The Pyramid of China—the Imperial Mausoleum of the Western Han Dynasty
Like other peoples in the world, ancient Chinese also believed that the immortal spirit after death, thinking that after death a person would continue his life in another world and therefore the tomb became their settled residence in another world. Meanwhile, the tomb is also a memorial place for the living to memorize their past relatives. This belief made the ancient Chinese, from the rulers to the common people, to pay special attention to the building of tombs and mausoleums.
Distribution of imperial Mausoleums of the Western Han Dynasty
The rulers of the Han Dynasty generally started the construction of their tombs in the second year of their reign. The construction was generally completed by thousands of laborers for over ten years or even dozens of years. Some emperors even died before the construction was completed. The special attention paid by the rulers of the Han Dynasty made the mausoleum built at same time reflect the highest standards of workmanship, the economic situation, the social and cultural development and even all social aspects of that age.
There are altogether 11 imperial mausoleums of the Western Han Dynasty in Guanzhong Area. Apart from Baling Mausoleum of Emperor Wendi and Duling Mausoleum of Emperor Xuandi in the southeastern suburbs of Chang’an City, the other nine mausoleums including Changling of Emperor Gaozu, Anling of Emperor Huidi, Yangling of Emperor Jingdi, Maoling of Emperor Wudi, Pingling of Emperor Zhaodi, Weiling of Emperor Yuandi, Yanling of Emperor Chengdi, Yiling of Emperor Aidi and Kangling of Emperor Pingdi were built in Xianyang Plain in the northwestern suburbs along the northern bank of Weihe River. These nine mausoleums extend westward in a line on the Loess Plain with the mounds clear in view, which were nicknamed the Chinese Pyramids.
The mausoleum of the Western Han Dynasty is generally composed of the ground buildings and the underground section. The ground buildings are mainly the mounds of the imperial tombs, the accompanying tombs of governmental officials and a series of buildings for sacrificial ceremonies and other rites. The underground section includes mainly the tomb chamber and various burial pits, which resemble the allocation and arrangement of the tomb owner’s residence before death.
Like the Chang’an City in the Han Dynasty with the imperial palace as the center, the mausoleum also took the mound of the imperial tomb as the center, with the mausoleum taking about several to dozens of kilometers.
Emperors of the Han Dynasty regarded the tomb as equal to the palace they lived in before they died and therefore their tombs were mainly of majestic scale to show their supreme social status. Besides, the huge mound can also prevent the rainwater from saturating into the tomb chamber.
Imperial mausoleums in the Han Dynasty are generally composed of the ground buildings and the underground section. The underground tomb chamber was called fangzhong which housed many pits for the dead and other burial objects. The rammed mound was called fangtu, which generally took the shape of a pyramid. Chiefs of most nations and states in the world preferred this geometric shape for it since it offers a feeling of solidity and majesty. Opposite to the mound, the tomb chamber took the shape of an up-side-down pyramid with its depth generally equal to that of the height of the mound. Generally, the mound rises 30 meters high with the upper side 50 meters long and the bottom side 150 to 170 meters long. Around the mausoleum, there are two layers of rammed walls with a gate called Sima Gate in the center of each wall. On both sides of the gate there was a side gate. Since the major imperial palace, Weiyang Palace, took the eastern gate as the main gate or the imperial gate, the imperial tombs also faced eastward with the eastern gate as the main gate. Directly out of the gate there was generally a road called Sima Path which extended about several kilometers.
After death, the queen was generally buried together with the emperor and her tomb was generally to the northeast of the imperial tomb, which was consistent with the layout of the imperial palaces in Chang’an City of the Han Dynasty. In the city, the two major palaces were Weiyang Palace for the emperor and the Changle Palace for the queen, which was located to the northeast of Weiyang Palace. This design was also copied in the construction of the imperial tombs. The mound of the tomb for the queen was of the same shape as that of the emperor’s but comparatively smaller.
The imperial mausoleum in the Han Dynasty comprised the tombs of imperial relatives and high-ranking officials, all of whom were buried in the mausoleum as companies to the emperor. Historic records show that during the daily imperial conferences in the Han Dynasty, civil officials and military officers would stand in two lines outside the eastern gate of Weiyang Palace with officials of higher ranks standing in the front. The accompanying tombs of the Han Dynasty were generally built along the Sima Road east of the imperial tomb. The tombs were sorted according to the ranks of the owners and the mound for the tomb of the higher-ranking officials were generally bigger than those of the lower-ranking ones, i.e., the size of the mound reflects the status of the tomb owners.
Apart from the imperial tomb, the queen’s tomb and other accompanying tombs, there were also memorial buildings for various gatherings and ceremonies, such as the residential palace, the common palaces and temples. At that time, these massive constructions stood together with the imperial tomb, forming a majestic view with the splendid building complex on the other side of the river in Chang’an City. Time flied and social changes deprived the previous palaces and the imperial mausoleums of their previous splendor. What you can see now are nothing but the tomb mounds and the relics, telling you the luxury once enjoyed by the emperors in the past.
The underground section of the mausoleum generally comprised the tomb chamber and the accompanying burial pits around the imperial tomb. The burial pits were mostly three to four meters wide and three meters deep. Their sizes varied with some of them extending for meters while others hundreds of meters. Most of the tombs were built with bricks and earth while some being constructed with wood. The imperial mausoleums of the Han Dynasty varied in the number of burial pits.
