Is there still mercury flowing in Qin Shihuang's underground palace?
According to "Notes on Water Classics", when Qin Shihuang chose the mausoleum site, he deliberately chose the northeast of Lishan Mountain. Originally, the river flowed to the northeast, but Qin Shihuang built a dam, which was more than 1000 meters long, 40 meters wide and 70 meters high, and abruptly turned the river to the northwest. This dam is now the location of Wuling.
Water comes out from the northeast of Lishan Mountain, and its source flows northward. Later, Qin Shihuang was buried in the north of the mountain. After the water passed, it meandered and flowed from east to north, and the first emperor built a tomb to borrow soil. The land is deep and the water gathers into a pond, which is the so-called fish pond ... the northwest flow of the pool water flows through the mausoleum of the first emperor to the north.
Because of man-made interference with the direction of the river, a huge pool was formed next to the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, which is what the ancients called a fish pond. Some scholars speculate that besides geomantic considerations, Qin Shihuang also had an important purpose, that is, to let water provide power for the machinery in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.
Although this is only a guess, we don't think it is too strange. After all, the wisdom of our ancestors is beyond our imagination, and it is not without success to use water to promote mechanical movement. The water turning rollover invented by the ancients is a good example.
Therefore, if the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum really uses water as the power of mechanical movement, then it really does not need manpower as the power input, and it can realize the fact that mercury keeps flowing.
Moreover, if the direction of water flow is well grasped, it will not cause damage to the mausoleum, because water only needs to contact with machinery, such as culverts and the like. But after all, after more than two thousand years, the original river has long since disappeared, and there is no power to support machinery to promote the flow of mercury. Therefore, the mercury in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum can no longer flow, so there should be no big problem.
Brief introduction of Qin Shihuang mausoleum
The Mausoleum of the First Emperor Qin Shihuang, the mausoleum of China's first emperor Ying Zheng (259 BC-265438 BC+00 BC), is the first batch of world cultural heritage in China, the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and a national AAAAA-level tourist scenic spot, located at the northern foot of Mount Li, 5 kilometers east of Lintong District, Xi City, Shaanxi Province.