Tang Xuanzong Baoying died of illness in April of the first year of Chang 'an, and was buried in Jinsu Mountain, 20 miles north of Fengxian County, Tongzhou, known as Tailing in history. Tailing site was personally selected by Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong. Jinsushan is named after "If there is gravel, there seems to be gold". It consists of three winding peaks, with Gong Xuan in Tailing above the main peak, Jianshan.
After thousands of years of wind and rain erosion and man-made destruction, the buildings in the cemetery have disappeared. Now you can see the inscriptions in Xuanzong Temple and the stone carvings in the cemetery. Xuanzong's inscriptions began in the sixth year of Kaibao, and the main inscriptions in previous dynasties were omitted.
The content of the stone carvings in Tailing follows the custom of Ganling, where Tang Gaozong Li Zhi and Wu Zetian were buried together. Outside the four gates of the inner city of the mausoleum, there are exquisite large stone carvings, and there are 57 existing ones. Including stone pillars, Tianma, ostriches, stone chariots and horses, stone statues, stone lions and so on.
There is a stone pillar, which is located about 0/00 meter north of Rutek site in the cemetery. Standing at the head of Shinto stone carving, the top is lotus peach-shaped, the middle is eight mausoleum columns, and the upper line is the lotus cover base. The shape is basically the same as that of Qiaoling Stone Column.
A pair of Tianma, both made of large-scale high-quality bluestone, have their hooves on the ground and their tail tips upturned. Two heavenly horses face each other, a man and a woman. The east is the male Tianma, and the west is the female Tianma. The head and chest of the female Tianma are not as high as those of the male Tianma, but they are plump and symmetrical.
A pair of ostriches, both in high relief, are1.15m in height, with plump feathers attached to their wings. The two reliefs were carved on a stone screen wind with a height of1.38m, a width of1.79m and a thickness of 0.42. It's just that the upper part of the ostrich stone screen on the west side was damaged by artificial knocking. Ostrich originated in Africa and was introduced to China in the early Tang Dynasty, which is also the material evidence of friendly exchanges between Chinese and African people more than 1000 years ago.
There are five pairs of stone war horses and horse trainers. Stone horse with head held high, saddle and bridle ready. The horse's hooves are closely connected with the stone pedestal below, carved from a whole stone, but the trainer has no head, and the residual height is about 1.6 meters, holding the reins, which is very natural and unrestrained.
Nineteen stone statues are arranged on both sides according to Wen Zuo You Wu. There are ten stone statues on each pillar. The civilian holds the water board, and the military commander holds the sword. Civil servants stand on the east side of the Imperial Road, and there are ten existing stone statues. The stone statue was crowned by ignaz kogler, wearing a robe with wide sleeves and countless jewels hanging on his belt. On the west side of the Imperial Road stood nine military commanders, with stone statues wearing high crowns and long sleeves. Han Jiang has a square face and big ears, and Hu Jiang has deep eyes and high nose.
Finally, a pair of stone lions crouched on both sides of the Shenmen Gate in the inner city. This pair of stone lions is carved from a solid blue stone, which is distinct and lifelike. From these stone carvings, we can also see a corner of the glorious Tang Dynasty.