Qianling Mausoleum

A Rare Mausoleum with Emperor and Empress Buried Together

The Tang Dynasty (618-907) witnessed the second climax in the construction of mausoleums in China, following Qin and Han dynasties (221BC-220AD). The Tang imperial mausoleums are mostly built at the foot of mountains. Take Qianling, where Tang Emperor Gaozong was buried together with his wife Wu Zetian, for example.

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.

Qianling, the tomb of Emperor Gaozong and his empress Wuzetian, is located on the peak of Liangshan, some 80 kilometers away from Xian. The great mausoleum was first built in 684 and is one of the best preserved tombs among the Tang Dynasty's 18 mausoleums.

Qian Mausoleum was originally enclosed by two walls. The inner wall stretches 1,45 kilometers from west to north, 1,58 kilometers from south to north, 24 meters thick. There are four gates, one in each side.

Stone sculptures scatter around everywhere in the mausoleum sites. Exquisite and elegant, these stone carvings upright on top of the mountain for over 1,200 years. The first stone sculpture encounters visitor is a pair of ornamental pillars (called Huabiao in Chinese, which can commonly be seen in front of palace complex and tombs). The tall and upright pillars are charismatic and their shafts, plinths and crown were all decorated with line carvings.

Along the sacred path, visitor will then find pairs of winged horses and rose finches. Ancient Chinese supreme rulers wanted their underground life would be prosperous so they often had propitious creatures, birds, beasts placed in front of their mausoleum to guard them. The winged horses, wings decorated with slender, delicate lines, are in a flying gallop. The rose finches, in high relief, were beautifully shaped and sturdily carved. It is said that because rose finches were a gift from Afghanistan for the funeral and could serve as guards, a pair of them were erected in front of the tomb.

There are also stone steles. The east one, was originally erected blank following Empress Wuzetian's will which read, my achievements or mistaking should be evaluated by the later generations, so left my stele blank. 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 stele into a charactered one. In the west of the "blank" stele stands the Telling the Emperor's Deeds Stele, 6.3 meters high and 1.9 meters wide. The carvings on the stele give high honor of Emperor Gaozong for his minitary and administrative achievements.

The Qianling Mausoleum, with a circumference of 40 km, is equivalent to Chang'an in magnificence and scale. The stone carvings are splendid. Arranged on both sides of the path leading to the tombs are stone carvings, such as stone pillars, winged horses, ostriches, stone horses and persons leading horses, as well as stone figures. In addition, in the Qianling Mausoleum, between the stone figures and the third watchtower, there are a characterless tablet and a recorded tablet narrating the history of a sage; there are also a total of 61 statues of guests of the king. The east, west and north gates in the inner city are like the south gate, with a pair of stone lions and a pair of earthen watchtowers.

The Qianling Mausoleum is the only one of the 18 Tang imperial mausoleums that hasn't been stolen and also a rare example of emperor and empress being buried together. Since the1960s, more than 4,300 precious cultural relics have been unearthed from five newly discovered satellite tombs. The 10,000-odd beautiful murals excavated in the mausoleum are really a rare underground art gallery.

It can be seen that this mausoleum system is identical with the planning idea of the city of Chang'an. The entire mausoleum area is equivalent to the walled city; the subordinated tombs are in the suburbs' the area stretching northward from the second door is equivalent to the imperial city; the stone figures and stone lions symbolize the guards of honor posted when the emperor goes out. The design of the mausoleum, like the design of the capital city, is permeated with strict ritual system logic, both designed to give prominence to the dignity of imperial power.

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.

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.    

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. 

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.

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. 

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.  

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 Zetain 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. 

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).