What does the tomb of Qin Shihuang look like?
The Mausoleum of the First Emperor is located 5 kilometers east of Linchang County, about 37 kilometers away from Xi'an City, leaning against Lishan Mountain in the south and Weishui River in the north. Why is the location chosen here? Some people believe that this is inseparable from the ancients’ superstitious geomantic omen. In recent years, geologists have seen based on satellite pictures that the route from Jiaoshan to Huashan looks like a dragon, and the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is located exactly at the eye of the dragon's head. As we all know, there has been the saying of "putting the finishing touch" since ancient times. It was not clear for a while whether the ancients had the ability to "forsight" or whether today's people are too attached to others.
The Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is approximately square, with a flat top and a slightly stepped waist. It is 76 meters high, 345 meters long from east to west, and 350 meters wide from north to south. It covers an area of 120,750 square meters.
According to preliminary inspection, the cemetery is divided into two parts: the inner city and the outer city. The inner city is square in shape with a circumference of about 3,000 meters. There are two gates on the north wall and one gate on each of the east, west and south walls. The outer city is rectangular in shape, with a circumference of more than 6,200 meters, and a gate at each corner. There are horse burial pits, pits for rare birds and animals, and pottery barrel pits between the inner and outer cities; outside the mausoleum, there are more than 400 stable pits, human sacrifice pits, prison pits, and tombs for people who repaired the mausoleum, covering a wide area of 56.25 square kilometers. . The center of the mausoleum is where the coffin of Qin Shi Huang is placed.
Since 1974, three toilet pits for burials of soldiers have been discovered 1.5 kilometers east of the cemetery. The finished products are arranged in a zigzag shape, covering an area of more than 20,000 square meters. 8,000 pottery barrels and chariots have been unearthed. Hundreds of vehicles and tens of thousands of physical weapons and other cultural relics. Among them, Pit No. 1 contains about 6,000 pottery horses and pottery horses that are as big as real horses; Pit No. 2 contains more than 1,300 pottery buckets and horses, and 89 chariots; Pit No. 3 contains 68 warrior barrels and war chariots. 1 cart and 4 pottery horses.
In 1980, a large bronze chariot and two horses were unearthed on the west side of the cemetery. This group of painted bronze chariots and horses, high chariots and an chariots, is the largest, most gorgeously decorated, most realistic and most complete ancient bronze chariots and horses found in China so far, and is known as the "Crown of Bronze".
In addition to the burial pits, the remains of a stone processing plant were also found in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. The architectural relics include door anvils, column bases, tiles, ridges, tiles, stone waterways, pottery waterways, etc.
The scale of Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum is evident, but is there a blueprint for the design of Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum?
According to historical records, “Shuixiang Si sent 720,000 people to prison in the world. Judging from the fact that "people build mausoleums and chisel them according to regulations", the construction of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum was by no means arbitrary. It must have been built in a planned manner according to the design drawings. Looking at the history of the construction of imperial mausoleums in the past dynasties, it is not difficult to imagine the connection. The specific design blueprint is still under further study.
Who presided over the construction of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum?
It is speculated that the Shaofu is in charge of the construction, and the national mausoleum should be managed by him. Of course, the highest management superior is still the truth, but the truth is that the truth is handled by the young man. However, there is another problem here, that is, the Shaofu official was named after the unification of the Qin Dynasty. Whether there was such an official position before the unification cannot be verified, but whether there was or not, there must be an organization that was responsible for the civil construction projects of the palace. As for the name of this organization, it remains to be further verified.
How deep is the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang? "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang" says that it "penetrates three springs". The description of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum in "Old Books of the Han Dynasty" includes the words "It's extremely deep" and "It's extremely deep and inhumane". Some people believe that the Qinling Underground Palace is neither shallow nor deep, and the "three springs" mentioned in the book are nothing more than the "under the nine springs" that people often mention. According to the "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" record: "If it is shallow, the fox will spread it, and if it is deep, it will reach the spring water." That is, the deepest water will reach the spring water. In ancient times, due to technical limitations, it was not easy to construct under spring water. Moreover, if the underground palace was located below the groundwater table, long-term seepage of groundwater would definitely cause the underground palace to suffer "leaking" damage. The designers of Qin Shihuang and his mausoleum could not help but Take this into account. Of course, these are just speculations, and the specific situation is unknown.
