The ancients regarded the choice of cemetery as a great event for the benefit of future generations, and Qin Shihuang, as a feudal emperor, paid more attention to it. The reason why he was buried in Mount Li was explained by Li Daoyuan in the Northern Wei Dynasty: "Qin Shihuang built a heavy burial in Mount Li, which was Lantian, with rich yin and beautiful jade. The first emperor was greedy for his good name, so he was buried. " Li Daoyuan's view has been affirmed by most scholars in academic circles. Of course, some scholars have raised objections. On the other hand, the negative opinion holds that the selection of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in Lishan Mountain depends on the ritual system at that time and is influenced by the traditional concept of "building a mausoleum on the mountain". (See No.5 of Qin Tombs and Cultural Relics Exploration, 1990. ) From the perspective of geomantic omen, the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is also an ideal geomantic omen treasure.
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the concept of building a mausoleum by mountains had already appeared. Later, people chose cemeteries and attached great importance to the geographical environment close to mountains and rivers. "If you build a grave, you must come to the mountains to go to the water." (See "The Secret Buried Sutra of Dahan's Original Mausoleum") Mountains and rivers were regarded as the best places of geomantic omen by the ancients. As for when this concept began, there is no way to verify it. It should be said that the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is a model of "building a mausoleum by mountains and rivers". It is obvious to all that the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor faces Mount Li in the south and Lishui in the north. However, on the east side of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, there is also a artificially transformed fish pond water. According to "Notes on Water Classics", "Water flows out of the northeast of Mount Li and flows northward. Later, Qin Shihuang was buried in the north of the mountain. When the water meandered, it turned from east to north, and the first emperor built a tomb to borrow soil. The land is deep and the water accumulates into a pond. This is the so-called fish pond ... The water in the pond flows through the north of the first emperor in the northwest. " It can be seen that the fish pond water originally came from the northeast of Lishan Mountain, and the water flowed from south to north. Later, when the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was built, an east-west dam was built in the southwest of the mausoleum. The dam is 1000 meters long, generally 40 meters wide, 70 meters at its widest point and 2 to 8 meters high. It is what people usually call Wuling site. It is this dam that turned the fish pond water originally from Li Dongbei into a northwest flow, bypassing the northeast of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum. In addition, in the east of the cemetery, there is a hot spring water. According to the Water Classic Note, "there is hot spring water in the southwest of fish pond water, which can cure diseases all over the world". "Three" says: "There are hot springs in the northwest of Mount Li." It can be seen that the hot springs of that year corresponded to the fish pond water in the northwest. It is not difficult to find that the geomantic features of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum are that the back mountain faces south, and the east, west and north are surrounded by water on three sides. Isn't "Surrounding the mountains with water" a treasure trove of geomantic omen specially selected by Qin Shihuang's mausoleum?
The concept of "surrounding mountains and water" in Qin Dynasty had a far-reaching influence on later generations. Mausoleums in the Western Han Dynasty, such as Gaozu Changling Mausoleum, Wendi Baling Mausoleum, Jingdi Yangling Mausoleum, Wudi Mausoleum, etc., were all chosen by imitating the geomantic thought of "mountains surrounded by water" in Qin Shihuang Mausoleum. Later tombs basically inherited this idea of building tombs. Flying geese in the mausoleum
What are the precious funerary objects in Qin Gong? This has caused many magical legends and stories for thousands of years. Flying geese in the underground palace is a very charming legend.
