What's Inside Qin Shi Huang's Tomb?
Archaeologists are currently excavating further areas of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first and most infamous Emporer of China. The site, where the magnificent terracotta warriors were discovered relatively recently - 1974 - contains the undisturbed tomb of the Emperor. With rumours of flowing mercury and incomparable treasures, the question on everyone's lips is - what's inside?
Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of the 3rd century BC Qin Dynasty, ruled the largest unified kingdom the Far East had ever witnessed to that date – the very basis of Imperial China. In military power, economic strength and technical innovation, the Qin – with their strongly centralised system of government – were all powerful. Shi Huang was the totemic and ruthless totalitarian ruler that held the entire kingdom together. Indeed, the empire crumbled in just a few short years after his passing in 221 BC.
Possessing a grossly swollen ego to match his achievements and status, Shi Huang ordered the construction of a staggeringly large and ornate tomb for himself outside the Qin capital of Xi’an, one that is said to have required hundreds of thousands of labourers to build. Work began when Shi Huang was just 13 years old, so sure was he of his impending glory.
The tomb attracts many thousands of tourists every year, but has not yet been explored – and perhaps may never be. If legend about what’s inside is true – and, incredibly, all evidence to date suggests it is – then the First Emperor’s mausoleum contains a wealth of treasures and adornments perhaps greater than any other in ancient history.
The Eye of the Dragon
Qin Shi Huang’s tomb can be found 35 kilometres east of Xi’an, between the Lishan Mountains in the south and the Wei river in the north. Traditional Chinese geomancy has it that the area between the Lishan Mountains and Mount Hua is shaped like a dragon. The imperial tomb, inside Li Mountain, is said to be positioned at the eye of the dragon.
The mountain itself, which is covered in trees and vegetation, is roughly as big as the Great Pyramid of Giza, and covers an area of about one square mile. It was once perhaps twice as big, but it’s been worn down by 2,000 years of erosion to its current dimensions. But that’s beside the point, because to judge the scale of the First Emperor’s Tomb simply on the basis of the mountain he’s buried within would be misleading.
Qin Shi Huang firmly believed that he was to live on in the afterlife, so he wanted to ensure he had a powerful setup there, one befitting his standing. He had entire area many kilometres wide surrounding Li Mountain transformed into an overground and underground city, protected by his own personal honour guard, the stunning Terracotta Warriors.
The Emperor’s Afterlife Army
The Terracotta Warriors are arguably the most spectacular archaeological find of the 21st century – a life-sized horde of unique, individually carved soldiers chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians, all stood neatly in rank and file and estimated to number as many as 8,000. They were discovered in 1974 by local farmers drilling a water well, and have been partly excavated at three different spots.
Many have been damaged or looted, and all have lost their original vivid, lifelike colour, since their painted surfaces have faded over the centuries. But as an indication of the sheer scale and ingenuity of the work put into the First Emperor’s necropolis complex, they’re simply breathtaking. On the one occasion which a handful of the statues traveled abroad – for a special exhibition in London in 2007-2008 – the British Museum recorded its most successful year ever, exceeding even the famous Tutankhamun exhibition of 1972 for visitors.
Since the Terracotta Warriors’ discovery, archaeologists have been investigating the ground between their location and the Emperor’s tomb itself, and have uncovered a network of 180 different sites, containing everything from miniature offices, towers and walls with gates to gardens, lakes, animals, entertainers and ornaments. Qin Shi Huang – who is said to have slowly been driven insane by the weird chemicals he drank in search of an elixir of life to ensure his immortality – evidently attempted to have an entire replica world constructed for himself, all of which was connected to his tomb.
Artisans apparently carved a map of the entire Qin kingdom on the floor, laced the ceiling with jewels to represent to sky, and created rivers and oceans with quicksilver.
Rivers of Quicksilver?The best available source on the contents of Qin Shi Huang’s final resting place itself is the Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian – a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. It was composed a century after the First Emperor’s death.
