Was the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang destroyed by Xiang Yu?

The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor has always been a very mysterious existence. Although it has been decades since it was discovered today, all the news about the interior of the mausoleum, or the structural map, is only obtained according to the detected data, and has not really entered the core of the mausoleum underground palace. There are rumors that Xiang Yu set a fire in Xianyang, and the imperial tomb was burned and became empty. What is the truth? Is the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor really destroyed?

1. Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

The royal family is very particular about the construction of their tombs. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the imperial tombs built on the mountain appeared in China. In the later historical development process, even ordinary civilians were very cautious about the location of tombs. Today, we will tell the story of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum.

After the death of Qin Shihuang, he was buried in a huge mausoleum. According to historical records, the construction of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum took 39 years, and the labor force used to build his mausoleum reached as much as 700 thousand at the most. According to statistics, the workers who repaired his mausoleum alone accounted for one-tenth of the whole state of Qin at that time.

2. Records and legends about the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

According to historical records, when Xiang Yu invaded Guanzhong, he killed the nobles in the palace first. Later, Xiang Yu connived at soldiers burning and looting in the city, and Xianyang city was completely in ruins. Later, Xiang Yu went to the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and took away all the belongings in the Mausoleum. At that time, more than 300,000 people carried the treasure for more than a month.

Later, Xiang Yu also set a fire, and those treasures that could not be taken away were directly burned for several days. The tomb of Qin Shihuang was destroyed and Xiang Yu was burned, which is estimated to be the earliest disaster suffered by the tomb. After Xiang Yu retreated from Xianyang, grave robbers from Kanto came to the Qin Mausoleum, and they moved all the other objects in the mausoleum.

However, there is another legend about the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. It is said that a shepherd boy came to herd sheep near the Qin Mausoleum. He accidentally fell into the mausoleum, which later caused a fire in the mausoleum, which lasted for several months. As a result, the land near Qin Shihuang's mausoleum collapsed and all the buildings on the ground were restored.

According to the above records and descriptions, the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is an empty shell. In fact, there is nothing valuable in the mausoleum, but there is evidence to reveal the real secret of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.

Xiang Yu and Liu Bang fought for the world, and finally Xiang Yu died on the edge of Wujiang River, and Liu Bang finally established the Han Dynasty. In order to win the hearts of the people, Liu Bang announced that he would protect the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, and Liu Bang also ordered immigrants to live in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. After the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) in Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin directly ordered Tongxian officials to repair the Qin Mausoleum. However, there were also some years when warlords scuffled, and some people with malicious intentions destroyed the imperial tomb.

3. Is the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor intact?

So, is the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor an empty shell or intact? Was the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang stolen and burned?

Now archaeologists have unearthed two bronze chariots and horses from the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. These two bronze chariots and horses came from the ear room of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum. We can imagine that if the fire in the mausoleum is not extinguished in March, these funerary objects can appear intact in front of the world.

In decades of archaeological exploration, experts have also conducted in-depth research on the Qin Mausoleum. According to reports, archaeologists have drilled tens of thousands of times near the Qin Mausoleum. These explorations fully prove that the palace walls and various brick piles around the underground palace have not been excavated by anyone. Although the experts did find the cave dug by the grave robbers in the investigation, it is still far from the underground palace of Wodi.

There is also evidence that the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum is complete, that is, according to the current estimation technology, there is a lot of mercury in the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum. If Xiang Yu had set it on fire or someone had dug up the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, the mercury would have evaporated, so the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was still intact. Presumably in the near future, the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor will bring us more wonderful secrets.