New Observations on the Layout of the Western Han Imperial Mausoleums
Prof. Yang Zhefeng
(Institute of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University)
CWAC 152
4:00-6:00 p.m. Friday, Nov.21
Abstract
Western Han (Xi Han西漢) dynasty (206 BCE-8 CE), which lasted for more than two centuries, left eleven imperial mausoleums near its capital Chang’an長安. Nine of them are located on the Xianyang Plateau( Xianyang yuan咸陽原) north to the Wei River ( Wei shui渭水), while the other two are located to the northeast of Chang’an. Each of these mausoleums was accompanied with corresponding ritual architectures and satellite tombs of concubines and ministers, and some mausoleums were even assigned mausoleum towns. This is how a complex came into being. Many scholars have explored in various aspects the layout of these imperial mausoleums, but few of them have ever examined carefully the relationship between these mausoleums with the aid of the scientific geographic and topographic coordinate system. Nor have they combined the tumuli with the shape, the orientation and the location of the mausoleums to analyze the connection between these elements. Taking advantage of the current achievements in probing and measuring these mausoleums, my paper aims to explore the mausoleum planning and related ritual issues as revealed in the layout of the Western Han imperial mausoleums.
(trans. Shi Jie)