It reads like a work of extreme fantasy. Sima Qian reports that 700,000 workers were employed to burrow through three rivers, and fill the space with bronze. Then artisans apparently carved a map of the entire Qin kingdom on the floor, laced the ceiling with jewels to represent to sky, and created rivers and oceans with quicksilver – that is, liquid mercury (which was widely believed to have life-preserving powers in Qin times). A special machine was even apparently conceived to keep the mercury rivers flowing.
Qin Shi Huang had immense power and resources at his command, but enough to build a tomb such as this? The quantity of mercury ore that would have been required alone would have amounted to tens of thousands of tons. Since the First Emperor's tomb has never been opened, we can never know for certain the truth of Sima Qian’s words. But thanks to some ingenious modern techniques employed by archaeologists, we can hazard a pretty accurate guess.
Tomb Raiding, 21st Century-StyleWritings on Qin Shi Huang’s tomb contain ominous tales of intricate networks of booby traps, poised to maim and kill any who might try to enter. But there’s a more pressing reason for archaeologists being reluctant to crack open the First Emperor’s tomb and clamber inside – they simply don’t have the technology to preserve its delicate contents yet, so at least until they do it will remain sealed. Even then, some argue that its mysteries are best left alone, lest they end up irreparably damaged like many of the artefacts found in King Tut’s tomb.
Yet, there was another way in. A research team under Chinese archaeologist Duan Chingbo in 2005 used a combination of ground-penetrating radar, electrical resistance measurements and core samples – all gathered from outside – to build up a CGI picture of the mound’s interior. It showed a large pyramid shape carved inside, and within it a hermetically sealed space the size of a football pitch that can only be the location of the First Emperor’s tomb.
In a bid to corroborate Sima Qian’s story of the rivers of mercury, each of the 4,000 core samples taken from the mound were analysed for traces of mercury vapour, which would have presumably seeped through the packed earth above over the course of the last 20 centuries. Staggeringly, all of the samples came back highly positive, particularly those taken from the area of the burial chamber itself. All evidence would suggest that there really are rivers of quicksilver flowing around Qin Shi Huang’s lifeless body, presumably within a football pitch-sized map of his empire.
Chinese Whispers
Despite the apparent proof that the First Emperor’s tomb contains sights and treasures every bit as spectacular as rumoured, there’s perhaps one other, even more important reason why his burial mound should remain sealed forever.
You might wonder why, if so many hundreds of thousands of workers were involved with the building of Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum, there aren’t more stories echoing through history as to its interior and contents. The answer is quite shocking, and reflects the cruel brutality that was as much a part of Qin Shi Huang’s reign as was indulgent splendour. To preserve secrecy, the Emperor is said to have had each of the workers executed, in many cases by imprisoning them within the earthen mound. Perhaps it’s the memory of these fateful builders and artisans, more so than that of the wildly egotistical tyrant who quite literally sealed their fate, that deserve to be allowed to rest in peace?
First Emperor's tomb picture (top) by Bill Tyne; First Emperor's tomb picture (bottom) by Shomisu. All rights reserved.
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Comments
This is a really interesting article, Malcolm. But if Qin Shi Huang was striving to create a lasting legacy and achieve immortality, and if he thought his interests were protected by the terracotta warriors, why would he want to keep his achievements secret?
Good point. You certainly don't have a necropolis the size of a small city built for yourself in the hope that nobody will spot it... I think Qin Shi Huang was specifically concerned about preserving the secrecy of the interior of his tomb itself, and probably for good reason - it held vast riches, so grave robbers were always going to be a threat. Many people actually believe the tomb has already been plundered.
Plus, the man was intensely paranoid (as totalitarian dictators tend to be) not to mention hopped up on weird chemicals much of the time. Life was cheap in the kingdom of Qin - you can easily imagine him ordering mass executions to preserve the secrecy of his tomb on a simple whim.
