Han Yang Ling

Coordinates: 34°26′37.67″N 108°56′26.56″E / 34.4437972°N 108.9407111°E / 34.4437972; 108.9407111

Reconstructed model of how Han Yang Ling looked like when it was built
Burial figures in the Han Yang Ling Mausoleum
Exhibit at Han Yang Ling Mausoleum. The figurine in the middle shows how it originally look like at time of burial. The one on the extreme right shows a partially excavated figurine
Empress Wang burial mound
Emperor Jing burial mound

The Han Yang Ling (simplified Chinese: 汉阳陵; traditional Chinese: 漢陽陵; pinyin: Hàn Yáng líng), or the Yang Mausoleum of Han, is the mausoleum of Emperor Jing, the fourth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty and his Empress Wang. The mausoleum complex is located in the Weicheng district of the City of Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, on the northern bank of the Wei River and about 20 km to the north of the city center of the provincial capital of Xi’an.

Description

The Han Yang Ling is composed of two large burial mounds, 86 smaller burial pits and a criminal's graveyard. The site today also hosts a museum. The larger of the two mounds is the burial place of the Jing Emperor, it sits next to the slightly smaller mound of his Empress Wang. The mausoleum is surrounded by 86 outer burial pits, 21 of which are accessible to visitors. The pits display more than 50.000 miniature terracotta figures reflecting the daily life of the Han emperor's court, including eunuchs, servants, tools and domesticated animals. The human figurines are naked but were originally clothed with exquisite fabrics. The complex is one of the "Five Mausoleums" of the Western Han Dynasty (Chinese: 西汉五陵; pinyin: Xī Hàn Wǔ Líng).

In 2016, the discovery of the earliest tea traces known to date from the mausoleum of Emperor Jing was announced, indicating that tea was drunk by Han Dynasty emperors as early as 2nd century BC.[1]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Houyuan, Lu; et al. (7 January 2016). "Earliest tea as evidence for one branch of the Silk Road across the Tibetan Plateau". Scientific Reports. 6: 18955. doi:10.1038/srep18955. PMC 4704058. PMID 26738699. Retrieved 17 August 2016.

See also


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