Qianling Mausoleum Of The Tang Dynasty

1
Qianling Mausoleum Of The Tang Dynasty
2
Location Of Qianling

• Qianling, the tomb of the third Tang emperor, Li
  Zhi, and Empress Wu Zetian, is located on
  Liangshan Mountain, 6 kilometers north of
  Qianxian County seat and 80 kilometers from
  Xi'an. Here also stands the Qianling Mausoleum
  and Museum.
• Located on the peak of lofty Liangshan Mountain,
  Qianling is the most typical and best preserved
  of all the eighteen Tang mausoleums.

3
Introduction Of Li Zhi

• Tang Emperor Li Zhi (628-683) was the ninth son
  of Emperor Tai Zong and Empress Zhangsun. With
  the help of his maternal uncle Zhangsun Wuji, he
  was made crown prince and ascended the throne
  upon Tai Zong's death. Though he was
  muddle-headed and weak-minded and accomplished
  little, the flourishing and stable state of early
  Tang was maintained during the first years of his
  reign, thanks to such veteran officials as
  Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang who actually
  usurped state power. However, once Wu Zetain
  moved into the palace, things began to change in
  the Tang regime power structure.

4
Introduction Of Wu Zetian

• Wu Zetian (624-705), also named Wu Zhao, was from
  Wenshui, Shanxi Province and born in Guangyuan
  (then Lizhou), Sichuan. Her father, Wu Shiyue,
  was a successful wood merchant who was later
  appointed supervisor-in-chief of Lizhou
  Prefecture. As a concubine of Tai Zong, Wu Zetian
  cut her hair and became a Buddhist nun in Ganye
  Monastery upon his death in 649. In 654, she was
  taken out of the monastery and brought into the
  palace by Emperor Gao Zong, who bestowed on her
  great favor by making her his chief concubine.
  The next year the Emperor deposed Empress Wang
  and named Wu Zetian his empress, allowing her to
  participate in state affairs. He dismissed and
  ostracized Chu Shuiliang and in 659 forced
  Zhangsun Wuji to commit suicide. From then on, Li
  Zhi remained in poor health, "faint, heavy-headed
  and sightless" as the chronicles described him,
  and Wu Zetain attended to most court affairs.

5
Wu Zetian-The First Empress In China

• Once when Gao Zong intended to give up the throne
  to crown prince Li Hong (eldest son of Wu), the
  son was poisoned by his mother. In reality Wu
  Zetain had taken power upon Zhangsun Wuji's
  death. After the emperor's death, she defied
  imperial prohibitions on queen mother holding
  court and, after disposing of emperors Zhong Zong
  and Rui Zong in short order, took the throne
  herself and titled her reign "Zhou," becoming the
  first empress in Chinese history to rule the
  country.

6
Wu Zetians Tactics

• Well-versed in culture and history and excelling
  in trickery, she was ruthless in her tactics.
  Upon ascension, she recruited treacherous
  courtiers to kill many Tang imperial clansmen and
  high officials. She then put the blame on these
  "wicked" officials when public sentiment grew
  restive, as a way of relaxing the populace. But
  she also had talented people enlisted, placing
  them in important posts, and was receptive to
  criticism and advice from her courtiers, somewhat
  like Tai Zong.

7
Wu Zetians Political Competence

• Her political competence first showed itself when
  Tai Zong was still alive. Tai Zong had a strong
  horse called Lion which was so fiery-tempered
  nobody could tame it. One day Wu told Tai Zong
  she could make it docile with three implements a
  whip, a hammer and a dagger. First, she would
  flog it tame with the whip if that didn't work,
  she would hit it with a hammer finally, if
  necessary, the dagger would cut the horse's
  throat. Tai Zong appreciated that spirit.

8
Wu Zetian And Li Houses Dynasty

• It was in this way she controlled her courtiers,
  maintained her autocratic rule for over half a
  century and strengthened centralized state power.
  Though she changed the Li house's Tang Dynasty
  into the Wu's Zhou Dynasty, she had trouble
  choosing a successor and finally ordered in her
  will a return of the throne to the Li house's
  offspring.

9
Gao Zong And Wu Zetians Buried Place

• Emperor Gao Zong had ascended it to the throne in
  649 and after a reign of 34 years died ill
  December 683, at age of 56 in Zhenguan Hall,
  Luoyang. He was buried in Qianling in August 684.
  Wu Zetian was crowned in 684 and after a reign of
  21 years died at 82 in the Hall of Fairy
  Dwelling, Palace of Rising Sun, Luoyang, in 705.
  In May 706, she was buried with Gao Zong in
  Qianling. Thus, it can be inferred that
  construction of Qianling took between 40 and 50
  years.