"Three Auxiliary Stories" records that Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, took 300,000 people to rob the Qin Mausoleum after entering the customs. During their excavation, a golden goose suddenly flew out of the tomb, and this magical flying goose kept flying south. Hundreds of years later, during the Three Kingdoms period (the first year of Baoding), there was an official named Zhang Shan who was a satrap in southern Japan. One day, someone gave him a golden goose, and he immediately judged from the words on the golden goose that it belonged to the first imperial tomb. Is there any historical basis for this magical legend? Some scholars in modern times pointed out: "Although this is a legendary story, it shows that the cultural relics of the Qin Mausoleum have been lost abroad, as far away as Yunnan in the south. As for the golden goose, it is not only beautiful, but also can fly, which is also possible. Because in the Spring and Autumn Period, the famous craftsman Lu Ban was able to create a wooden goose, flying in the sky and flying directly to the city of Song State. Hundreds of years later, it is credible that craftsmen in Qin can make flying golden geese. " (Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, Wu Bolun and Zhang Zhu, Shanghai People's Publishing House,1March 990).
The problem of distinguishing forgeries in The Legend of Jin Yan should stop here. However, further, is there any trace of this legendary story fabricated by ancient literati in historical documents? According to the relevant documents of the Han Dynasty, there is a saying in Sima Qian's and Ban Gu's accounts that "gold is a flying goose". Obviously, two historians recorded "flying geese" made of gold in their tombs, and ancient scholars probably romanticized and "created" the story of the legend of flying geese.
About site selection
During the Warring States period, some monarchs' cemeteries were often designed and built with graphics. The construction of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum should also be planned, and the cemetery should be selected first before drawing. We know that Qin Shihuang was in power in Xianyang, the capital. Why did the cemetery choose Lishan Mountain, which is far away from Xianyang?
Li Daoyuan, the author of Notes on Water Mirrors in the Northern Wei Dynasty, first expounded this issue by consulting relevant ancient books. He said: "Qin Shihuang made great efforts to be reburied, and built a burial place on Rongrong Mountain, a Lantian, whose yin is rich in gold and its yang is rich in beautiful jade. At first, the emperor was greedy for his good name, so he was buried (Notes on Water Classics, Wei Shui). This theory has been circulated in academic circles for more than 1000 years and is considered as the earliest and most authoritative view. On the surface, Zhu's explanation seems reasonable, but it is still a question whether Qin Shihuang, as a child of 13 years old, can know the dollars and jewels of Lantian. Even if I know, I'm afraid the location of the mausoleum will not be decided according to the personal will of a king in name only. Therefore, it seems that this question should be answered from the aspects of the ritual system at that time and the design intention of the mausoleum.
First of all, the location of the mausoleum has something to do with the location of the tombs of previous generations of kings in Qin State. The tombs of Qin Shihuang's ancestors and Empress Dowager were buried in Zhiyang, west of Linzhang County, and the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang was chosen in Lishan, east of Zhiyang, which was decided by the ritual system at that time, because the tombs of ancient emperors were often arranged according to their ages. Records in books such as The Book of Rites and Er Ya. "South, north and west are the best". "The southwest corner is called this Olympics, which is also respected." The book Lun Heng in the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded it more clearly: "The husband is in the west, the land of the elderly, and the position of the venerable is also. The honorable person is in the west, the humble person is in the east ... the husband's grave is hidden by the dead; Tian, who eats what; The house, the place where people live, the three are in people, and it is appropriate to wait. " Even the Xuan Empress of Zhiyang hopes that her tomb can be buried between her husband and son, that is, "seeing my husband in the west and my son in the east", which seems to be based on the principle that the old man lives in the west and the younger generation lives in the east. The ancestors of Qin Shihuang have confirmed that King Zhao Xiang, King Zhuang Xiang and Queen Xuan were buried in Zhiyang. Because the graves of ancestors were buried in the west of Linzhang County, Qin Shihuang, as a junior, could only be buried in the east of Zhiyang. It is obviously against traditional etiquette to locate the mausoleum in the west of Zhiyang. It can be seen that the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was chosen at the foot of Mount Li, which fully conforms to the etiquette of the younger generation living in the East.