What is the structure of the underground tombs of Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum?
Judging from the excavated remains of Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum, it seems that Qin Shi Huang wanted to bring his palaces, mountains, rivers and other things to the underground world. , and to achieve this, it is difficult to achieve this without building a vast tomb.
According to the "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the First Emperor of Qin": "After the major event was completed, it was hidden. Zhongxian was closed, and the outer Xian gate was lowered. All the craftsmen were hidden, and no one came back." Here, both the Zhongxian gate and the outer Xian gate are mentioned, presumably There must be a Neixian gate. This seems to indicate that there is a passage to the main tomb in the underground palace, and the craftsmen can only be kept outside the Zhongxian Gate. The place inside the Neixian Gate is where Qin Shihuang's coffin is placed. As for the length of the tomb passage, you can imagine it. If it is reasonable to say that there is a cave with a length of 300 feet, no wonder some people think that the cave of the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is south of the current artificial seal and reaches the main peak of Qishan Center - Wang. Under the peak.
According to archaeological exploration and the judgment of the location of the toilet in the tomb passage, experts believe that the orientation of the tomb is west to east. This is a peculiar layout. As we all know, in ancient my country, the south-facing position was respected. The tombs of emperors in the past were basically facing south. Why did Qin Shihuang, who unified the world, want to sit west and face east?
Some people think that Qin Shihuang, who unified the world, wanted to sit west and face east. During his lifetime, he sent Xu Fu to cross the Yellow Sea eastward to search for the fairyland in Penglai and Yingzhou. He also went on many patrols in person, from Heishi in the east to Kuaiji in the south, and lingered in Langye and Zhizhu areas. All of this showed his eagerness for fairyland. yearn for. Unfortunately, there was no news after Xu Fu's departure, and Qin Shihuang's wish to visit the fairyland in person came to nothing. Although he could not get the elixir of immortality during his lifetime, he had to face the east after death in order to be extradited by the gods and reach the kingdom of heaven. This was probably the greatest wish of Qin Shihuang in his later years. Based on this, Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum can only sit west to east.
Some people believe that the Qin State is located in the west. In order to show his determination to conquer the six eastern countries, King Qin Yingzheng built an east-facing mausoleum at the beginning; after annexing the six countries, in order to still be able to watch him after his death The First Emperor of the Six Eastern Kingdoms was determined not to change the original intention of designing and building the mausoleum, so the mausoleums we see can only be oriented east-west.
Some people believe that the location of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum from west to east is related to the etiquette and customs of the Qin and Han Dynasties. According to relevant documents, at that time, from the emperor, princes to generals, and even ordinary scholar-bureaucrats' families, the masters all sat west to east. Qin Shihuang is the only one in the world. In order to maintain his "respected position", you can imagine the orientation of the mausoleum.
In fact, it is not only the orientation of Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum that is puzzling. According to investigation, most of the 917 Qin tombs that have been excavated in Shaanxi are oriented east-west. The 32 large tombs in Qin Gong Cemetery also all face the east. This feature of Qin people's burial style is more obvious in the earlier period. What made the Qin people adopt this east-facing burial style? Scholars who insist that the Qin people originated from the East believe that because the east is where the ancestors of the Qin people once worked and lived, they have special feelings for the east. Separated from each other, the road is long, and there are many powerful enemies in the way. The hope of "returning to the roots" is very slim, so the burial style facing the east is adopted to show that the roots are not forgotten. On the contrary, scholars who insist that the Qin people originated from the West believe that the Qin people adopted the burial custom of "heads facing the west" to show that they came from western China. But if the burial style with the head in the west and the feet in the east indicates that the Qin people came from the west, then does the popular custom of burial with the head in the north mean that they came from the north? Modern cultural and folklore researchers have put forward new insights and believe that The Qin people's popular custom of burying people with their heads in the west is the same as the "bent-limb burial" they once popular, and is related to the ancient culture or some primitive religious beliefs in the Gansu region. For example, the "Baima Tibetan" explanation for the Western burial that is popular among their people is that when the sun sets and returns to the west, people follow the sun. Perhaps the Qin people also had their own unique interpretation of their burial rituals.
