|
Tomb of Crown Prince Zhanghuai
Tomb of Crown Prince
Zhanghuai
The same as the Tomb of Princess YongTai, the Tomb of Crown Prince Zhanghuai
as well as a part belongs to the Qianling Mausoleum. Its structure is
quite similar the Princess' tomb with tunnels, coffin chambers and a number
of buried treasures hidden.
Prince ZhangHuai
He was the second son of Emperor Gao Zong and Empress Wu Zetian, named
Li Xian, who had a somewhat rough life as a Prince. Though he has ever
been entitled the Crown Prince in 675 A.D., only five years later was
he deprived of the title and exiled to Bazhou, the present Sichuan Province
ordered by Empress Wu Zetian. As a matter of fact, it was only an event
created by her for she thought that the Prince ZhangHuai had tried to
taunt her by way of composing the book in which The Historical Records
of the Later Han dynasty were written. Later in 648 AD, Li Xian died mysteriously
in Bazhou at his early age of 31. After Emperor Zhongzong returned to
the throne, he had Li Xian's remains buried near Qianling. Only after
706 AD, year in which Wu Zetian's death, Li Xian was awarded the title
of Crown Prince Zhanghuai.
Architecture
It is a tomb that quite similar to the Tomb of Princess YongTai, but a
bit smaller in scale. It is situated on the southeast of the Qianling
Mausoleum with the length of 71 meters, width 3.3 meters and depth 7 meters.
The most excellent and fascinating point in the tomb is the wall painting
covering some 400 square meters. From which we could generally draw an
outline of his whole life. Among these charming paintings Courtiers and
Foreign Envoys, Hunting Procession, Polo Game and Watching Birds and Catching
Cicadas demonstrate superb artistic achievements of the Tang dynasty.
And the The painting of Courtiers and Foreign Envoys on the eastern wall,
in the middle of the tomb tunnel vividly reproduces two enthusiastic Tang
officials with three foreign envoys from India, Korea and the Tujue tribe
followed in exotic clothes. It reflects the active exchange of friendly
and diplomatic visits between China and foreign countries in the Tang
dynasty.
Polo Picture
"Polo Picture" is a fresco on the mausoleum west wall with more
than 20 horse-riding personage on it, displaying a very mighty and grand
scene. Here is the selected part of one people one ride only. We can see
the picture lines are very refined. It sketches the contours of exaggerative
personage movements and horse's vigorous figures with a few lines. Polo
also named as Buoluo ball, a kind of sports activity recommended by Tang
Taizong in ancient times, spreads extensively among the nobles and becomes
a common practice in the palace. This is the earliest polo-playing image
of our country. It is even more concrete and vivid than the widespread
picture of "playing the polo picture" of Tang dynasty.
|
You are here: