The eternal mystery of the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum

In the summer of 2 10 BC, Ying Zheng, the first emperor in China's history, died.

He was buried in a huge mausoleum. The mausoleum was built before his death and used for 39 years. At the peak of the mausoleum, more than 700,000 people were employed, accounting for110 of the country's total population at that time!

More than 2000 years have passed, and now, at the foot of Mount Li in Lintong County, Shaanxi Province, there is only one solitary hill left, that is, the once famous Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. It is a mound of the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. According to historical records, when Qin Shihuang ordered Prime Minister Lisi to build a mausoleum, the mausoleum was dug to a certain depth and could not be dug any more. Reese then asked for instructions, and Qin Shihuang replied, "Three hundred feet away."

This record has caused various speculations. Where was this underground palace, which was used to store Qin Shihuang's coffin and funerary objects, built? Is it under a sealed mound or somewhere "300 feet" around it?

Starting from 1962, archaeologists began an archaeological investigation of the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. After testing, the cemetery covers an area of 56.25 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the area of nearly 78 Forbidden City. Such a large cemetery is also rare in the world.

1974, the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang shocked the world again. People dug a huge pit of terracotta warriors and horses on its east side, and hundreds of terracotta warriors and horses taller than people were unearthed, which caused a sensation all over the world. The first Terracotta Warriors pit was named 1 pit, with an area of 14000 square meters.

However, the area of 10 Terracotta Warriors Pit 1 is equivalent to the area of an underground palace.

Archaeologists predict that the underground palace, as the core palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, will be priceless.

For decades, the mystery of the underground palace has been puzzling the archaeological community, and people have never figured out its exact location. Last June, 5438+065438+ 10, an "863 Plan" named "Archaeological Remote Sensing and Geophysical Integrated Detection Technology" was officially launched, which was the first time that archaeological work was included in the "863 Plan" in China. Archaeologists and scientists joined hands to launch a large-scale archaeological investigation of the first imperial tomb.

A year later, the mystery was finally solved.

Qin Shihuang used mercury for rivers and seas, not only to create a magnificent natural landscape, but also to make the buried bodies and funerary objects not rot for a long time because of the mercury gas in the underground palace. Moreover, mercury is a highly toxic substance, and a large amount of inhalation will lead to death, so mercury in the underground palace can also poison grave robbers.

Geophysical exploration also found that there are stone tombs in the underground palace.

There are only two tombs in the tomb.

Earlier, some media reported that archaeologists discovered five tombs in the eastern part of Fengtu by drilling holes, and found 1 in the western and northern parts of Fengtu. At yesterday's acceptance meeting, Duan Qingbo, the captain of the archaeological team of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, clarified that according to the detection results, except for one pyramid-shaped mound in the east and one in the west, the rest were all burial pits.

From Shang and Zhou Dynasties to Han Dynasty, there are generally four tombs of emperors, which run through the southeast, northwest and four directions respectively, and are symbols of aristocratic status and status, while ordinary officials and ordinary people have one or two tombs. According to common sense, there should be four Mausoleums of the First Qin Emperor, but so far only two have been found in the east and west. This discovery attracted great attention of experts at yesterday's meeting.

"Unexpectedly, this is also expected. Qin Shihuang was a freak! " Duan Qingbo said that during the reign of Qin Shihuang, many things were beyond the imagination of ordinary people: China was unified, the currency was unified, and nearly 60 square kilometers of cemeteries and huge burial pits for terracotta warriors and horses were built ... "No one can tell what Qin Shihuang was thinking. The first emperor was arrogant before his death, and he was bound to leave a confusing grave after his death. " Duan Qingbo said.

It is reported that after the completion of the first phase exploration project, the second phase will also conduct in-depth research on the mausoleum.

