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Imperial Tombs and Mausoleums
After the concept of soul was formed in the primitive society
more and more importance was attached to the tomb. Due to primitive
productivity, little surplus was yielded for offering sacrifices to
the deceased; therefore, there was no need to designate tombs.
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In ancient documents "tomb," which means that it disappears when
it is buried, has the same meaning as "nil." The chapter "Tan Gong"
in the Book of Rites states: "In ancient times the tomb had
no mound." A note explains that "the burial spot which is not
mounded or planted with trees is called a tomb." The chapter
"Divinatory Symbols" in the Book of Changes says, "In
ancient times the dead, after being covered with thick straws or
sticks, were buried in a wild field. The burial spot was neither
piled as a mound nor planted with trees. The location was not
marked or remembered." This is proved by archaeological excavations
of tombs of primitive people, including those of the matriarchal
and patriarchal groups.
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Only in the clan tombs of the Majiayao Culture, Midiqian, Gaolan
County, Gansu Province, were one or two slabs found near a bone
frame. However, they were only signs within the tomb, but not marks
above the ground. Even on the large tombs of the Xia (21st-16th
centuries BC) and Shang (16th-11th centuries BC) dynasties no huge
mounds or other outward indicators have been discovered. After more
than 300 years as the capital of the Shang Dynasty moved there by
King Pan Geng, Anyang of Henan Province showed no signs of Shang
Dynasty tombs in Yin Ruins. The absence of visible signs made it
certain that the Shang Dynasty remained in the stage of tombs
without heaped mound or tree plantings; otherwise traces of mounds,
even had they been damaged, would have been found as have later
mounds marking the tombs of kings who had been honored with
luxurious and extravagant entombment.
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However, in the Yin Ruins, a house base somewhat larger
than a tomb was discovered at the tomb of an imperial concubine
named Fu Hao. A similar house base was also found at the tomb of a
high official. These bases may be foundations for
sacrifice-offering buildings, but still no grave mounds were found
in connection with these tombs.
A bird's-eye view of imperial tombs at the Yin
ruins in Henan
Grave mounds date from the Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC)
"Protocol Official" in the Rites of the Zhou Dynasty
records, "The size of the grave mound is decided by the rank of
nobility." From the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States
periods (770 BC-221 BC) clay piles on tombs became larger and
larger, finally as large as a qiu, a small hill; as a
result a graveyard is also called qiu, such as King Wuling's
Qiu and King Yanzhao's Qiu.
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Why was it necessary to build clay mounds and plant trees at
tombs? Perhaps it was related to the convenience of the slave
system and frequent needs for offering sacrifice and memorializing
the souls of ancestors. People during the Shang Dynasty believed in
ghosts; whenever something important was to be done they would pray
to ghosts or to their ancestral kings beforehand.
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It was more natural to pray on the spot where ancestors had been
buried than to pray in temples. With mounds and trees as marks it
was easier then to recognize the tombs. Moreover these ancient
people frequently felt the need to pray while cherishing the
memories of ancestors before their tombs.
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The custom of piling clay as mounds on tombs and planting trees
nearby developed into a system for burial mainly among the ruling
classes. Mounds on imperial tombs evolved through three main
development forms:
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The first form is called square top, the form of tomb mound
adopted earliest. Builders piled many layers of clay above the
underground palace in the tomb pit, and shaped and packed each
layer until they formed a low trapezoid. It got such a name because
of its square flat top. The mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the First
Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221BC-207 BC) at Lintong, Shaanxi, is
the largest of this type, appearing from a distance to the hill. In
the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) most imperial tombs had a mound in
this shape. This type of tomb can still be seen near Xi'an.
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The second form is of a mausoleum built inside a mountain with
its peak serving as grave mound. The earlier form of piling
enormous amounts of clay into a tomb, such as the mausoleum of
Emperor Qin Shi Huang, required much labor. The project was so
ambitious that an ordinary emperor or king could not accomplish it.
Besides, this kind of imperial tomb was not secure; it was more
susceptible to looters.
