Almost every mortal being has the wish to
live forever, even if not bodily. The ancient emperors tried to fulfill that wish by
building luxurious mausoleums in a special way.
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Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China, was buried at the foot of Li
Hill near Xi'an City in Shanxi Province. His mausoleum is shaped much like the Great
Pyramids in Egypt, but the top is a flat. It is 515 meters long from south to north, 488
meters long from east to west. Encircled by an inner wall of 2 kilometers and an outer
wall of 6 kilometers long, it is divided into an Inner Garden and an Outer Garden. Now,
the mausoleum stands 76 meters tall from its original 115 meters after more than two
thousand years of rain and wind.
The building of the tomb started in 246 B.C. and lasted 39 years until 208 B.C.. It is
the first imperial mausoleum of dimensions in Chinese history.
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According to ancient history books, the room the emperor's body laid in was very deep
underground. It was spacious, luxurious and countless treasures were put in it. Around the
palace, liquid copper was affused. Mercury imitated the rivers and seas in nature.
Forever-lighting candles were used to make the room bright. Darts and arrows with deadly
poison were installed everywhere so they could shoot automatically. If anyone dared to
intrude, the books said, there was no way for him to escape. The Emperor wanted to
"live forever" inside his mausoleum.
However, what remains in the mausoleum now is still a secret. |
