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Hanyangling
Mausoleum of Western Han Emperor Liuqi
The Yangling Mausoleum
is the joint tomb of Liu Qi, the fourth Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty
(206 B.C.-220A.D.) and his Empress, Wang. Empress Wang, mother of the
Famous Han WuDi, died in 126 B.C. and was buried in Yangling next to her
husband's tomb.
Brief History
Hanyangling is located at Zhanjiawan Village, in eastern Xianyang City,
22 kilometers from both Xianyang airport and Xi'an. It is said that the
whole project completed in 28 years, beginning in 153 B.C. and lasting
his life-long until the empress died. It is the most eastern of the nine
Western Han imperial mausoleums on the Loess Plateau.
Construction
The mausoleum covers an area of more than 10 square kilometers - nearly
six kilometers east to west, and up to three kilometers north to south.
The tomb is symmetrically constructed as tradition with the sacred road
from east to west. The same as all the Emperors' Tombs, there are totally
81 satellite tombs of different sizes. Yang Ling mausoleum, standing at
the western end of the sacred road, is about 32 meters high with circumferences
of 670 meters and 238 meters at the bottom and top respectively. It looks
like a topless pyramid. The tomb of the Empress is on the sideward. In
ancient China it was the custom that an Empress, though she held much
power, still be buried depart from her husband.
Cultural Relics
We have unearthed up to 60,000 burial objects that painted nude pottery
figurines, utensils, chariots, weapons, and a large number of pottery
animals included. Until now, it is the largest human sacrifice graveyard
ever found in China. A total of 5,000 sacrificial burial tombs have been
verified, and the graveyard covers a total area of 3.5 square km.
It was the first time that Han figurines were modeled as nude bodies painted
with hair and skin, fitted with movable wooded arms and hands, and with
beautiful clothes worn before being buried. Over centuries, both the clothing
and the wooden arms rotted, only left bright colors as they were first
painted. The figurines, including cavalrymen, court maids, and servants,
are all in 62 centimeters tall. Also they have sex organs, navels and
all the functional bodily orifices, what's more, they are different from
each other in body expressions. Concerning the animal figurines, including
strong and tough cattle, shrewd dogs, glazed cocks and hens, pigs, and
sheep all made alive vividly.
A piece of mill stone-shaped
stone stands some 300 meters southeast of the mausoleum. As locals call
it Luopanshi, while others cognizance it is a time measurement, which
makes use of the sundial showing the time for the tomb-keeper to offer
sacrifices to the deceased Emperor.
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