Secondly, the choice of the location of the mausoleum was also related to the concept of "building a mausoleum by the mountain" at that time. From about the Spring and Autumn Period, the vassals of various vassal states began to build tombs by mountains one after another. Many monarchs' tombs face the mountains and the water, or face the plains with wide horizons, and even some monarchs' tombs are simply built on the top of the mountain to show their lofty status and majesty of imperial power. The Qin tombs in the Spring and Autumn Period were also influenced by this concept, some were buried in Xishan and some were buried near Lingshan. During the Warring States period, Qin Mausoleum still inherited the mode of "building a mausoleum by the mountain", and the tomb of Qin Shihuang was built on the side of Lishan Mountain, which completely conformed to the traditional concept of "building a mausoleum by the mountain". It is backed by Mount Li and faces the Weihe River. This area has a beautiful natural environment. The whole Lishan Mountain is only from Lintong County to Ma 'e section, where the sea level rises, and the mountains are undulating and overlapping. Looking from the north bank of Weihe River, this mountain range is symmetrical from left to right, like a huge screen standing behind the first imperial mausoleum, standing at the top of the mausoleum and looking south. This mountain range is arc-shaped, and the mausoleum is surrounded by the peaks of Mount Li, which is integrated with the whole Mount Li.
secret
In short, the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor not only conforms to the etiquette system of the younger generation living in the East, but also embodies the traditional concept of "building a mausoleum by mountains".
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is located 5 kilometers east of Lintong County, about 37 kilometers away from Xi 'an, with Lishan Mountain in the south and Weishui in the north. Why did you choose the seat here? Some people think that this is inseparable from the ancient superstition of geomantic omen. Geologists can see from the pictures taken by satellite that Jiao Shan to Huashan is like a dragon, and the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is in the longan. As we all know, there has been a saying that "make the finishing point" since ancient times. It is unclear whether the ancients had the ability to "foresee" or whether today's people are too attached to meetings.
The mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is approximately square, with a flat top and a slightly stepped waist. It is 76 meters high, 345 meters long from east to west and 350 meters wide from north to south, covering an area of 120750 square meters.
According to preliminary investigation, the cemetery is divided into two parts: the inner city and the outer city. The inner city is square with a circumference of about 3000 meters. There are two doors on the north wall, and 1 doors on the east, west and south walls respectively. The outer city is rectangular, with a circumference of more than 6200 meters, and each corner has a house address. There are horse burial pits, rare birds and animals pits and pottery servant pits between the inner and outer cities; There are more than 400 stables, martyrdom pits, prison pits and tombs of grave repairers outside the mausoleum, covering an area of 56.25 square kilometers. The center of the underground palace of the mausoleum is the place where Qin Shihuang's coffin is placed.
1980, large bronze chariots and horses were unearthed on the west side of the cemetery. Gao Che and Che An, the painted bronze chariots and horses, are the largest, most gorgeous, most lifelike and complete ancient bronze chariots and horses discovered in China so far, and are known as the "crown of bronze".
In addition to the tomb pit, the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor also found a website of a stone processing factory. Architectural relics include door anvil, column foundation, tile, ridge, tile, stone waterway, ceramic waterway and so on.
Design blueprint of Qin Shihuang mausoleum
According to historical records, "the water phase ordered the world's criminal slaves to build 720,000 tombs and chisel the articles of association". The construction of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was by no means arbitrary, and it must be built in a planned way according to the design drawings. Throughout the history of the construction of emperors' tombs, it is not difficult to imagine the connection. The specific design blueprint is still under further study.
Presided over the builder of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum
It is speculated that Shaofu is responsible for the construction and the National Mausoleum should be managed by it. Of course, the highest management level is true, but true nature is busy, and it is handled by Shaofu. However, there is still a problem here, that is, there is an office in Shaofu named after the reunification of Qin Dynasty. It is impossible to verify whether this office existed before reunification, but whether it exists or not, there must be an institution specializing in civil engineering of the imperial court. As for the name of this institution, further research is needed.
