Shaanxi Province, a treasure-trove of ancient
cultural artifacts, has installed a hi-tech burglar alarm system to
better protect its valuable relics.
Provincial officials started with the Pingling Mausoleum, the
tomb of the sixth emperor and empress of the Western Han Dynasty
(206 BC - AD 24), where a device called a Ground Wave Detection and
Alarm System was installed to monitor the tomb and surrounding
area, said Zhou Kuiying, director of the Relics Protection
Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Administration of Cultural
Heritage.
"The device is China's first alarm system to fight against
robberies of ancient tombs. It divides the tomb into 28 sections
and monitors them 24 hours of a day. Any changes in the ground wave
caused by illegal excavation will be detected, setting off an
alarm," the director told China Daily yesterday. "The system makes
it easy to notify local relic-protection units and guards that
someone is attempting to rob a tomb."
Home to 72 emperor tombs, Shaanxi's remoter areas are difficult
to patrol, making the security systems necessary.
Zhou said provincial authorities would gradually install the
system at all the ancient tombs in order to better protect the
relics and deter tomb-robbing.
Local authorities and police have been working to stop grave
robberies and are dealing sternly with the culprits.
Early this month, police arrested seven suspects who had
pillaged an ancient tomb in August in Hancheng in eastern
Shaanxi.
The tomb dated back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (the 11th
century - 771 BC), said Luo Xizhe, director of the Policy and Law
Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Administration of Cultural
Heritage.
The Regulations of Shaanxi Province Cultural Relics Protection,
which came into force on October 1 this year, provides improved
legal support for crack-downs on tomb-robbing.
(China Daily December 19, 2006)