18 11 月 The Area of Emperor Qin’s Tomb and the Number of Discovered Burial Pits
Among all the tombs of Chinese emperors, Emperor Qin’s tomb is famous for its grand scale and rich burial. The entire tomb is centered on the earthen mound of the tomb and is divided into two walls: the inner city and the outer city. The area of the mausoleum extends from the east to the present-day town of Daiwang, from the west to the city of Lintong, from the south to Mount Li, and from the north to the construction site of Yuchi site, covering an area of 45.69 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the size of 63 Forbidden City in Beijing, making it the largest imperial mausoleum in Chinese history.
The core of this magnificent imperial tomb is the tomb’s eathen mound, so how big is it? The original mound of the tomb of the First Emperor of Qin was measured to be nearly square on the bottom edge, 515 meters long from north to south and 485 meters wide from east to west. It covers an area of nearly 250,000 square meters (249,775 square meters), which is equivalent to the size of 35 soccer fields. The bottom edge of the existing tomb is 350 meters long from north to south and 345 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of more than 120,000 square meters (120,750 square meters), which is greatly reduced compared to the original. It can be seen that the size of the tomb of the First Emperor of Qin has changed due to the washing away of the wind and rain for more than 2,000 years as well as the leveling of the land by peasants over the generations.
At present, more than 180 burial pits of various types have been discovered within the boundaries of the tomb of the First Emperor of Qin. These include the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit, the Bronze Carriage and Horses Pit, the Stone Armor Pit, the Acrobat Pits, the Rare Animals Pit, the Stables Pit, the Bronze Waterfowl Pit, and various kinds of funerary pits with different connotations. Among the tombs of Chinese emperors, the burial pits of Qin Shi Huang’s tomb were numerous, large in scale and rich in burial. It pioneered the use of a large number of burial pits for funeral and had a very profound impact on the history of the development of Chinese tombs.