Four mysteries revealed

1. Is the underground palace in Lishan Mountain?

According to folklore, the underground palace of Qin Mausoleum is located in Lishan. Experts used remote sensing and geophysical methods to detect it, and confirmed that the underground palace was located under the mound of the Qin Mausoleum, 35 meters deep from the ground. 2. Is the tomb intact? It is found that there is a circle of extremely thick palace walls around the tomb, which is closely related to the preservation of the tomb. This newly discovered tomb form is called "Qin Mausoleum Style". 3. Is there mercury in the underground palace? Detection proves that mercury does exist in the underground palace, which is strong in the southeast and southwest and weak in the northeast and northwest. "Taking mercury as a hundred rivers and seas" in Historical Records was initially proved. 4. How many graves are there? The detection results show that there is only one tomb in the east and one tomb in the west. From Shang and Zhou Dynasties to Han Dynasty, there were usually four emperors' tombs. This new discovery has aroused great concern of experts.

Historical records? survey

The earliest historical document about the Qin underground palace is Sima Qian's Historical Records: "At the beginning of the emperor's accession to the throne, Mount Li was ruled by the emperor and merged with the world. The world sent 700,000 people across the three springs, down the bronze sparrow terrace and led them to the palace. " Let the craftsman make a crossbow, and anyone who comes near will shoot it. Take mercury as a hundred rivers and seas, instill machines, there is astronomy on the top and geography on the bottom. Take mermaid cream as a candle, and it will last for a long time. "

The first comprehensive archaeological investigation of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum began at 1962. Archaeologists drew the first layout of the cemetery. After investigation, the cemetery covers an area of 56.25 square kilometers, equivalent to nearly 78 Forbidden City, which caused a sensation in the archaeological community.

1. Where did the land of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum come from?

The huge earth-sealed mound is the largest in China, but is its soil taken from the tomb of Qin Shihuang or dug from the fish pond area?

The mound of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is in the shape of a bucket, with a height of 76 meters and a width of about 350 meters. Such a large-scale mound is the largest in China. But where is the huge enclosure?

A long-standing saying in Lintong is that the earth that sealed the mound was shipped from Xianyang, and nothing grew on the mausoleum because it was burned and fried. However, on February 3, 65438, the reporter saw in the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang that it was sealed.

The mound is densely covered with pomegranate trees and shrubs.

The mound is the symbol of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, but the origin of the mound is still inconclusive. Legend has it that the earth was transported from Xianyang, and nothing grew on the mausoleum because of burning and bombing.

Historical records? Biography of Qin Shihuang: Gui Li Shan. "Justice" says: "When the tomb is unearthed, it is completed and belongs to its soil, so it is called returning to the soil." It means to backfill the soil originally dug from the grave into the grave.

"Water classics? Wei Shuizhu said: "At the beginning, the emperor built a mausoleum to borrow soil, and the land was deeply polluted, and the accumulated water became a pool, which was called a fish pond. The pool is five miles northeast of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum and four miles around. "After on-the-spot investigation, the reporter found this large pool with low terrain and irregular shape between Yuchi Village and Wuxi Village, 2.5 kilometers northeast of the first imperial tomb. It was once estimated that the total area of this fish pond reached 1 million square meters. Li Daoyuan's statement of "borrowing fish pond soil" has been recognized by many archaeologists, such as Yuan, vice president of Shaanxi Archaeological Society and honorary curator of Terracotta Warriors Museum. Most scholars believe that there are two sources of land closure: one is the soil dug from the tomb, and the other is the soil taken from the fish pond area.

Duan Qingbo, captain of the Qinling Archaeological Team, questioned this. "When drilling a sealed mound, we extracted a large number of soil samples from Luoyang shovel and found that the soil was mixed with a large amount of sand and gravel; The soil taken from the fish pond is pure loess, which has strong viscosity and little sand. It is debatable to borrow soil from fish ponds. " Duan said.

