Maoling Mausoleum


The Maoling Mausoleum is located in Maoling Village of Nanwei Town on the Weibei altiplano, about 40km north
of Xi'an City in Shaanxi Province. The Maoling Mausoleum was the tomb of Emperor Wudi in the Western Han
Dynasty (206BC-8AD). It is grand in scale, and it is the biggest mausoleum among the imperial mausoleums of
the Western Han Dynasty.

Emperor Wudi (156-87BC) of the Han Dynasty, named Liu Che, was the son of Emperor Jingdi. During the 54
years of his reign, he greatly expanded the territory. As an emperor with great achievements in Chinese history,
he governed the nation smoothly and reinforced his power. In the second year of his reign, Emperor Wudi began
to build the Maoling Mausoleum, which took 53 years to finish.

The mausoleum is square and consists of the inner and outer city, with bounding wall around it. The rampart is 431m long from the east to the
west, and 415m from the south to the north. The wall base is 5.8m wide; the gates are situated in the middle of the four walls. The cover tumulus
is 46.5m high, 231m long from the east to the west, and 234m long from the south to the north. There were altogether 290 kinds of animals in the
mausoleum. Some maids-in-waiting were also put in the mausoleum. Besides, the jade box, jade crutch presented by the king of Tang Qu and a
gold box full of 30 volumes of classics that Emperor Wudi had read were buried together with them. When Emperor Wudi was buried, the funerary
objects had already chocked up the space of the coffin chamber, leaving no room for any other stuffs.

Around the Maoling Mausoleum scatter the satellite tombs of the emperor's concubines, maids-in-waiting, ministers and royal relatives. There are
still more than 20 tombs extant, including the tombs of Wei Qing, Huo Guang, Quo Qubing and Jin Ribei. Many cultural relics were found in this
area, such as the fancy black jade knocker-holder with patters of animals, the steel rhinoceros wine vessel with pattern of clouds, and large
airbricks and tiles carved with characters, patterns of red sparrow, dragon, and geometrical design. Now
hundreds of the unearthed cultural relics found in the mausoleum are on display in the Maoling Mausoleum
Museum.

You can also see several remains of construction sites, pentagon water pipes, cobbled roads and other
building installations from the Han Dynasty. You can also get to see general information regarding politics, the
economy, and both military and foreign affairs that were relevant at that time in history. There are also various
activities and performances especially prepared for the interest of visitors.