The tomb of the first emperor--- the Qinshihuang Mausoleum

Qinshihuang Mausoleum	Qinshihuang Mausoleum

Located in Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the QinShi Huang Mausoleum is the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) and also of China. Covering 2.13 square kilometers, the four-layered mausoleum, like a well-structured city, includes an underground palace, which is the center of the mausoleum, an inner city, outer city and grounds. "The revelation of the structure is the greatest achievement in the study of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum in the past 40 years," said Yuan Zhongyi, an expert on the mausoleum and honorary curator of the Museum of Qin Terracotta Horses and Warriors.

   The underground palace, the central city, lies under the grave mound in the south of the inner city. It symbolizes Qin Shi Huang's real palace when he was alive, occupying two thirds of the southern part of the inner city. In the area between the inner and outer cities, archeologists have found a chamber for stables, 31 chambers for birds and rare animals, 48 tombs for imperial concubines who were buried alive with the emperor and three sites of homes of officials in charge of gardens and temples.Outside the outer city, along with the well-known terracotta horses and warriors, archeologists found 98 chambers for small stables and many tombs for those buried with Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Emperor Qin Shi Huang was the first in China to construct a mausoleum city and to build coffin chambers and subordinate palaces in the mausoleum. The first emperor also started the ritual of building chambers for those buried alive with the owner of the tomb on a large scale. Another unusual discovery is that the mausoleum does not have a tomb of the empress.All of  those can show the great dignity of ancient emperor .