The Era of the Construction of the Mausoleum of Qinshihuangdi 秦始皇帝 : From the Period of the Warring States through to the Period of Unification, and on into the Era of Foreign Wars and Internal Rebellions

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Other Title
  • 秦始皇帝陵建設の時代 : 戰國・統一・對外戰爭・内亂
  • シンシ コウテイ リョウケンセツ ノ ジダイ センゴク トウイツ タイガイ セ
  • 秦始皇帝陵建設の時代 : 戦国・統一・対外戦争・内乱

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Abstract

In the year 246 B.C., one year after he ascended the throne as king of Qin, Shihuangdi began construction of his imperial mausoleum. In 211 B.C., one year after Shihuangdi died, with this mausoleum still incomplete, the Second Emperor buried his father's coffin in the ground. In order to understand to what extent the methods of construction used over the course of this thirty-nine year period followed or diverged from traditional practices, it is necessary to examine the conditions existing at the time the mausoleum was planned and constructed. The position chosen for the mausoleum on Mt. Li 驪山 was determined via the use of methods traditional during the Warring States period. In the era of peace and unification that followed the Warring States period, construction continued on an underground palace. During the period that saw the beginning of foreign wars, Liyi 麗邑 city and inner-outer double walls around the mausoleum were built. After Shihuangdi met with sudden death and the Second Emperor ascended the throne, work began on the burial of an underground palace, on the pits of the terracotta figures of warriors and horses (bingma yongkeng 兵馬俑坑) and on the pits of the stable (majiukeng 馬厩坑). Each period had a priority in construction, and work on the imperial mausoleum proceeded accordingly. The Qin dynasty had adopted a policy of concentrating labour for construction within relatively short periods of time. It is thus incorrect to assume that the Qin employed a policy of continuous use over a thirty-seven year period of the construction labours of more than seven hundred thousand criminals.

Journal

  • 東洋史研究

    東洋史研究 53 (4), 632-656, 1995-03-31

    東洋史研究會

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