Nothing is known.
People often ask, why did Qin Shihuang bury so many clay figures and clay horses with him?
Some people believe that the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum essentially follows the ancient ritual system of "death as life." "Deliberately designed for the requirements. Because after Qin Shihuang ascended the throne, he spent most of his energy and time on the war to unify the country. At that time, he led thousands of troops to conquer the north and south, thus annexing the six countries and unifying the world. In order to show his achievements during his lifetime, it seems inevitable to be buried with him in the form of an army.
Most scholars believe that the Qin Bing toilet is part of Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum and reflects Qin Shi Huang’s military situation during his lifetime, but they have different opinions on specific issues.
One view is that this large group sculpture of the Qin Dynasty army unearthed in Qin Tongkeng is a symbol of Qin Shihuang’s creation and strengthening of centralization; the large military lineup in Qin Tongkeng is a symbol of Qin Shihuang’s rule An image record of powerful military strength. In a certain sense, it can also be said that it is the symbol of Qin Shihuang's eastern patrol.
One view is that the toilet pit of the Qin soldiers symbolizes the army stationed outside the capital, which can be called the Suwei army. The No. 1 Soldier's toilet formation with chariots and infantry alternately arranged is the right army; the No. 2 Soldier's toilet pit, which is mainly composed of chariots and cavalry, is the left army; the unbuilt abandoned pit is regarded as the No. 4 pit, which is the proposed pit. Central Army; No. 3 Soldier Toilet Pit is the shogunate that commands the right, left, and center armies. The pit itself symbolizes the barrier for stationing troops. The three armies' defense of the capital was a reflection of Qin Shihuang's attempt to strengthen centralization and maintain unification.
One view is that there is no problem of Pit No. 4. The Qin Terracotta Warriors Army Formation is a military formation composed of regular and strange troops and headquarters, thus denying the theory of three armies.
One view is that the soldiers’ toilet formation in Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum is an unfinished project. Once completed, there should be 50,000 soldiers’ toilet pits. This huge military formation is equipped with troops in front, back, left, right and center. It is actually the most basic square formation among the eight formations practiced by "Chengzhi" in the Qin Dynasty. One of the characteristics of the phalanx formation is that it is "thin in the center but thick in the square". The central army has fewer and fewer troops, and the four outer teams that contact the enemy have more troops. The Qin Terracotta Army's military formation deployed its troops according to the square formation method of "thin in the middle and thick in the square".
One view is that the three pits of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses do not symbolize the left, center and right armies, but reflect the three components of the Central Army of the Qin Dynasty. Pit No. 3 is by no means what people usually call a headquarters. It should symbolize the palace guards Lang Wei under the command of Lang Zhongling; Pit No. 1 reflects the palace guards under the command of the guards, or the Southern Army; Pit No. 2 reflects the The garrison troops in the capital commanded by the lieutenant can be called the Northern Army.
As for Pit No. 3, some people think that it is the Junwu Shezong, which is used for military sacrifices. It is the place where the owner and the relocated owner who are the objects of ancestor worship in the army and the two owners of the ancestors are placed.
For Pit No. 2, some people proposed that it is a four-beast formation, that is, the bent soldier formation is the Zhuniao formation, the mixed formation of chariots, infantry, and cavalry is the Xuanwu formation, and the formation composed of cavalry and chariots is the Qinglong formation. The chariot formation is the White Tiger Formation.
Some scholars believe that the terracotta warriors and horses military formation is the "permanent formation" mentioned in "Wei Suzi".
Some scholars believe that the terracotta warriors and horses are the group of warriors who buried the First Emperor.
The exact purpose of building the Terracotta Warriors and Horses array cannot be confirmed for the time being.
The great man Qin Shihuang has many mysteries hidden in his tomb.