A huge north-south beaded depression was found at the foot of Lishan Mountain in the south of Qinling Mountain when hyperspectral remote sensing was carried out. Yu Wanqing, a senior engineer at the Institute of Remote Sensing Application, Aerial Survey and Remote Sensing Bureau, General Administration of Coal Geology, China, said that after on-the-spot investigation, they found that this huge depression with a depth of 30 meters was located on the gentle slope of the mountain impact fan, which was out of tune with the surrounding topographic features, and there were obvious traces of artificial excavation, and the soil quality of the depression was the same as that of the closed soil.

"The terrain of the Qin Tombs is high in the south and low in the north, with a big gap. It is obviously much more laborious to borrow soil from the fish pond at the foot of the mountain, and the distance from the foot of the mountain to the earth is also close. " Also supporting this view is Wan's colleague Zhou Xiaohu.

Duan Qingbo said that he has not been to this huge depression. If it is true, it is indeed a new inference to borrow soil from Lishan, but the final conclusion can only be drawn through volume reduction calculation and comparison.

2. What exactly does "walk 300 feet" mean?

One said: the passage of the underground palace parade was blocked and changed its direction; One said: the first excavation site in the underground palace moved 700 meters to the north.

About the construction of the underground palace of the Qin Mausoleum, there is an introduction in the historical material Nine Meanings of Han Dynasty: In 2 10 BC, Prime Minister Li Si reported to Qin Shihuang that he had taken 720,000 people to build the tomb of Mount Li, which had been dug deeply, as if it were underground. After hearing this, Qin Shihuang ordered "to walk another 300 feet or even." The statement of "300 feet away" makes the location of the Qin Mausoleum even more confusing.

This time, the scientific and technical personnel used the methods of remote sensing and geophysical exploration respectively to detect, and confirmed that the underground palace was under the mound, 35 meters deep from the ground, with a length of 170 meters from east to west and a width of 145 meters from north to south, and the main body and tombs were rectangular. Although the underground palace exists, what does the historical record of "walking 300 feet" mean?

In this regard, Wang Xueli, deputy secretary-general of China Qin Culture Research Association and researcher of Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute, pointed out: "Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit, Bronze Horse Pit, Rare Bird Pit and City Wall ... Judging from the current archaeological excavations, Qin Shihuang enjoyed splendor before his death, and he also brought them to the underworld to enjoy after his death. The underground palace with astronomical geography is built like Qin Xianyang Palace. " He said that Qin Shihuang traveled many times before his death, reaching Dongting Lake and Huiji Mountain in Zhejiang Province in the south, Shanhaiguan and Bohai Bay in the east, and Ningxia in the northwest, all of which are recorded in historical materials.

"Qin mausoleum underground palace in hanshu? The biography of Jia Shan is described as follows: jade beads and jade ornaments have become sightseeing and mountains. Traveling in the city means traveling all over the world, but how to realize the tour in the underground palace? Only repair and dig channels extending in all directions. "

Wang Xueli said, "The south of the mound is close to Mount Li. Due to the alluvial fan in the mountain, there is a thick gravel layer in the stratum below the mountain. When a spiritual practitioner digs a parade passage from the underground palace to the south, he encounters big gravel and finally has to dig along the gravel layer, which is called' 300 feet by the side'. "

The geophysical exploration team led by Liu Shiyi, a researcher from China Geological Survey, found that there was a gravity anomaly about 700 meters south of the mound, which was different from the surrounding soil according to geological theory. Duan Qingbo concluded that the original excavation point of the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum may be located in this abnormal area. Because the soil contains a lot of gravel, the grave repairman can't dig, so he has to move northward to the present mound position.

A large number of skeletons of grave robbers were found on the west side of the Qin Mausoleum, and bare skeletons can be seen everywhere on the side elevation of a soil slope next to a farmland. According to historical records, 720,000 people participated in the construction of the Qin Mausoleum.

3. The direction of Sima Dao is still inconclusive.

Archaeologists and geologists have different opinions on whether the Sima Dao in the Qinling Mountains runs north-south or east-west.

