According to sources from a forum held in Xi'an, the State
Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shaanxi Provincial
Cultural Relics Bureau and Qianling Mausoleum Museum had started to
prepare for the excavation of the Qianling Mausoleum and this
resulted in controversy among archaeologists.?
The forum was held to commemorate the 1,300th anniversary of the
internment of Wu Zetian, the only Empress of China in the Tang
Dynasty (618 - 907), at the Qianling Mausoleum.
The mausoleum was carved out of a rock on Liangshan Mountain
which is six kilometers north of Qianxian County of Shaanxi Province. According to records, the
mausoleum is the last resting place of Empress Wu Zetian and her
husband Li Zhi, the Emperor Gaozong.
It's said Emperor Gaozong's final words were that his favorite
paintings and calligraphy works should be buried with him. The
years of the Wu Zetian and Li Zhi reign were the heydays of the
Tang Dynasty. Archaeologists believe there are many treasures in
the mausoleum which could weigh at least 500 tons.
The most valuable relic, which may well be buried in the
Qianling Mausoleum, is the national treasure Lantingxu
(Orchid Pavilion Preface), a treasured calligraphy work by
China's most famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi.
According to historical records, Tang Emperor Taizong, Li
Shimin, ordered in his will that the work should be buried with
him, under his head as a pillow. But Zhaoling Mausoleum, which is
the tomb of Li Shimin, was plundered by a local governor named Wen
Tao in Five Dynasties (907 - 960). However, on the list of his
stolen treasures there was no reference to this particular work. So
experts concluded that the piece was left to his son, Li Zhi. It's
thought to have been eventually placed in Qianling Mausoleum.
Liang Guilin, the curator of the Qianling Mausoleum Museum, said
Qianling was the only imperial mausoleum in which an emperor and an
empress had been buried that had not been plundered by grave
robbers. The mausoleum is the best-protected one in China. Liang
emphasized that the excavation was just a proposal and the personal
wish of some experts who attended the forum.
Shi Xingbang, chairman of Shaanxi Archaeology Academy, insists
that the mausoleum should be excavated. All the relics, skeletons,
gold, silver, earthen and wooden artifacts and silk are of
significant archaeological value, he said. Although the mausoleum
itself was sound, he added, it had been exposed to several
earthquakes, and climate change may have affected the environment
inside. China's archaeological technology is now at a level where
excavated relics could be properly protected, according to
him.?
Finance is another factor behind calls for the site to be
excavated. A local archaeologist suggested that if the mausoleum
was excavated and opened as a museum exhibiting relics it could
attract as many as five million visitors annually and give the
local economy a real boost.?
But Su Bai, a professor at Peking University archaeology
department, believes that the country should care and protect the
history of ancestors. Liu Qingzhu, the leader of the Archaeology
Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, supports
this point of view. He said conditions underground were stable and
exposing the relics to air could cause problems. He suggested they
be left where they are.
Shaanxi has applied several times for the permission to excavate
the Qianling Mausoleum. The State Council arranged several
discussions with experts on the proposals but didn't approve of the
site being disturbed.
(China.org.cn by Chen Lin, July 26, 2006)