10
Qianling Mausoleum

• Located on Liangshan Mountain, 1,049 meters above
  sea level, Qianling Mausoleum was flanked by
  Leopard Valley to the east and Sand Canyon on the
  west. This limestone mountain was cone-shaped and
  its top consisted of three peaks, the highest of
  which is the northern peak containing the
  Qianling underground palace. The southern peaks,
  lower than the northern one and facing each
  other, each has earth mounds on its surface
  resembling nipples, thus they got the name
  Naitoushan (Nipple Hills).
• The Qianling, joint burial place of Tang Emperor
  Gao Zong and Empress Wu Zetian

11
The Nipple Hills

• According to Maps to the History of Chang'an
  City, the Memorial Temple was originally beside
  the Nipple Hills. In it were displayed portraits
  of Di Renjie and 59 other noted courtiers. Being
  the most southern mounds, the Nipple Hills formed
  a natural doorway to Qianling Mausoleum, adding
  to its magnificence and making it unique among
  the eighteen Tang mausoleums in the area north of
  the Weishui River.

12
The Records Of Qianlings Structure

• Qianling was a grand and imposing structure. The
  Maps records Qianling was originally enclosed by
  two walls. Investigation and prospecting
  uncovered remains of the inner wall, four gates,
  a sacrificial hall and some corner parts of the
  outer wall. The inner wall, 2.4 meters thick,
  enclosed 240,000 square meters with four sides in
  a trapezoidal shape. The north and south segments
  were each 1,450 meters long, the east wall was
  1,582 and the west wall 2,438. Four gates were
  each 2.7 meters wide. The southern gate was
  called Zhu Que Men (Rosefinch Gate), the northern
  Xuan Wu Men (Mystical Power Gate), the eastern
  Qing Long Men (Black Dragon Gate) and the western
  Bai Hu Men (White Tiger Gate). Describing
  buildings on the grounds, the History of
  Administrative Statues of the Tang Dynasty says,
  "in 798, 378 houses were completed around each of
  Xianling, Zhaoling, Qianling, Dingling and
  Tailing." Now only their sites remain.

13
The Inside Of Qianling

• What is inside Qianling still awaits excavation.
  The above mentioned history book recorded "the
  tomb chamber of Qianling was closed up with a
  stone gate sealed with iron to make it secure."
  
• An inscription on the Seven Tiered Tablet reads
  Emperor Gao Zong willed in his last words that
  his favourite books and works of calligraphers be
  brought into the tomb.

14
The Surface Of Qianling Today

• What remains today on the surface of Qianling is
  mainly carved stone works. Exquisite and elegant,
  they have stood upright on top of Liangshan
  Mountain for over 1,200 years, and are
  demonstrations of the skills of Tang carvers,
  gems of the ancient Chinese art of stone carving.
  Most of these stone pieces line the sides of the
  spirit path, from outside Rosefinch Gate to the
  north

15
Ornamental Pillars

• The first carved stones are a pair of ornamental
  pillars. Symbol of the tombs, they are
  octaprismatic and their shafts, plinths and crown
  were all decorated with line carvings. These tall
  and upright columns are impressive introductions
  to the magnificent cemetery.

16
Winged Horses

• Next, because supreme rulers considered
  themselves so upright their reign would be
  prosperous, they also wanted pairs of winged
  horses and rosefinches, representatives of
  propitious birds and beasts, to guard a
  prosperous underground life. The winged horses,
  wings decorated with slender, delicate lines, are
  in a flying gallop. The rosefinches, in high
  relief, were beautifully shaped and sturdily
  carved. It is said that because rosefinches were
  a gift from Afghanistan for the funeral and could
  serve as guards, a pair of them were erected in
  front of the tomb.
• Further along were five pairs of stone horses
  with stone saddles and stirrups only three pairs
  of the original stone human figures leading the
  horses survived.

17
Shi Ong Zhong

• Beyond the stone horses were ten pairs of stone
  figures, named Shi Ong Zhong, modeled after the
  emperors' bodyguards. With helmeted heads and
  heavy long robes, the figures stood with sword in
  hands, eyes straight ahead, playing a major role
  in creating a majestic atmosphere in front of the
  tomb.

18
Uncharactered Tablet

• Further on were two stone tablets. The east one,
  called Uncharactered Tablet, was erected blank as
  a term of Wu Zetian's will. Her will read "My
  achievements and errors must be evaluated by
  later generations, therefore carve no characters
  on my stele." This blank tablet was 6.3 meters
  high, 2.1 meters wide and 1.5 meters thick.
  During the Song and Jin dynasties, however, quite
  a few travelers did inscribe it, changing the
  uncharactered tablet into a charactered tablet.
  Altogether thirteen sets of inscriptions were
  counted, though most of them have been blurred by
  time. Only the 'Travel of the Military
  Commissioner of the Campaign Commander of the Jin
  Dynasty" in Nüzhen script, with a Chinese
  translation beside it, was well preserved. Now,
  the Nüzhen script has disappeared. This rare
  script was a precious aid for the study of Nüzhen
  scripts and the history and culture of China's
  minority nationalities.

