The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang (Chinese: 秦始皇陵; pinyin: Qínshǐhuáng Líng) is a large tomb built for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China's Qin dynasty. It is located in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, in modern-day China. Construction of the tomb took 38 years, from 246 to 208 BC. The tomb is under a large hill shaped like a pyramid with the top cut off, which is about 76 meters tall (about 249 feet). The layout of the mausoleum is designed to look like Xianyang, the capital of the Qin dynasty, which had two parts: an inner city and an outer city. The inner city has a distance around it of 2.5 kilometers (about 1.6 miles), and the outer city has a distance around it of 6.3 kilometers (about 3.9 miles). The tomb is located in the southwest corner of the inner city and faces east. The main chamber, where the emperor's coffin and burial items are kept, is the most important part of the building complex.

The main tomb has not been fully explored yet. Scientists are currently studying other areas around the tomb, including the Terracotta Army, which is located to the east of the hill. The Terracotta Army was created to protect the mausoleum and has not been completely uncovered.

History

Work on the mausoleum began when Emperor Qin became emperor in 246 BCE, when he was 13 years old. However, large-scale construction started only after he conquered the six other major states and united China in 221 BCE. The mausoleum was completed in 208 BCE, about 39 years after work began. A geographer named Li Daoyuan, who wrote about the first emperor six centuries later, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was chosen as the burial site because of its good geological features: "famous for its jade mines, its northern side had gold, and its southern side had beautiful jade. The first emperor, wanting to take advantage of its good reputation, chose to be buried there."

A description of the mausoleum and its construction was written by Sima Qian in Records of the Grand Historian, a book written in the first century BCE. This book includes a biography of Qin Shi Huang:

— Sima Qian, Shiji, Chapter 6.

Some scholars think the claim that workers "dug through three layers of groundwater" is symbolic, not literal. It is also unclear what the "man-fish" in the text refers to (in modern Chinese, this means "mermaid"). Different people have interpreted the term as a whale, a walrus, or other sea animals.

Before the mausoleum was completed, a peasant rebellion started during the late Qin dynasty. A general named Zhang Han moved all 700,000 workers building the mausoleum to fight the rebellion, so construction stopped. Later, a man named Xiang Yu is said to have looted the tomb. It is also said that a shepherd accidentally burned the tomb. The story claims the shepherd used a torch to look for his lost sheep in a pit dug by Xiang Yu, causing a fire that damaged the tomb. No clear evidence of the tomb being destroyed has been found, though fire damage has been discovered in the pits holding the Terracotta Army. Some scholars believe the mausoleum was not seriously damaged.

Some people have questioned whether Sima Qian's account is true. Professor Duan Qingbo, who led an archaeological team studying the mausoleum for over ten years, believed Sima Qian's description was fictional and written to convince Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to rebuild the tomb. Duan said the project began after the emperor united the country and took about seven years to complete, from 219 to 213 BCE. Historical records mention that the chief builder was Li Si, who was the prime minister before and after China's unification.

In 1987, the mausoleum, including the Terracotta Army, was added to the list of World Heritage Sites.

Discovery of the Terracotta Army

In March 1974, Yang Zhifa, his five brothers, and Wang Puzhi were digging a well in Xiyang village, Lintong county, when they discovered the first pieces of ancient warriors and bronze arrowheads. At a depth of about two meters, they found hardened soil, red pottery, broken terracotta, bronze arrowheads, and terracotta bricks. Yang Zhifa placed the broken terracotta pieces in a field corner and collected the arrowheads to sell to a business. Other villagers used the terracotta bricks to make pillows. Fang Shumiao, a manager working on water projects, saw the items and advised the villagers to sell them to the local cultural center. Yang Zhifa received 10 yuan for two carts of what later proved to be terracotta warrior fragments. Zhao Kangmin, who worked at the cultural center, later bought all the items the villagers uncovered and repurchased the arrowheads sold earlier. Scientific studies and local excavations suggest there are many metal objects and a well-designed drainage system in the underground palace. Scholars disagree about how deep the underground palace is, with estimates ranging from 20 meters to 50 meters. Some experts believe the phrase "crossing three springs" is not accurate.

