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Tomb of Huo Qubing
As we know that, every
emperor's tombs are surrounded with numbers of satellite tombs that belong
to his minister officials and concubines. The satellite tombs are also
be regarded as different levels, tomb of Huo Qubing should be the most
unique secondary tomb situated about 1.6 kilometers northeast of Maoling
Mausoleum.
Huo Qubing
Huo Qubing, from 140BC to 117BC, he was a general of great talent and
brave under emperor WuDi. His brilliant achievement is that he had led
his troops to fight against the invading Xiongnu Soliders across the Mt.
Qilian. He contributed a lot to the unification of Western Han Dynasty
and brought peace and prosperity to the society. But unfortunately, he
died at his early age of 24. It was a loss both to the royal family and
the country. In honor of commemoration, Emperor Wudi ordered to build
a tomb for him in the shape of Qilian Mountain beside the Emperor's own.
It is just the place that Huo Qubing achieved his first victory.
Tomb
The tomb of Huo Qubing stands about 1000 meters northeast of Maoling Mausoleum,
in Xingping County. Totally there are 16 stone carvings of beasts and
demons erected in front of the tomb. In a large degree, such kinds of
carvings represent the level of Han Dynasty.
The most delegated one is "Horse Treads on the Hun" placed with
the length of 1.9 meters and width 1.68 meters. In this carving, a stone
horse is standing on the ground with perked head and long horsetail. Under
its abdomen is a struggling Hun with bow and dagger in his hand. The whole
carving is the most representational monumental work and holds an important
place in the history of Chinese art.
Legend
Up till now there are still legends about general Huo Qubing popular around.
The legend goes like this: in Jiuquan City, Gansu Province, after Huo
Qubing and his troops defeated the Huns here, the Emperor vouchsafed good
wine to this general to reward him for his great achievement. Instead
of enjoying the wine all by himself, Huo Qubing poured it into the spring
pond and drank it with all his subjects. And from then on, the place was
named as Jiuquan--the spring of wine.
Small Museum
Quite Near his tomb, there is a small museum. Numbers of bronze articles,
including money, agricultural implements and a magnificent rhinoceros,
though the latter is now in the Shaanxi Museum and only a reproduction
is on display. There are also some examples of the decorated building
materials for which both the Qin and Han were famous. |
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