The depth of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum
The Historical Records of the First Qin Emperor says that it "wears three springs". The description of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum in Old Hanshu includes "extremely deep" and "extremely deep". Some people think that the underground palace of Qin Mausoleum is neither shallow nor deep, and the "three springs" mentioned in the book are nothing more than what people often say "under the nine springs". According to Lu Chunqiu, "Shallow is the rise of the fox, deep is the spring", that is, the deepest is the spring. In ancient times, due to technical limitations, it was not easy to construct under springs. Moreover, if the underground palace is located below the groundwater level, long-term infiltration of groundwater will definitely cause the underground palace to be "soaked". Qin Shihuang and the designers of his mausoleum could not have failed to take this into account. Of course, these are just speculations, and the specific situation is unknown.
Underground tomb structure of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum
Judging from the remains excavated from the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, it seems that Qin Shihuang wanted to bring his palaces, mountains and other things to the underground world, and it was difficult to achieve this without building a huge mausoleum. According to "Historical Records of the First Qin Emperor", "When the great event is finished, it has been hidden, closed in envy, and the craftsmen are hidden outside the door, and they cannot return." Here, when it comes to appreciating the middle door and the outer door, there must be an inner door. This seems to indicate that there is a passage leading to the main tomb in the underground palace, and craftsmen can only close it outside the Zhongxian Gate. Neixian Gate is the place where Qin Shihuang's coffin and camphor are placed. As for the length of the pyramid-shaped mound, it is conceivable that if there is a 300-foot-long cave, it is no wonder that some people think that the cave in the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is just south of the artificial paddock, just below the main peak of Mount Li-Wangfeng.
According to archaeological exploration and judging the position of Terracotta Warriors in the tomb, experts believe that the direction of the tomb is to sit west to east. This is a strange layout. As we all know, in ancient China, the position facing south was respected, and the tombs of emperors in past dynasties basically sat in the pattern facing south. Why did Qin Shihuang, who unified the world, sit west to east?
Qin lies in the west. In order to express his determination to conquer the six eastern countries, Zhao Zhengchu, king of Qin, built a Dongling. After the annexation of the six countries, the first emperor was determined not to change the original intention of designing and building the mausoleum in order to keep an eye on the six eastern countries after his death, so the mausoleum we saw could only face east and west.
The mausoleum of Qin Shihuang faces east from west, which is related to the etiquette and customs between Qin and Han dynasties. According to relevant documents, at that time, from emperors, governors to generals, and even ordinary scholar-bureaucrat families, all the masters sat in the west and sat in the east. There is only one Qin Shihuang in the world. In order to maintain their "respect", it is natural to sit on the west and sit on the east.
Of course, some people think that before his death, Qin Shihuang sent Xu Fudong across the Yellow Sea to find Penglai and Yingzhou Wonderland, and made many personal expeditions, with Jieshi in the east and Huiji in the south. He lingered in Langya and Zhifu, all of which showed his urgent yearning for Wonderland. Unfortunately, there was no news when Xu Fu went, and Qin Shihuang's wish to visit fairyland finally fell through. If you don't get the elixir of life before you die, you must face the east after you die, so that you can extradite the immortal and reach the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps this is the greatest wish of Qin Shihuang in his later years. Based on this, the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang can only sit west to east.