In ancient times, the road dedicated to emperors before their death was called "Imperial Road", and the road specially designed for them after their death was called "Shinto Road", also called Sima Road. Sima Dao is also the central axis of the Mausoleum, which has important archaeological significance.

Many archaeological experts from Yuan Dynasty and other places agree that the Sima Road in the Qin Mausoleum runs east-west, that is, the cemetery faces east. Mr. Yuan gave three arguments in the Archaeological Summary of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor: First, there is a passage in the north and south of the Mausoleum, but there are five passages in the east, "indicating that the east is the main passage, that is, the direction of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor is east-west." Secondly, "judging from the overall layout and geographical environment of the cemetery, only the east side of the mausoleum has an open terrain, which meets the clear requirements of tomb selection in ancient Ming Tang." Third, tombs and cemeteries are east-west, which is the custom of Qin people.

Zhang, a researcher at Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, also gave two reasons for the east-west trend: the East Gate is the largest wall inside and outside the cemetery; Only the burial pit on the east side is not only large in scale, but also related to military content.

Sima Dao's view of the north-south trend was first put forward by the geologist Mr. Sun Jiachun, and was endorsed by many people. "The cemetery is high in the south and low in the north, with its back against Mount Li and overlooking the Weihe River. The height difference between north and south is 85 meters. It's perfect that the cemetery faces north. At the same time, most other monarchs put the mound in the middle of the Hui cemetery, while the mound of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is located in the southern half of the inner city. From a symmetrical point of view, the east-west direction of Sima Dao does not make sense. " Yu Wanqing said.

"In the indoor remote sensing images, we are also surprised to find that if we link the mound with Wang Feng, the main peak of Mount Li, it actually coincides with the north-south meridian. Further north, it should not be a coincidence that the dam built next to the Yuchi site in the Qin Dynasty is also on this meridian. "

In addition to the geographical environment, Wan also mentioned the images obtained by this archaeological remote sensing exploration. "A large area of abnormal temperature was found on the west side of the mound. Archaeologists' drilling also confirmed that this is a large burial pit with six burial pits. " Wan said that no large-scale civil servants' tombs have been found in the cemetery so far, and most of them are related to "Wu". Archaeologists speculate that the abnormal area is probably the tomb of Lv Buwei, a famous civil servant in Qin Dynasty.

It is still inconclusive who lit the Qin Gong fire.

Burning the Qin Mausoleum is just a way to burn sacrifices, or did Xiang Yu do it? This historical suspense has not yet been determined.

Recently, according to the archaeological excavation of Afanggong site, only a small amount of braised clay remains were found in the 200,000-square-meter exploration area of Qian Dian site. Experts believe that this shows that the record of Xiang Yu burning Epang Palace in history is inaccurate, and the media have also launched reports that "Xiang Yu did not burn Epang Palace".

"I just jumped to conclusions after the excavation, so doing research is a bit rough." Wang Xueli, deputy secretary-general of China Qin Culture Research Association and researcher of Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute, expressed his views bluntly. He said that according to historical records, Epang Palace is "isolated from the sun for more than 300 miles" and occupies a considerable area, making it one of the largest palace buildings in the history of China. Among them, only Qian Dian site is 1.270 meters long from east to west and 426 meters wide from north to south, with a total area of over 50,000 square meters. At present, the trial excavation area of Qian Dian site is only 1000 square meters, and the excavation work has just begun.

"When excavating the burial pit of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, burnt soil was found in pits 1 and 2, but not in pit 3. It cannot be concluded that the Qin Mausoleum was not burned in a large area. " Wang Xueli said that only after a large-scale excavation work can the conclusion be scientific.

