Qianling Mausoleum

players at their game'', detail on the west wall of a tomb pathway of Li Xián's tomb s in the tombs of her son Li Xián (Crown Prince Zhanghuai, 653–84), grandson Li Chongrun (Prince of Shao, posthumously honored Crown Prince Yide, 682–701), and granddaughter Li Xianhui (Lady Yongtai, posthumously honored as Princess Yongtai, 684–701) in the mausoleum that are inscribed with the date of burial as 706 AD, allowing historians to accurately date the structures and artwork of the tombs. Both the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang record that, in 706, Wu Zetian's son Emperor Zhongzong ( 684, 705–10, Li Chongrun's and Li Xianhui's father and Li Xián's brother) exonerated the victims of Wu Zetian's political purges and provided them with honorable burials, including the princess and two princes. Besides the attendant tombs of the royal family members, two others that have been excavated belong to Chancellor Xue Yuanchao (622–83) and General of the Left Guard Li Jinxing. In March 1995, there was an organized petition to the Chinese government about efforts to excavate Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian's tomb. In 2012, the Shaanxi Administration of Cultural Heritage announced that no excavation could occur at the mausoleum site for at least 50 years to protect the tombs from damage and theft of artifacts. ==Location==

The mausoleum is located on Mount Liang, north of the Wei River, and above sea level. The grounds of the mausoleum are flanked by valley to the east and canyon to the west. The complex was originally enclosed by two walls, the remains of which have been discovered today, including what was four gatehouses of the inner wall. The remains of some of these houses have since been discovered. The building foundation of the timber offering hall situated at the south gate of the mausoleum's inner wall has also been discovered. ==Spirit way==

ceramic horse figurine from the tomb of Li Chongrun, now on display in the Shaanxi History Museum Leading into the mausoleum is a spirit way, which is flanked on both sides with stone statues like the later tombs of the Song dynasty and Ming dynasty tombs. The Qianling statues include horses, winged horses, horses with grooms, lions, ostriches, officials, and foreign envoys. The khan of the Western Turks presented an ostrich to the Tang court in 620 and the Tushara Kingdom sent another in 650; in carved reliefs of Qianling dated 683, traditional Chinese phoenixes are modelled on the body of ostriches. Historian Tonia Eckfeld states that the artistic emphasis on the exotic foreign tribute of the ostrich at the mausoleum was "a sign of the greatness of China and the Chinese emperor, not of the foreigners who sent them, or of the places from which they came". These statues, now headless, represent the foreign diplomats who were present at Emperor Gaozong's funeral. Besides the statues, there are also flanking sets of octagonal stone pillars meant to ward off evil spirits. A tiered stele dedicated to Emperor Gaozong is also located along the path, with a written inscription commemorating his achievements; this is flanked by Wu Zetian's stele which has no written inscriptions. An additional stele by the main tumulus was erected by the Qianlong Emperor ( 1735–96) during the mid-Qing dynasty. ==Tombs==

The tomb chambers of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu are located deep within Mount Liang, a trend that was set by Emperor Taizong ( 626–49) with his burial at Mount Jiuzong. Of the 18 emperors of the Tang dynasty, 14 of these had natural mountains serving as the earthen mounds for their tombs. Xinian Fu wrote that children of emperors were allowed tombs in the shape of truncated pyramids, but high-ranking officials and lesser tomb constructors could only have conical mounds. There are six vertical shafts for the ramps of each of these tombs which allowed goods to be lowered into the side niches of the ramps. The stylistic stone door of Lou Rui's tomb of 570 closely resembles that of Tang stone doors, such as the one in Li Xian's tomb. In fact, in Li Chongrun's tomb alone, there were found over a thousand items of gold, copper, iron, ceramic figurines, three-glaze colored figurines, and three-glaze pottery wares. Altogether, the tombs of Li Xian, Li Chongrun, and Li Xianhui had over 4,300 tomb articles when they were unearthed by archaeologists. Her tomb was discovered in 1960, and excavated from 1964. It had been robbed in the past, likely soon after the burial, and items in precious materials taken, but the thieves had not bothered with the over 800 pottery tomb figures, and the extensive frescos were untouched. The robbers had left in a hurry, leaving silver items scattered around, and the corpse of one of their number. The tomb had a flattened pyramid rising 12 metres above ground, and a long sloping entrance tunnel lined with frescos, leading to an antechamber and the tomb chamber itself, 12 metres below ground level with a high domed roof. ==Murals==

's tomb. The actual murals in Li Xianhui's tomb have been replaced by replicas as the originals are now kept in the Shaanxi History Museum to better preserve them. The tombs excavated for Li Xian, Li Chongrun, and Li Xianhui are all decorated with mural paintings and feature multiple shaft entrances and arched chambers. Historian Mary H. Fong states that the tomb murals in the subterranean halls of Li Xián's, Li Chongrun's, and Li Xianhui's tombs are representative of anonymous but professional tomb decorators rather than renowned court painters of handscrolls. Fong also asserts that the painting skill of portraying "animation through spirit consonance" or qiyun shendong—an art critique associated with renowned Tang dynasty painters like Yan Liben, Zhou Fang, and Chen Hong—was achieved by the anonymous Tang dynasty tomb painters. Fong writes: Another important feature in the murals of the tomb was the representation of architecture. Although there are numerous examples of existing Tang stone and brick pagoda towers for architectural historians to examine, there are only six remaining wooden halls that have survived from the 8th and 9th centuries. Only the rammed earth foundations of the great palaces of the Tang capital at Chang'an have survived. However, some of the mural scenes of timber architecture in Li Chongrun's tomb at Qianling have been suggested by historians as representative of the Eastern Palace, residence of the crown prince during the Tang dynasty. The underground hall of the descending ramp approaching Li Chongrun's tomb chambers, as well as the gated entrance to the front chamber, feature murals of multiple-bodied que gate towers similar to those whose foundations were surveyed at Chang'an. File:Li Xian's tomb, palace ladies.jpg|"A group of palace ladies in the gardens while a hoopoe flies by. Mural, tomb of Emperor Gaozong's 6th son, Li Xian, Qianling, Shaanxi, 706." File:Prince Yide's tomb, towers.jpg|"Early 8th century murals in Prince Yide's tomb give an idea of the magnificence of Chang'an's city walls with their towering gate and corner towers." (The tower depicted in this mural section is a que tower.) File:Prince Zhanghuai's tomb, eunuchs.JPG|"A group of eunuchs. Mural from the tomb of the prince Zhanghuai, 706, Qianling, Shaanxi." ==See also==