The panoramic view of Yangling Mausoleum
The excavated pits in Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jingdi amounted to more than 190 and there were more than 400 burial pits in Maoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wudi. In the burial pits there are such accompanying burial objects as figures of soldiers, imperial attendants, animals, horses and carriages, weapons, grains etc. These burial objects reflected various aspects of life during the Han Dynasty such as the government mechanism, military, important historic figures and daily necessities. It was generally believed that these burial objects were made for the regular life for the emperor after death.
Maoling Mausoleum is the largest among the nine imperial mausoleums on the Xianyang Plain. It measures 46.5 meters high with the bottom side line extending for 240 meters. Altogether, it used about 100 cubic meters of earth for the mound. Around the mound there was a square city wall with a side length of 400 meters. The base of the walls measures 5.8 meters wide and the gate remains keep intact in the East, West and North. Massive in construction scale, Maoling Mausoleum houses luxury burial objects, which is indebted to the great national strength the Han Empire enjoyed during Emperor Wudi’s Reign and great time span for the construction of the tomb. Emperor Wudi held the throne for 54 years but his tomb was constructed for 53 years until the entire mausoleum was filled with various burial objects. Excavations of the eastern section of Maoling Mausoleum in 1981 revealed 200 plus cultural relics including the precious gilded bronze horse and the gilding bamboo-shaped incense burner and the jade animal head appliqué which can match those excavated from the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang.
The Maoling Mausoleum
Around Maoling Mausoleum there are a dozen of accompanying tombs which have no ground constructions. Among them, the most renowned ones are those of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, two distinguished generals of the Han Empire. They scored great military exploits in combating the invading the Huns and after death they were buried there with their tombs being shaped like two hills, symbolizing Yinshan Mountain and Qilian Mountain where they had achieved the great victory against the invaders. The two generals left for the following generations not only the symbolic tombs and stone inscriptions in front of their tombs but also a resounding warning for the following generations to be vigilant against the Huns.
To well protect the stone inscriptions of Maoling Mausoleum and the ever-appearing cultural relics in its surrounding area, a Maoling Museum has been constructed on the basis of Huo Qubing’s tomb site.
Although no excavation has been conducted for the underground palaces of the imperial mausoleums of the Western Han Dynasty, archeologists had made significant discoveries in the ground constructions, accompanying tombs and pits around the imperial tombs. Till recently, the most prominent achievement was scored in Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jingdi.
Yangling Mausoleum, located on the Loess Landform north of Weihe River, 20km north of the seat of Xi’an City, is a joint burial mausoleum of the forth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Jingdi and the Queen named Tong Ying. Of all the imperial mausoleums, Yangling Mausoleum was the first from the east.
Preliminary excavations of Yangling Mausoleum have revealed a 20km2 tomb site consisting of the imperial mausoleum, the queen’s mausoleum, the burial pits in its southern section, the burial pits in its northern section, the ritual constructions, the accompanying tombs, the criminals’ tombs and a township nearby the mausoleum. The imperial mausoleum faces east with a mound of 31 meters high. In front of the mausoleum there is a 110-meter wide Sima Path extending eastward for seven li to the township which used to be a place of hassles and bustles frequented by wealthy people and businessmen. It is the site of the oldest township in China. On both sides of the Sima Path were lined with tombs of various governmental officials and around the imperial tombs there were queen’s tomb, accompanying tombs and bases of various constructions which were all orderly arranged. The South Gate of the Mausoleum is the largest and oldest well-preserved entrance gate with three layers of constructions which marked the highest level of gates in the hierarchical society. It is therefore of great significance for studies into the origin, development and the forming of the traditional gate construction system and even for studies into the evolution of traditional Chinese architecture. Recently a restored Entrance Gate has been built on the remains site. In the excavated 190 plus accompanying tombs there are various burial objects including daily utensils, weapons, pottery warrior, housemaids, eunuch, groups of ceramic pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, chicken etc. which amount to more than 100,000 pieces, of which the most famous ones are the pottery figures and various ceramic animals. These figures are 1/3 of life size, measuring about 60cm tall. They are naked with no arms. Studies found that they were originally wearing colorful clothes and had moveable wooden arms, which after thousands of years have decayed to reveal the naked and broken body to the recent world. In those pottery figures there are a group of girls with beautiful looks and slim figures, but there are also some with bulged cheeks who are quite possibly of minority backgrounds. Different from the terra cotta warriors with serious looks, the pottery figures in Yangling Mausoleum are mostly with an easy grace, which illustrates the peace and solidarity enjoyed during the Emperor Wendi and Emperor Jing’s reign.
Yangling Museum, covering more than 3,000mu, was constructed on the basis of Yangling Mausoleum and the cultural relics excavated in the mausoleum. It is one core scenic area for the culture of the Han Dynasty and the most attractive part of the museum is the exhibition hall on the outer pits completed and opened in 2006. The outer pits constitute 81 tombs surrounding the mound of the imperial tomb and form an important part of the mausoleum. The exhibition hall is an underground hall constructed on the basis of the 10 excavated outer pits. It is the first underground exhibition hall in the world to adopt new technology for cultural relics protection. In the museum, the visiting passages and the cultural relics are separated by hollow electrothermal glass walls into two sections with greatly different temperatures, which ensured sound protection of the cultural relics and a favorable position for visitors to have a close-up view of the mysterious view of the tomb. This superior design makes the museum matchless in the world for offering a unique opportunity for visitors to have a close look of the ancient civilization. Besides, advanced imaging technology is adopted to recapture the historic events, which brings visitors back to the splendor of the imperial live in the Western Han Dynasty. All in all, the unique manner of exhibition together with the consciousness of cultural relics protection make visitors from home and abroad deeply attracted by this museum.
