Emperor Qin's Mausoleum and Tombs

   Emperor QinShihuang's mausoleum looks huge and magnificent and can be seen from afar. The construction of the emperor's tomb is recorded in the ShiJi (Records of the historian) as follows: they dug through three subterranean streams and poured molten copper for modals of palaces, pavilions and officials, as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities. Artisans were ordered to fix up crossbows so that any thief breaking in world be shot. All the country's streams, the Yellow River and Yangtze were reproduced in quicksilver and by some mechanical means made to flow. The heavenly constellations were shown above and the regions of the earth below. The candles were made of whale oil to ensure their burning for eternity." The description can provide us that Emperor QinShihuang's tomb was actually an underground treasure-house. The tomb was a subterranean palace with a protective outer wall 6,210 meters in perimeter on the  ground level. Within this area was an inner wall that surrounded the burial mound, located in the southern half of overall compound. Both of the walls had gates leading out in all four directions and watch towers. The burial mound was 115 meters high 2,200 years ago, its reduced to a height of 76 meters today due to the passage of time. With the emperor's tomb as the center, some 600 satellite pits and tombs have been found around within the area of 56.25 square kilometers. Since the discovery of the pits of the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horse in 1974, more and more satellite pits and tombs began to be known and unearthed.

     The resting hall of the emperor is situated 5 meters north of the burial mound. It was once a large building above the ground covering an area of 3,575 square meters, where there were all the necessities for daily life, as if the emperor were still alive. The side hall, a subsidiary building of the resting hall, is located north of the resting hall, in which the tomb owner could rest and relax.

     Three sets of ruins, probably small palaces of some sort have been discovered in the northwest corner between the inner wall  and the outer wall. They were most likely ritual sits and living quarters for relics unearthed from here such as a bronze music bell with gold-silver-inlaid inscription, a bronze Quan, the standard weighing apparatus, fragments of a bronze lamp with goose-shaped leg, some broken pieces of  a porcelain bottle and tiles etc. can reveal.

1. Pits of Rare Birds and Animals:

     Thirty-one pits of rare animals and birds with a few attendants to the west of the mausoleum have been unearthed within the confines of the wall. These finds indicated Emperor's love for hunting, Everything known to him was buried with him after his death.

2. Stable Pits:                                                                                                                  The half-round eaves tile

     Ninety-eight sets of the stable pits at ShangJiaoCun, a village 350 meters east of the mausoleum, were found. In front of the horses were placed some pottery jars, basins and lamps in these pits. The remains of mallets and hay were still left in the basins. These pits were modeled after Qin's imperial stable system and of certain significance in the history of the horse-raising method.

3. Tombs of Emperor Qin's Children

     Archaeologists have found seventeen Qin tombs for Emperor QinShihuang's princes and princesses killed by the Second Emperor. They were placed eight meters on both sides of the stable pits. While eight of these tombs have been unearthed, they are in  甲�Cshape with sloping roadways leading to the tombs. Approximately two hundred historical relics made of different materials, such as gold , silver, bronze, iron, pottery, jade, shellfish, etc. Have been discovered , and lacquer wares, fragmented silk fabrics, too.

4. Mass Graves:

     In present day ZhaoBeiHuCun, a village to the southwest of the mausoleum, these have been discovered "mass graves", covering an area of 8,100 square meters. 42 of them have been unearthed already and over a hundred human

skeletons were found. The excavations show that the skeletons were roughly      put  together in the simple graves, and one such grave with the skeletons overlapped, some of them are in struggling position, it means that they were buried alive. On the evidence of inscription with the names and birth places of the death on tile fragments, the earliest epitaphs which have been unearthed   so far, it is presumably that these  were the laborers who died during the construction work.