mausoleum, an inner city, outer city and grounds.

History & Background
The Chinese historian Sima Qian, writing a century after the First Emperor's death, wrote that it took 700,000 men to construct the emperor's mausoleum. British historian John Man points out that this figure is larger than the population of any city in the world at that time and he calculates that the foundations could have been built by 16,000 men in two years. While Sima Qian never mentioned the terracotta army, the statues were discovered by a group of farmers digging wells on March 29, 1974. 

The soldiers were created with a series of mix-and-match clay molds and then further individualized by the artists' hand. Han Purple was also used on some of the warriors. There are around 6,000 Terracotta Warriors and their purpose was to protect the Emperor in the afterlife from evil spirits. Also among the army are chariots and 40,000 real bronze weapons.

One of the first projects which the young king accomplished while he was alive was the construction of his own tomb. In 215 BC Qin Shi Huang ordered General Meng Tian to begin its construction with the assistance of 300,000 men. Other sources suggest that he ordered 720,000 unpaid laborers to build his tomb according to his specifications.

Structure & Architecture
Emperor Qin Shi Huang was the first in China to construct a mausoleum city and to build coffin chambers and subordinate palaces in the mausoleum. The first emperor also started the ritual of building chambers for those buried alive with the owner of the tomb on a large scale. Another unusual discovery is that the mausoleum does not have a tomb of the empress. Emperor Qin Shihuang's experience, life and merits and demerits are noticeable, even the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum sitting at the foot of Lishan Mountain has drawn great attention due to many unresolved mysteries.

Historian Sima Qian left behind a 160-word record in his "Historical Records: The Biography of Qin Shihuang", which recorded the size of Shi Huang Mausoleum "The tomb is over 50 zhang (one zhang =one-third meters) high", converted to around 115-meters high. The result of a measurement made in 1982 revealed that the tomb is 55.05 meters high. Due to water and soil erosion for more than two thousand years, the frozen earth has been lowered by half in height.

How deep is the underground palace?
Latest archaeological prospecting materials show: The actual length of the underground palace in Qin Shihuang Mausoleum is 260 meters from east to west and 160 meters from south to north, with a total area of 41,600 square meters. The size of the underground palace is equivalent to five international football fields, in the shape of a vertical cave. According to the latest drilling materials, the actual depth from the hole of the underground palace to the bottom is about 26 meters, and the depth of the earth's surface in Qin dynasty was about 37 meters. But whether this is true remains to be tested and proved by archaeological exploration.

How many doors are there in the underground palace?
With regard to the number of doors in the underground palace, actually it was long ago clearly recorded in the "Historical Records": "As the whole structure was completed, coffins and funeral objects were stored there, suddenly the middle, under and outer tomb doors were closed, since the doors were all closed, none of the craftsmen hidden inside came out again." Here encompasses the middle tomb door and outer tomb door, there is no need to mention the inside tomb door. It seems it is irrefutable that the underground palace consists of three doors, the three tomb doors were possibly arranged in one straight line.

About Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang. 18 February 259 BC – 10 September 210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and was the first emperor of a unified China. He was born Ying Zheng (??) or Zhao Zheng (??), a prince of the state of Qin. He became the King Zheng of Qin when he was thirteen, then China's first emperor when he was 38 after the Qin had conquered all of the other Warring States and unified all of China in 221 BC. Rather than maintain the title of "king" borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor (???) of the Qin dynasty from 220 to 210 BC. His self-invented title "emperor" , as indicated by his use of the word "First", would continue to be borne by Chinese rulers for the next two millennia.

Information
Address: 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Xi'an
Admission: CNY 150 (Mar.-Nov.)
                 CNY 120 (Dec.-Feb)

Transportation
Buses there include Tourism Bus #5 from Xi'an Train Station and Bus #307. The fare is only 7 or 8 RMB.

Tour Terracotta Warriors with Xian Priavte Tour
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