19
Seven-section Stele at Qianling

• The west tablet, Tablet Telling the Emperor's
  Deeds, was composed of seven tiers and thus also
  named Seven-Tiered Tablet. It was 6.3 meters high
  and 1.9 meters wide. Written by Wu Zetian and
  carved in the handwriting of Emperor Zhong Zong,
  the inscription, totaling more than 8,000
  characters, sang the praises of Emperor Gao Zong
  for his military and administrative achievements.
  All the characters and symbols were filled with
  gold powder, brightening the cemetery.

20
Stone statues of foreign envoys at Qianling

• Beyond the stone tablets and on the right side of
  the spirit path were 61 stone figures attesting
  to the Tang Dynasty's power and prosperity as
  well as its friendly relations with minority
  peoples in frontier areas and with other central
  Asian countries. These 6I figures of chief-rains
  and foreign guests were ordered here by Wu Zetian
  to commemorate the minority chieftains and
  foreign special envoys who attended the funeral.
  Wearing tight-sleeved clothes, broad belts and
  leather shoes, these figures cup their hands in
  front in an attitude of prayer. More than half of
  them had their heads defaced, but the only two,
  in the western row, whose heads are complete,
  have prominent noses and deep eyes, and were
  clearly from the Western Regions or Central Asia.
  Some of the figures had their nationalities,
  official titles and names on their backs.

21
Stone lion

• In front of each of the inner wall's four gates
  were a pair of stone lions the best are the pair
  by Rosefinch Gate. Of heroic proportions, this
  pair had curved hair, bulging eyes, big mouths
  and sharp teeth, presenting perfect images of
  stem and fierce-looking lions. They are symbols
  of dignified, autocratic Tang rulers.

22
Attendants Tombs In Qianling

• According to the chronicles, Qianling mausoleum
  covered an area of about 40 square kilometers,
  within which are scattered many attendants'
  tombs, 17 of them located in the southeast
  section. Since 1949, tombs of Princess Yong Tai,
  Xue Yuanchao, Li Jingxing, Prince Zhang Huai and
  Prince Yi De have been unearthed. They are
  substantially the same, both in surface
  appearance and in underground structure each
  tomb was surrounded by a wall, to the south of
  which were ornamental pillars, stone figures and
  stone sheep in precise order. The tombs
  themselves were composed of a passage way, an
  archway, a shaft, a corridor and ante-and
  rear-chambers. On two sides of the shaft were a
  series of niches containing a variety of
  three-color figurines, pottery and porcelain
  articles.

23
Painting Of Maids 

• Frescoes adorned the walls and tops of the
  passage, the archway, the corridor and chambers.
  Some were "Painting of Maidservants," reflecting
  the parasitic imperial life some were
  architectural designs, reflecting Tang Dynasty
  architecture others are "Painting of Polo Game"
  and ''Paintings of Envoy and Guests," depicting
  cultural exchanges and the friendly relationships
  between China and the world. Rich and extensive
  in themes, well composed and skillfully executed,
  these frescoes illustrate the high level of Tang
  paintings and add a new chapter to China's
  ancient painting history.
• In addition, the stone gate, the memorial tablet
  and outer coffin within the tomb were decorated
  with line sculptures of figures, animals and
  plants.

24
Cultural Relics At Qianling

• Though all the attendant tombs had suffered from
  looting, there were still numbers of cultural
  relics to be found. As many as 4,300-odd articles
  were unearthed from the three tombs of Princess
  Yong Tai, Prince Yi De and Prince Zhang Huai. All
  these relics are exquisitely made and vivid
  representations, each peculiar in its own way.
• Mural of procession at attendant tombs of
  Princess Yong Tai, Prince Yi De and Prince Zhang
  Huai at Qianling

25
The Three-color Figurines

• The three-color figurines from Princess Yong
  Tai's tomb were delicate and colorful and
  decorated with exotic line carvings. The 300
  objects of gold, jade, bronze and tin, all
  ingeniously cast and delicately carved, look
  pleasing and tasteful.

26
Fragments Of Funeral Eulogium

• Out of Prince Yi De's tomb have come fragments of
  funeral eulogium carved concavely on jade, with
  the background inlaid in gold, and painted
  pottery figurines of riders, with horses gilt
  faced and figures fully armed (and each dressed
  differently), all cultural treasures. Horsemen
  differed in expressions and postures Some are
  playing the flute, some blowing the trumpet and
  still others waving a whip to spur the horse.
  Unearthed from the tomb of Prince Zhang Huai, the
  figurines of civil officials, warriors and
  painted tomb guarding beasts, all over one meter
  high, are lively shaped. All these are materials
  contributing to the study of Tang Dynastys
  politics, economy and culture.