The Scale of Qianling Mausoleum

Qianling was constructed during the prosperous peak of the Tang Dynasty, when the nation enjoyed abundant national strength. Boasting a vast layout and magnificent, ornate architecture, it is hailed as the finest among all imperial mausoleums through the ages.

In the early Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin drew lessons from history: no dynasty lasts forever, and no tomb remains unrobbed. Starting with Zhaoling, his joint mausoleum with Empress Zhangsun, he pioneered the burial custom of carving mausoleums into natural mountains. Designed by the renowned artist brothers Yan Lide and Yan Liben, the complex integrates architectural structures and stone carvings, scattered across mountains with a majestic momentum like "dragons coiling and phoenixes soaring".

Qianling, the joint tomb of Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian, further developed and perfected the layout of Zhaoling. Modelled after the structure of Chang'an, the Tang imperial capital, it consists of an imperial city, a palace city and an outer city, with the north-south main axis stretching 4.9 kilometers long.

Historical records state that the mausoleum complex spanned 80 li in circumference, originally enclosed by two layers of city walls. Four gates stood on the inner wall: the Azure Dragon Gate to the east, the Vermilion Bird Gate to the south, the White Tiger Gate to the west, and the Black Tortoise Gate to the north.

Archaeological surveys prove the inner city is roughly square. Its north and south walls each measure 1,450 meters, the east wall 1,582 meters, and the west wall 1,438 meters, covering a total area of approximately 2.3 million square meters. Inside once stood numerous grand buildings, including sacrificial halls, side chambers, winding corridors, gate towers, ancestral halls housing statues of 60 court officials such as Di Renjie, and auxiliary palaces.

Over more than 1,300 years of vicissitudes since the Anshi Rebellion, all above-ground palatial buildings of Qianling have vanished completely.

According to Tang Hui Yao (Institutional Records of the Tang Dynasty), 378 halls were built during the renovation of Qianling in the 14th year of the Zhenyuan reign (798 AD).

Today, over 120 exquisite large stone carvings remain. They are vivid reflections of the thriving Tang society and embody the spirit of the golden age.

These stone sculptures are symmetrically arranged northward, starting from the two natural peaks forming a paired gate in the southern part of Liangshan Mountain.

At the southernmost end stand a pair of octagonal stone ornamental pillars, over 8 meters tall. As symbols of imperial mausoleums, their design conveys the pursuit of eternal life and the ancient worship of human procreation.

Further north are a pair of imposing winged horses with rounded, sturdy bodies. Their wings are carved with cloud patterns, as if the horses are about to take flight. Next come a pair of gracefully carved high-relief ostriches, a token of cultural exchanges and friendly ties between the Tang Dynasty and peoples of the Western Regions.

Following the ostriches are five pairs of ceremonial stone horses with grooms, plus ten pairs of stone human statues (also known as Palace Guard Generals) standing around 4 meters high. These stone figures are called Wengzhong. Legend goes that Wengzhong was a valiant general of the Qin Dynasty who guarded Lintao and intimidated frontier tribes. Emperor Qin Shi Huang erected his statue outside the sacred avenue of Xianyang Palace, and later emperors followed this tradition to place Wengzhong statues to guard imperial mausoleums.

Two huge stone steles stand north of the Wengzhong statues. The western one is the Monument in Praise of the Sage Ruler for Emperor Gaozong. Erected by Wu Zetian to glorify his achievements and virtues, it is 6.3 meters high and 1.86 meters wide. The stele bears more than 5,600 characters. The text was composed by Wu Zetian herself and handwritten by Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian. Gold dust was inlaid into the carved strokes, and traces of gold can still be seen on some characters today.

The eastern stele is the famous Wordless Stele of Wu Zetian. It stands 7.53 meters high, 2.1 meters wide and 1.49 meters thick, with a weight of roughly 98.8 tons. Carved from a single huge boulder, it is decorated with eight intertwined dragon patterns, four on each side. Two large relief carvings of ascending dragons, each 4.12 meters tall, run vertically on both sides. The front of the stele base features a carving of a lion and a horse, measuring 2.14 meters in length and 0.66 meters in width.

Tall, robust and exquisitely carved, this stele ranks among the greatest stone monuments in Chinese history. Though erected in the Tang Dynasty, it bears not a single character from that era, leaving countless mysteries for later generations. Two main theories prevail today.

The Theory of Boundless Virtue holds that Wu Zetian, as a female emperor, believed her extraordinary merits and virtues were too great to be expressed in words, hence she left the stele blank. The Last Will Theory claims that before her death, she instructed that her merits and faults should be judged by future generations, so no inscriptions were added to the stele.