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Qianling Mausoleum
Six kilometers to the north of Qian County about 80 kilometers west of
Xi'an, there located Qianling Mausoleumn. It is a joint tomb of the third
Emperor LiZhi of Tang Dynasty and his Empress Wu Zetian, the only female
monarch to have ruled China. Among all the royal tombs in history, this
is the unique one that two emperors buried together. They were both couples
and emperors as well; even empress Wu Zetian had ever changed the national
mark as "Zhou". Such situation has never occurred in China even
the world.
Empress Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian was born of a royal lineage during the Tang Dynasty. She entered
Emperor Taizong's harem when she was 13 and that of the successive emperor
Gaozong after. A master of manipulation, Wu Zetian persuaded the emperor
to declare her one rank below the empress consort. Eventually, the Emperor
married Wu. When Gaozong suffered a stroke five years later, Wu governed
behind the scenes. She created a secret police force to spy on her opposition,
jailing or killing those who stood in her way.
After Gaozong's death she reigned through puppet emperors, her sons Zhongzong
and Ruizong. She finally proclaimed herself Emperor, the first woman to
do so. Wu ruled until her 80s when she was unable to thwart a coup. She
died shortly after. Despite her ruthless climb to power, her rule was
benign. Wu reduced the size of the standing army, and replaced aristocrats
in the government with scholars. She was fair to the peasantry, lowering
taxes, raising agricultural production, and strengthening public works.
Wu also campaigned to elevate the status of women and had scholars write
biographies of famous women.
History
The Qianling Mausoleum occupies a prominent place on the summit of Liangshan
Hill. The Qianling tomb was originally built in 683 A.D., the site of
the mausoleum was selected by Emperess Wu Zetian totally. Emperor GaoZong
LiZhi was died in Luoyang City, because of the series of disasters, GongZong
left last words to be buried in Luoyang City supported by most ministers.
However, Wu Zetian disobeyed the majority to carry the coffin to Chang'an,
the present Xi'an City and established Qianling Mausoleum. 20 years later,
it was only after the death of Empress Wu Zetian in 705 A.D. that marked
the end of the huge project.
Architecture
The Qianling Mausoleum is a tomb that depends totally on the hill; the
overall arrangement has made use of the highest peak- the north peak and
two other minor paeks on the south that strictly followed the traditional
Chinese-way structure as a north-south axis. It is widely believed that
the north peak resembles Empress Wu's head with two breasts on the south.
As a whole, the mausoleum site covered an area of 2.3 square meters consists
of the inner and outer cities. The outer parts had already destroyed and
Sacrifice Hall, a Pavilion, a Hall of Ministers and numerous corridors
won't be seen any more at present, only an area of about 240 square meters
inner city well preserved. It presents a rectangular layout of Chang'an
city with four gates on each side named clockwise: the Phoenix in the
south, the Tortoise north, the Black Dragon east and the White Tiger west.
Last but not the least, the tomb is of a very strong and secure construction
and is notable as the only mausoleum to escape the unwelcome attention
of tomb robbers.
Stone Carvings
Qianling Mausoleum is surrounded by headless statues of the leaders of
minority peoples. There are various historical relics here including stone
engravings and exquisitely carved stone statues.
Before entering from the south gate, there are two tablets: the Tablets
to the Holy Deeds of Emperor GaoZong and the worldless Tablet to Wu Zetian.
And inside the southern approach set between two smaller hills and the
way to the Emperor's tomb is lined with stone animals as well as human
figures that specially flourished in Tang Dynasty. 124 exquisite and lively
stone statues are lined up from north to south, all of which revealed
a lot the fact that the Tang was very much involved with trade and diplomatic
exchange with the world far beyond China's borders as there are distinct
Western Asian and Greek influences in these sculptures.
In details, among the exquisite carvings of the Tang, first there comes
two winged horses galloping and then two vermilion birds like ostriches.
Five pairs of saddled horses come next, each with a groom. The most noteworthy
is ten pairs of guardian generals with very large heads wear long-sleeved
robes and hold the hilts of long swords.
Qijie Bei-Tablet of Seven Elements
Qijie Bei is a tablet that symbolized four basic elements of the world
as the Sun, the Moon, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth with the height
of 6.3 meters, width 1.86 meters and weight 61.6 tons. The most attractive
part is the inscription engraved on by the Empress Wu Zetian with the
main contents of the achievements of her late husband. And the calligraphy
is a hand of Emperor ZhongZong, which could be clearly seen even today.
Blank Tablet
It is the only example that a tablet with on inscription lays in the royal
tombs. The tablet stands on the opposite side of the Qijie Bei to the
east of the Phoenix Gate. There are only dragons carved on the sides and
eight intersecting oysters on the top. It is said that originally it was
erected upon the orders of the Empress to bear the achievement of hers,
however, she failed in doing at all. |
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