Qianling Mausoleum

Qianling Mausoleum is built into Mount Liang in Qian County, Xianyang, roughly 85 km northwest of Xi'an, and holds the joint remains of Tang Emperor Gaozong (r. 649-683) and Empress Wu Zetian, who ruled in her own name from 690 to 705 as the only female emperor in Chinese history. Construction began in 683 following Gaozong's death and continued for over two decades until Wu Zetian's burial in 706. Unlike most Tang imperial tombs, which were built as earthen mounds, Qianling was carved directly into the mountain, a design that has helped protect the main chamber from the tomb-robbing that damaged many other Tang sites; the central tomb has never been excavated. A roughly 600-meter spirit way leads up to the tomb entrance, lined with paired stone sculptures of winged horses, ostriches, mounted guards, and ministers, followed by a famous row of 61 stone statues of foreign envoys and tribal leaders who attended the funeral, all now headless, their heads lost or deliberately destroyed sometime after the Ming dynasty. A large uninscribed stele stands near the tomb entrance, traditionally said to have been left blank by Wu Zetian's own instruction so that history could judge her reign. Several satellite tombs belonging to Tang princes and princesses are excavated and open nearby, most notably those of Princess Yongtai and Prince Zhanghuai, whose underground burial chambers preserve vivid Tang murals of court life, hunting scenes, and foreign envoys, displayed close to their original locations.