The burial place of Qin Shi Huang was no single tomb but rather a vast complex of buildings, priceless artefacts and an army of 8000 soldiers to protect him in the afterlife. The size and scope of the emperor’s resting place are described in this account from Sima Qian whose role in Ancient Chinese history we will examine shortly.
The following extract gives a historian further evidence of the size and splendour of the First Emperor’s tomb complex.
Shi Huang began building his mausoleum soon after he became king of Qin. After the unification of the whole country, more than 700,000 slaves were sent to work on the mausoleum. The burial chamber was deep underground, and the catafalque (platform) for the coffin was cast of copper. Palaces were built in the burial chamber, home to countless rare treasures. Artisans were instructed to build hidden crossbows, which would automatically shoot arrows if thieves approached the tomb. Mercury was mechanically poured into the tomb to form rivers and seas of poison. The ceiling was adorned with the sun, the moon and stars, and laid out on earth were landscapes of places from across the country. Candles made from the fat of mermaids were lighted to burn forever. At the order of Qin Er Shi (the successor to his father Qin Shi Huang), those concubines (wives) of the former Emperor who did not bear any children and who were not suitable to leave the royal palace were buried alive with the Emperor. Thus many died as human burial objects. Some say that since the artisans and architects knew the passageways and treasures of the tombs too well themselves, they would tell others the secret of the mausoleum if they were so allowed…To avoid this, channels and walkways inside the tomb were quickly sealed after the ceremony, and pathways leading to the outside were also closed up. Not a single man was let out. Afterward grass and trees were planted on the surface of the tomb, disguising this as a mound…
(from Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty, by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. Research Center for Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Columbia University Press, 1993, cited in Wu Xiaocong & Guo Youmin (eds) (1999) The Subterranean Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang China Travel and Tourism Press Beijing p 14-15)