Maoling Mausoleum (Mao Ling)

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). This mausoleum is called ‘the Chinese Pyramid' since it is not only the largest but it also held the richest burial contents of all the mausoleums of Emperors constructed during the Western Han Dynasty, and took the longest time, 53 years, to build.

Liu Che was the fifth Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty. He was a great feudal Emperor who can parallel Emperor Qin Shi Huang - the founder Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221BC - 206BC). During his 54-year reign he exerted himself to make the country prosperous by consolidating and strengthening the unification of many nationalities. With his great talent, he made the Western Han Dynasty's power reach the highest peak and also opened the famous Silk Road.

Covering over 54,000 square meters, the tomb was built of rammed earth in the shape of a four-sided dipper, 46 meters high and 240 meters long. The mausoleum is square and consists of the inner and outer city, with bounding wall around it. According to the records, the funeral objects were so abundant that the tomb could hardly hold even before Emperor Han Wudi died. One third of the yearly taxes and tributes of the state was spent to construct Maoling Mausoleum. 

There are over 20 satellite tombs of high officials and noble relatives around the Maoling Mausoleum, such as the tombs of Huo Qubing, Huo Guang, Wei Qing and Jin Ribei. In those days, officials and nobles showed great respect when they moved nearby. Inside the cemetery there were many places and houses inhabited by tomb keepers and palace maids.

Maoling Museum is one that focuses predominately on the history of the Western Han Dynasty. It combines the cultural relics and ancient constructions within picturesque garden settings. The unearthed relics exhibited in the Museum are mainly from the Mausoleum of Emperor Wu, the Tomb of Huo Qubing and the grand Stone Carvings. They provide further evidence to the great extent of creativity and the extensive range of skills the ancient crafts people of China possessed during that period. All of these depict the crystallization of human wisdom and experience.

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