In fact, it's not just the orientation of the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang that puzzles people. According to the investigation, 9 17 Qin tombs have been excavated in Shaanxi, mostly in the east-west direction. The 32 tombs of Qin Gongling also face east. This feature of Qin people's burial style was more obvious in the early days. What caused the Qin people to adopt this eastern burial method? Scholars who insist that Qin people originated in the East believe that because the East was the place where Qin ancestors used to work and live, they have special feelings for the East. But things are separated, and the road is long, during which there are many strong enemies. The hope of "returning to the roots" is very slim, so they adopt the burial style facing east to show that they will not forget their roots. On the contrary, scholars who insist that Qin people originated from the west believe that Qin people adopt the burial custom of "facing the west" to show that they are from the west of China. However, if the burial ceremony means that Qin people are from the west, does the popular custom of burying their heads in the north mean that they are from the north? Researchers of modern cultural chemistry and folklore put forward a new viewpoint, that is, the popular custom of burying one's head in the west of Qin people, like their popular "limb-bending burial", is related to the ancient culture of Gansu or some primitive religious belief. For example, the popular explanation of the first funeral in the west, "White Horse Tibetans", is that when the sun goes down, people follow the sun. Perhaps, the Qin people also have their own unique explanations for their own burial style. Everything is unknown.
Qin Shihuang was buried with clay figurines and horses.
Some people think that the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was designed in essence according to the ancient etiquette requirements of "death is like life". Because after Qin Shihuang ascended the throne, most of his energy and time were spent on the war to unify the whole country. At that time, he led thousands of troops to fight in the north, thus annexing six countries and unifying the world. In order to show his achievements before his death, it seems inevitable to be buried with him in the form of an army.
Most scholars believe that the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Dynasty are part of the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, reflecting the military situation of Qin Shihuang before his death, but they have different views on specific issues.
One view is that the large-scale group sculptures of Qin Jun unearthed in the pit of Qin figurines are the symbol of Qin Shihuang's creation and strengthening of centralization; A large number of terracotta warriors and horses in the pit are the image records of the powerful military forces under the rule of Qin Shihuang. In a sense, it can also be said to be the symbol of Qin Shihuang's eastern patrol escort.
One view is that the pit of Qin terracotta warriors and horses symbolizes the troops stationed outside the capital, which can be called the Suwei Army. Take the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Array No.1 with chariots and infantry alternating as the right army; The No.2 Terracotta Warriors pit, which is dominated by chariots and cavalry, is Zuo Jun; The unfinished abandoned pit should be No.4 pit, which is the proposed Zhong Jun; No.3 Terracotta Warriors Pit is the right, left and middle armed forces commanded by the shogunate. The pit itself symbolizes the barrier of the garrison. Defending the capital by the three armed forces is the embodiment of Qin Shihuang's desire to strengthen centralization and safeguard national unity.
One view is that there is no pit 4, and the terracotta army array is composed of regular soldiers, strange soldiers and the headquarters, thus denying the theory of the three armies.
One view is that the terracotta warriors and horses array of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum is an unfinished project, all of which must have 50,000 pits. This huge army array is equipped with troops in front, back, left, right and middle, which is actually the most basic array method practiced in the Qin Dynasty. One of the characteristics of square formation is "thin in the middle and thick in the square". China's army, Serenade, received more soldiers from four peripheral teams. The military array of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses is configured according to the square matrix method of "thin with medium and thick with square".
One view is that the three pits of terracotta warriors and horses are not symbols of the left, middle and right armed forces, but reflect the three components of the Central Army in the Qin Dynasty. The third pit is by no means what people usually call the headquarters, but should be the palace guard Lang Wei who symbolizes the command of the doctor. Pit No.1 is a reflection of the Miyagi Guards under the jurisdiction of Wei Wei, or the Confederate Army. The second pit reflects the capital garrison commanded by the lieutenant, which can be called the North Army.
As for the No.3 pit, some people think that it belongs to the clan of soldiers and is used for military sacrifices. It is the place where the master and master who are the objects of ancestor worship in the army and the two masters who have been placed are located.
For the No.2 pit, it was suggested that it is a four-beast array, that is, the curved array is Zhu Bird array, the mixed array of chariots, infantry and cavalry is Xuanwu array, the array composed of cavalry chariots is Qinglong array, and the chariot array is White Tiger array.
Some scholars believe that the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are the "positive array" described in Wei Manzi.
Some scholars believe that the terracotta warriors and horses are a group of figurines buried for Qin Shihuang.