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Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) the practice of
building mausoleums inside a mountain was adopted. The Zhaoling
Mausoleum of Emperor Tai Zong (Li Shimin, 599-649) of the Tang
Dynasty, has Mt. Jiuzong, 1,188 meters above sea level, as its
grave mound. Tunneled and hollowed, the mountain had the mausoleum
built inside. It is said that this kind of burial was first
suggested by Queen Zhangsun: "Bury me in a mountain and you can
avoid piling up the grave mound" when she was dying, for the sake
of frugality.
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In fact, this was Li Shimin's own attitude, spoken first,
however, by the queen. Later, Emperor Li Shimin wrote an
inscription on a tablet for the queen: "A person of royal lineage
should regard the world as home. Is it necessary, then, to place
such precious things as the occupant's own property in the tomb?
Now, Mt. Jiuzong is used as the imperial tomb, which contains no
gold, jade, people, horses, housewares or vessels, but only
imitations made of wood or clay. Therefore, it will not attract
thieves and robbers and there is no need to worry." Actually,
mountains used as mausoleums are selected for their magnificence to
show the grandness of imperial kinsmen, and they are more effective
in preventing thefts and looting.
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Two mountain mausoleums, the Zhaoling of Emperor Tai Zong, and
the Qianling of Emperor Gao Zong (Li Zhi) who was on the throne
from 650 to 683 and Queen Wu Zetian, who reigned from 684 to 704,
are much more imposing than even the huge piled clay mound of Qin
Shi Huang. Yet, the Zhaoling Mausoleum could not avoid the looter's
hand. It was excavated by warlord Wen Tao when the Tang Dynasty was
eliminated. Only the Qianling Mausoleum remained untouched, largely
because of the mountain's hard rocks and an effective seal of huge
stones and melted lead.
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The third tomb form is of the castle or dome type, built on
piled clay grave mounds within high walls. Tombs in mountains were
limited by topography. Difficulties were thus created in
excavation. Typical are trapezoidal grave mounds of the Qin and Han
dynasties popular until the Song Dynasty (960-1279), with some
changes influenced by the mountain tombs of the Tang Dynasty. The
sharp edges of piled clay were quickly rounded by erosion and
weathering. As a result, many imperial tombs and mausoleums were
built with round mounds towards the end of the Tang Dynasty and in
the Five Dynasties. Examples include two imperial tombs of the
Southern Tang Dynasty in Nanjing, Jiangsu and the Yongling Tomb of
Wang Jian in Chengdu, Sichuan. To reduce soil erosion from the
mound, Wang Jian's tomb had rectangular slabs laid around its base.
Later this practice was widely adopted for ordinary tombs. The
imperial tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty restored the
trapezoidal mound with flat surfaces and sharp comers; however, the
mound was much smaller than those of the Qin and Han dynasties, and
double, stacked trapezoids appeared.
In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Shao Hao was said to be
the chief of the Dongyi ethnic group, had his tomb built of stone
blocks in a pyramid shape resembling the Egyptian pyramids in
present-day Qufu, Shandong Province.
Tomb of Shao Hao
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As for the imperial tombs of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) not a
single one has been discovered, but from surviving documents and
other materials it is known that they returned to the initial tomb
system--tombs without conspicuous mounds.
In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties pyramidal
mounds for imperial tombs were completely transformed. More than 30
imperial tombs of emperors and 100 tombs of queens and imperial
concubines are topped by domed mounds surrounded by walls. These
were constructed by first building a high brick wall around the
underground palace and filling the space within the surrounding
wall with day to an elevation higher than the wall and with a domed
top. At the top of the wall crenels and parapets were built as
decoration to give the structure the look of a small city wall. The
domes were either circular, as on many Ming imperial tombs, or
elliptical, adopted for many Qing imperial tombs. Outside the wall
at the front of the tomb a square platform was laid on which a soul
tower was built and the entire complex is called a square castle
with soul tower.
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The domed mound surrounded by a wall and complemented by a
square platform with a soul tower for imperial tombs is much more
complicated and artistic than earlier clay on stone pyramids,
conveying an impression of substance and solemnity.
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