Xixia Mausoleum, also known as Xixia Imperial Mausoleum and Xixia Imperial Mausoleum, is the imperial mausoleum and royal mausoleum of Xixia. The tomb is located in the west of Yinchuan City, Ningxia, bordering Helan Mountain in the west and Yinchuan Plain in the east, with an altitude of 1 130m to 1200m. It is one of the largest royal cemeteries in China, with the most complete ground site and the largest existing Xixia cultural site.
The scenic spot covers an area of more than 58 square kilometers and the core scenic spot is 20.9 square kilometers. There are 9 Mausoleums and more than 200 mausoleums with princes and princes buried, which are large in scale and neatly arranged. Each mausoleum is an independent building group, with a vertical rectangle, facing south, and the scale is equivalent to that of the Ming Tombs. It absorbed the advantages of the imperial tombs in Tang and Song Dynasties since Qin and Han Dynasties, and was influenced by Buddhist architecture, forming a unique form of China cemetery architecture, so it was called the Oriental Pyramid.
Xixia Mausoleum is the mausoleum of the emperor of Xixia Dynasty. Although it has been destroyed and its shape has been destroyed, the skeleton is still there. Its magnificent scale, rigorous layout and remaining tombs can still show the unique flavor and style of Xixia Dynasty. No wonder Chen Yunhe said in his poem that "only the loneliness and sadness in the mausoleum tells how the ancient court was crushed by the war."
Yellow terraces, as high as hills, spread out one after another under Helan Mountain, shining in the sun and imposing. The scale of Xixia Mausoleum is similar to that of Ming Tombs in Beijing. The ground buildings in the mausoleum are composed of turret, gatehouse, outer city, inner city, memorial hall, tower-shaped mausoleum and other building units. The overall layout of the plane is a vertical rectangle, with the north-south midline as the axis, arranged according to the traditional format of China. Xixia Mausoleum constitutes a unique form of Xixia architecture in China cemetery.
Emperors and nobles of past dynasties hoped that the mausoleum would be magnificent and not be stolen. The tall surrounding soil has become an important barrier to prevent illegal excavation. The tombs of the Ming and Qing emperors were all built under the towering surrounding soil with the emperor's coffin and sacrifices. The platform of Xixia Mausoleum is not directly above the tomb, but at the north of the tomb 10 meter, which can't seal the soil at all.
In addition, the entrance to the Western Xia Mausoleum is set inside the Immortal Hall, which is unique among the imperial tombs. Hiding the direction of the mausoleum is one of the most secret tasks in the construction of the emperor's mausoleum. The entrance to the tomb of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty is located on the edge of Baocheng, which is not easy to detect. When excavating in the 1950s, archaeologists had to think hard and had a lot of trouble. The emperors of Xixia didn't seem to worry about this. In addition to the entrance of the pyramid-shaped mound directly set in the memorial hall, there is a fish ridge between the memorial hall and the mausoleum platform of Xixia mausoleum, which protrudes from the ground and the pyramid-shaped mound is buried under the soil.
Xixia Mausoleum was built in 1 1 from the beginning of the century to the beginning of the 3rd century. It is one of the largest royal cemeteries in China, the largest Xixia cultural site in China, the most important historical heritage and the most mysterious cultural landscape in Ningxia. Influenced by Buddhist architecture, Xixia Mausoleum organically combines Han culture, Buddhist culture and Tangut culture, forming a unique architectural form of cemetery in China. Among the national 1 19 national key scenic spots, Xixia Mausoleum is the only scenic spot composed of a single emperor's mausoleum. It inherited the history of Xianbei Tuoba nationality from Pingcheng in the Northern Wei Dynasty to Tangut Xixia.
Since 1970s, the archaeological investigation and excavation of Xixia Mausoleum have been carried out intermittently (see above). With the development of cultural undertakings and tourism economy, the governments of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Yinchuan City attach great importance to the protection and development of Xixia Mausoleum. According to National Cultural Heritage Administration's requirements for formulating the overall protection plan of national key cultural relics protection units, they formulated the General Protection Plan of Xixia Mausoleum, which was approved by National Cultural Heritage Administration in July 2000 and formed the General Protection Plan of Xixia Mausoleum. Make the work of cultural relics protection, archaeological excavation and tourism development and utilization of Xixia Mausoleum more comprehensive, systematic and scientific.