Well he didn't do too badly on the whole with keeping his tomb a secret. After all, the Terracottas were only rediscovered by accident in 1974, which led the Chinese archaeologists to the mound where his tomb is. There are many burial mounds in and around Xian Province, finding the Terracottas was the start of the trail. His achievements on the whole (either good or bad) were anything but secret. The atrocities of burying scholars alive and the destruction of the writings of Confucius were well known.
And Malcolm, he did exactly what you said - he did order the deaths of anyone involved in the design or building of his tomb. I wager the tomb itself is undisturbed, it would have been difficult in the extreme for Wu Guang and Chen She's soldiers to dig through so much packed earth during their revolt shortly after Qin's death, but they did cause damage to the Terracottas and many other artifacts around the tomb itself. This much we do know as a fact. Anyone who knows of the legends of what is apparently inside would love to see it opened, myself included. But then common sense comes in and I think it's best left alone for now. Besides I would imagine it will take several lifetimes at least to excavate what is around the tomb in a professional manner. So I say save the best for last. Hopefully by then the contents of the tomb can be recovered with a much better chance of damage limitation. It's a shame I probably won't be around to see that. If that tomb is ever opened the Tombs of the Valley of the Kings would quite frankly pale in comparison.
Remember, this is no small boy-king like Tutankhamun we're talking about here. As a King Tut was insignificant to say the least (Ay, his vizier was the main man during Tut's short rule). Qin Shi Huang on the other hand was anything but. Tut is a tourist bringer. Qin is certainly among the most important people in ancient Chinese history.
That's an excellent point Matt. Judging by the excitement the opening of Tut's tomb provoked - and continues to provoke - relatively speaking, cracking open the final resting place of one of ancient China's most powerful rulers would probably spark hysteria and fascination unlike any witnessed in the history of archaeology. It must surely be stunning inside, if the Terracotta Warriors are anything to go by.
I too would love to see the tomb opened. But if it is, it's vital that it should be done with the utmost care and patience - Howard Carter was haphazard to say the least in his exploration of Tut's tomb; this is an infinitely bigger and harder undertaking. I find it reassuring that no firm moves have been made yet. It may not happen in my lifetime either, and that's dissappointing, but what's vital is that it's properly preserved for future generations.
The (very) long view has to be taken here - Qin Shi Huang's tomb has survived intact for 2,300 already, and it ought to be allowed to survive for just as long again. Hopefully new advances in technology will come along soon that will allow the job to be done right.
You're correct about that, Malcolm. The long approach is surely the winning formula here. Many people don't realise that there are still many Terracottas yet to be excavated, which will take a substantial amount of time to say the least, and will almost certainly need a few more aircraft hangars to cover :)
And as for the tomb itself, the stories of supposed booby traps (giant crossbows?) inside is another thing of interest...many believe they may still be operational due to the metallurgy employed by the Qin armourers. Some of the techniques they used weren't even discovered here until the twentieth century, which is nothing short of astounding. Some of the blades that have been excavated remain sharp, after all this time. Could that be possible? If the Qin used any wood on the traps then obviously not. But a possible guess I would make would be that bronze would have been used for the construction, not just for the traps to remain operational, but also for the sacred qualities bronze held for the ancient Chinese.
When I saw the Terracotta exhibition at the British Museum it made me want to go to China all the more...
It was great information but would ove to see a picture of the Mummy. Good info for homework though.
I think that the tomb should be opened and then we would know for certain if the workers were buried there or not and if they were they should recieve a proper buriel of their own an be released from the tyrant's tomb. His warriors were not buried there only there likeness so why should the builders remain there forever and entombed with a man that they would have hated with great passion.
Second in Egypt there are no tombs left unopened that anyone knows of and every other tomb world wide is opened so the world can learn what the art and the people were like so why not open this one as well to learn from this as well. Chinese scholars go to Egypt to open and learn from their burial sites what they can learn and they go to every other tomb and burial site that they can go to so why should theirs be left alone and undisturbed for all time.
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