In May 1974, archaeologists from Shaanxi province visited the site to begin the first excavations of what would later be called Pit 1. In May 1976, Pit 2 was discovered through drilling, and in July, Pit 3 was found. Excavations covering 20,000 square meters uncovered about 7,000 terracotta warrior and horse statues, over 100 wooden battle chariots, and many weapons. Large buildings were built to protect the pits, with the first completed in 1979. By 2008, a larger necropolis with 600 pits was uncovered. Some pits were located several kilometers away from the tomb mound of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

Archaeological studies

The necropolis complex of Qin Shi Huang is a small representation of the Emperor's empire and palace, with the tomb mound at the center. Two walls, the inner and outer walls, surround the tomb mound. Pits containing figures and artifacts were found inside and outside these walls. Inside the inner wall, to the west, bronze chariots and horses were discovered. Also inside the inner wall were terracotta figures of courtiers and bureaucrats who served the Emperor. Outside the inner wall but inside the outer wall, pits with terracotta figures of entertainers and strongmen were found, along with a pit containing a stone suit of armor. To the north of the outer wall, an imperial park with bronze cranes, swans, and ducks, and groups of musicians, was discovered. Outside the outer walls were imperial stables where real horses were buried, with terracotta figures of grooms kneeling beside them. To the west were mass burial grounds for laborers who built the complex. The Terracotta Army is about 1.5 kilometers east of the tomb mound.

The tomb mound itself has not been fully explored yet. Scientists have used several methods to study the area. The underground palace is located at the center of the mound. Studies show a 4-meter-high perimeter wall, 460 meters long from north to south and 390 meters wide from east to west, made of bricks. This wall surrounds the underground palace. On top of this is a wall made of compacted earth, 30–40 meters tall. Sloping passageways lead to the four sides of the tomb. The west passage connects to a pit where bronze chariots and horses were found. The tomb chamber is 80 meters long from east to west, 50 meters long from north to south, and about 15 meters high. However, scientists disagree about how deep the palace is, with estimates ranging from 20 meters to 50 meters.

Studies show that the underground palace contains a lot of metal and has a good drainage system. An ancient text suggests the tomb may have reached groundwater, which is estimated to be 30 meters deep. In 2000, an underground dam and drainage system were discovered, and the tomb was not flooded by groundwater. High levels of mercury near the tomb mound support the idea that mercury was used to create waterways and seas in the tomb. However, some scientists believe mercury might volatilize quickly if the palace is excavated. A study in an archaeology magazine found mercury levels as high as 1,440 parts per billion in one area, with an average of about 205 ppb in other areas. Some experts think the mercury might come from local industrial pollution. A local record mentions that between 1978 and 1980, 1,193 workers from 21 factories were poisoned by exposure to mercury and other chemicals.

Recent studies of bronze weapons found traces of chromium on their surfaces. These traces likely came from nearby lacquer layers, not from a deliberate anti-corrosion treatment. Tests on hundreds of weapons showed chromium was linked to organic materials like sword grips and lance shafts, not to metal coatings. The preservation of bronze items is better explained by soil chemistry and the composition of the metal. Studies of Pit 1’s protective structures found bacteria and fungi that can damage terracotta surfaces. These findings help create rules to protect the site long-term.

In December 2012, scientists discovered the remains of a large "imperial palace" at the site. Based on its foundations, the palace was estimated to be 690 meters long and 250 meters wide, covering 170,000 square meters—nearly a quarter the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The palace had 18 courtyard houses and a main building overlooking them. Archaeologists have been studying the foundations since 2010, finding walls, gates, stone roads, pottery shards, and brickwork.

Opinions on possible excavation

Beginning in 1976, several scholars suggested exploring the underground palace, giving these main reasons:

• The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is located in an area where earthquakes happen, so important items buried underground need to be taken out to protect them;
• to develop tourism; and
• to stop thieves from stealing items from the tomb.

However, people who disagree with these excavations say China’s current technology is not ready to handle the large size of the underground palace. For example, with the Terracotta Army, archaeologists first struggled to keep the paint on the surface of the clay figures, causing the colors to fall off quickly when the figures were exposed to air. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) stated that studies and evaluations should be done first to create a protection plan for the underground palace. SACH also refused a proposal by archaeologists to dig another nearby tomb believed to belong to the Emperor’s grandson, out of concern that doing so might harm the main mausoleum itself.