How Long Did It Take to Build the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum?

It took a total of 38 years for the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum to be designed, constructed, and finally suspended.

It began with Emperor Qin’s succession to the throne in 246 BC and ended with the imminent fall of the Qin Empire in 208 BC. It can be divided into three specific phases.

Phase 1: The period from 246 B.C., when King Ying Zheng inherited the throne of Qin, to 221 B.C., when the whole country was unified. During these 26 years, the design of the mausoleum project and the construction of the main project were carried out, and the scale and basic pattern of the mausoleum project were initially established.

Phase 2: From 221 B.C., when the country was unified, to 210 B.C., when the first emperor died and was buried at Mount Li. This was the time of the massive construction of the mausoleum. During this period, Qin Shi Huang, who had already ascended to the throne of the emperor, wanted to maintain the majesty of the emperor and wanted to live in the world of the dead after death as he had lived before, so he carried out large-scale construction. After hundreds of thousands of people camped, the main project of the entire mausoleum was basically completed.

Phase 3: From 210 B.C. to 208 B.C., the winter of the year before the fall of Qin. This was the final stage of the project, which was mainly used for the finishing works and the overlaying of the mausoleum. After the death of Qin Shi Huang, his son continued to build the mausoleum for him. Since the peasant uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty, had attacked near Jishui, (Jishui is located in the eastern part of Lintong District, Xi’an, where the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is located), his son organized hundreds of thousands of torturers to temporarily fight against the peasant army. At this point, the construction of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, which had been under construction for 38 years and had not yet been fully completed, was forced to be suspended.