Does Xiang Yu burn the Qin Mausoleum? According to this remote sensing detection, scientists and technicians found a large area of burnt soil in the mausoleum area, and archaeologists also found a large amount of burnt soil and residual burnt wood in the excavation of the tomb pit of Qin mausoleum. "If Xiang Yu burned the Qin Mausoleum, why didn't he take away the treasure in the burial pit?" Engineer Zhou Xiaohu said that although the pit of rare birds and animals was burned, the exquisite bronze cranes, geese and ducks in the pit were incredibly well preserved. "Burning tombs was probably a way of offering sacrifices at that time, the so-called burning sacrifice, which was not uncommon in tombs discovered in the Qin Dynasty." An archaeologist in Shaanxi put forward his own views in a chat.

Wang Xueli said that according to the records of historians, "Qin Gong was burned, but the fire did not go out in March", which shows that Sima Qian, who has a strict style of work, did not mention that Xiang Yu burned the Qin tombs, but Xiang Yu was most likely to burn the Qin tombs.

"The finishing work of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is still in progress. The peasant uprising initiated by Guangwu and Chen Sheng rose up, and all parts of Kanto responded. The insurgents soon hit Xishui, which is less than 10 from the cemetery. At this time, hundreds of thousands of tomb-repairing people had to give up the unfinished cemetery project and follow the Shaofu to order Zhang Han to stop the rebellion. " Wang said that100000 tortured people later joined the insurgents. Because of their extreme hatred for Qin Shihuang, the possibility of burning the Qin Mausoleum after their return to Lintong is not ruled out.

The discovery and excavation of tombs such as Terracotta Warriors Pit, Qin bronze chariot pit and Qin Shijia Pit shocked the whole world. When people marvel at this great historical miracle, they will naturally look to the underground palace of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, the mother of this great miracle. This will be a more mysterious and fascinating great miracle.

The underground palace under the seal of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is about 30 meters deep from the present surface. There is an approximately square underground wall around the underground palace. How did Sima Qian write about the situation in the underground palace in Historical Records? The Chronicle of the First Qin Emperor is recorded as follows: "The first emperor ascended the throne and ruled the world through Mount Li. More than 700,000 people were sent to the world, and they passed through three springs, copper and coffins. The scenery of the palace is full of strange things. Let the craftsman make a crossbow, and people who wear it at close range need to shoot it. Take mercury as a hundred rivers and seas, and instill it by machine. There is astronomy above and geography below. Taking mermaid cream as a candle will last for a long time. " In other words, the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is like Xianyang Palace in Qin Dynasty, with hundreds of officials in it. The roof of the underground palace is built with carved stones and pearls to mark the sun, moon and stars, and the ground also marks all rivers with mercury. Moreover, in this underground palace where countless exotic animals and articles are buried, there are candles made of mermaid cream (said to be a quadruped fish that looks like a human in the East China Sea) burning endlessly, making the underground palace look like a day all year round. In order to prevent grave robbers from entering, craftsmen made a magical secret crossbow in the underground palace. When the grave robbers approached the tomb door, they were shot outside the tomb.

Because the underground palace was not excavated, Sima Qian's description could not be confirmed. However, in February of 198 1 year and May of 1982, geologists conducted two tests on the underground palace with modern instruments, which proved that there was a strong abnormal mercury reaction in the underground palace, with an area of 12000 square meters and a slightly geometric distribution. This confirms Sima Qian's record of "taking mercury as a hundred rivers and seas". After the Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses were unearthed, after more than ten years of efforts by multidisciplinary scientists, part of the mystery of the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum was gradually solved.

According to archaeological investigation data, the upper point of the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is approximately square. The underground palace wall was found at a depth of 2.7-4 meters from the present surface. The palace wall is 392 meters wide from east to west and 460 meters long from north to south, with a total area of about 6,543,800 square meters. Such a tomb is unique in Chinese and foreign history. The palace wall is about 4 meters high and 4 meters wide, and is made of unfired bricks. There are doors on all sides of the palace wall, five in the east and three in the other 1. The underground palace under the seal is about 30 meters deep from the present surface. The place where the coffin is placed is called Xuan Palace, which is the core of the underground palace and undoubtedly located in the center of the palace wall.

In a word, this magical underground palace, like the palace before Qin Shihuang's death, continues to place his "eternal" wish in the underground kingdom.

Was the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang stolen?

The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is famous for its magnificent scale and unprecedented burial. Everyone who cares about the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is very concerned about whether it was stolen. Judging from the whole ancient history of China, the last years of each dynasty were the most chaotic period, with the hegemony of the pack, bandits rampant and the whole society in anarchy. This is a good time for grave robbers to dig graves, and almost all tombs of past dynasties were stolen at this time.

Xiang Yu's Destruction of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum

According to historical records, after Xiang Yu led his army into Guanzhong, he first killed Prince Ying of Qin and the nobles of Qin royal family who had surrendered to Liu Bang, then plundered Xianyang City and finally set it on fire. Then, Xiang Yu led his troops to the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, and ordered the soldiers to dig the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and carry away everything that could be seen up and down the Mausoleum. At that time, there were 300,000 people carrying things, which have not been shipped for more than 30 days, showing the richness of treasures in the mausoleum. Finally, Xiang Yu set fire to what he couldn't walk, and it burned for many days. This may be the earliest and most destructive disaster in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.

After Xiang Yu's eastward expedition, thieves from Kanto poured into the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. It is said that the bronze coffins in the mausoleum were destroyed to get copper. Later, it was said that a shepherd boy was herding sheep here. The sheep went into an underground cave dug by the rebels and could not be found. The shepherd boy took the torch and went into the grave to look for the sheep. The result was a fire, which lasted for more than 90 days. It is said that with the collapse of some burial pits and graves, the ground of dozens of miles in Fiona Fang Mausoleum Area has also sunk several meters. In this way, the ground buildings of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum disappeared, and the underground tombs were also damaged to some extent. These records are supported by today's archaeological discoveries. Almost all burial pits and graves found in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum were damaged by theft and fire.

After four years of Chu-Han War, Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu and established the Western Han Dynasty. In order to win the hearts of the people, in BC 195, Liu Bang ordered the proper protection of the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, and arranged for 20 families to live near the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang as cemetery keepers to look after the Mausoleum. Since then, successive rulers have also ordered the protection of the imperial tombs of the Qin Dynasty. In the third year of Kaibao in Song Taizu (AD 970), Lintong County was ordered to protect and repair the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. Bi Yuan, the governor of Shaanxi Province in the Qing Dynasty, also erected a monument for the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.

However, the rich tombs of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum will inevitably arouse the covet of people from all walks of life. According to records, the Red Eyebrow Uprising Army at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Schleswig, Shi Jilong, the rulers of Wei, Jin and Hou Zhao, and the Huang Chao Uprising Army at the end of the Tang Dynasty all robbed the tomb of the first emperor.

The underground palace may not have been stolen.

Two bronze chariots and horses unearthed are located in the ear room of Xiling, the underground palace under the wall of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum. According to historical records, the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum was taken away by fire. If that's the case, the funerary objects beside the tomb should be destroyed first. However, the bronze chariots and horses were not destroyed by fire before they were unearthed, which also provided circumstantial evidence that the underground palace was not stolen and burned. For more than ten years, archaeologists have carried out detailed drilling work around the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, drilling more than 40,000 exploration holes.

According to the drilling data, there is a 4-meter-thick palace wall around the underground palace of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, which is also made of bricks, and several tunnels leading to the underground palace have been found, and there are no signs of human interference and destruction in the tunnels. Only two stolen caves with a diameter of 1 m and a depth of less than 9 m were found, but both caves were far away from the underground palace and had not yet entered the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum. In addition, the fact that there is a lot of mercury in the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is strong evidence that it has not been stolen. Because once the underground palace is stolen, mercury will evaporate along the stolen hole. It can be inferred from the above reasons that the underground palace of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum may not have been stolen. With the application of the latest scientific and technological means, the truth of whether the underground palace was stolen or burned will be revealed to the world.