Maoling Museum

Maoling museum is a museum built on the cemetery of Huo Qubing, the favorite General of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. It is famous for the mausoleum of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing's tomb and large stone carvings. Up to 14 pieces of cultural relics in its collection have been designated as national treasures.

Mausoleum of Han Dynasty is the mausoleum of Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. It is the largest Mausoleum of Han Dynasty with the longest construction time and the richest funerary objects. The mausoleum is tall and magnificent, square cone shaped, known as the "pyramid of China". There are more than 20 funerary tombs around it, such as Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Huo Guang, Jin richan, etc. Huo Qubing's tomb is similar to Qilian Mountain in shape. The stone carvings on the tomb are the earliest, most complete and most valuable large-scale stone carvings discovered in China so far. Among the stone carvings, the most famous one is the stone carvings of "Horse Treading on Xiongnu". The strong and powerful horses, the struggling and bearded Xiongnu people, are very shocking.

Maoling Museum

Maoling museum is located on the Wuling plateau between Xianyang and Xingping in Shaanxi Province, about 40 kilometers away from Xi'an. It is a famous museum of Western Han dynastic history at home and abroad for its Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, Tomb of Huo Qubing and large stone carvings. At present, there are 2 cultural relic exhibition rooms, 1 Art Exhibition of Han Wudi story statue and 6 stone carving Gallery rooms. It covers an area of 121486 square meters. It is famous for its magnificent and heroic style.

In February 2020, in order to pay tribute to the medical workers struggling in the front line of anti epidemic, from the date of resumption of operation to December 31, 2020, the policy of free visit to all medical workers in the country will be implemented.

Development history

Maoling mausoleum is the mausoleum of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, the largest Mausoleum of the Western Han Dynasty. The mausoleum is tall and grand, with a square cone, known as the "Oriental pyramid". Around it, there are more than 20 accompanying tombs, such as Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Huo Guang, Jin RIYUAN, etc. According to Wu Di Ji of Hanshu, Maoling was first built in the second year of Jianyuan (139 BC), which lasted 53 years. According to historical records, one third of the annual tax revenue of the whole country was spent on the construction of the mausoleum. Therefore, the mausoleum is tall and magnificent, which is called "Oriental pyramid". Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty (156-87 BC), Mingche, the son of emperor Jing, had been in power for 54 years. He established his territory and made great achievements in culture, administration and martial arts. It is said that "Emperor Wu of Qin Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Tang Dynasty, and Emperor song of Tang Dynasty". In the second year after Emperor Wu ascended the throne, the mausoleum was built, which took 53 years.

Over the years, under the leadership of Wang Zhijie (researcher), a national model worker, a national outstanding contribution expert and curator, the staff of the museum have carried forward the spirit of "hard work, selfless dedication, serving tourists and improving themselves", and developed the small cultural management office with an area of 3600 square meters and 20 articles into a famous tourist resort integrating cultural relics, ancient buildings and gardens . Today, the museum has a pleasant landscape, with a lot of Han style buildings, pavilions, green waves, green pines and cypresses, flowers in three seasons and evergreen in four seasons. The tour is rich in content, including "a unique opera in Maoling, fish in linchi chasing tourists", Millennium chime performance, listening to melodious ancient music, night scenery, floating bridge and fountain, and enjoying the art exhibition of Emperor Wu's statues Years ago, the historical realm of the Western Han Dynasty was impressive. It's very interesting and enjoyable to travel by sheep drawn cart, horse drawn cart, camel and donkey. The staff are enthusiastic, patient, meticulous, civilized and standardized, which makes tourists feel at home. Li Ruihuan, national leader, visited Maoling. " After visiting, Mr. Shi Xueyan, head of the Canadian national cultural delegation and professor of the Hong Kong University of fine arts, wrote in the message book: "from Canada to the Museum of Maoling in Shaanxi, China, we have traveled thousands of miles by plane, train and car. Seeing the achievements of Maoling's work, we feel that it is worthwhile to travel thousands of miles. This place is not only valuable in cultural relics, rich in display contents, but also fully demonstrates the surrounding environment It shows the long history of Chinese culture and the great contribution of Chinese working people.

Over the past 40 years, Maoling Museum has expanded its original area from 3600 square meters to 121486 square meters, its building area has increased from 200 square meters to 15805 square meters, its collection of cultural relics has increased from 20 to more than 4100, and 14 national treasures. Among them, the stone Fu Hu, the unearthed gilt horse, the jade carving shop head, the four gods hollow brick and the pottery water pipe have been exhibited in the United States, Britain, Japan, France, South Korea, Monaco, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries and regions for many times, causing a sensation.

architectural composition

The cemetery is square, divided into inner and outer cities, surrounded by walls. The wall is 431 meters long from east to west, 415 meters wide from north to south, and 5.8 meters wide from base. There is a door in the middle of the four sides. It is 46.5 meters high, 231 meters long from east to west and 234 meters long from north to south. According to historical records, Mausoleum is rich in sacrificial objects, including "gold and silver, black animals, fish and turtles, cattle, horses, tigers and leopards, birds, hundreds of 90 objects. They put the jade boxes and sticks given by the king of Tang Qu and thirty volumes of miscellaneous scriptures read by Emperor Wu into the gold boxes, which were then buried in the tomb. By the time Emperor Wu was buried, the funerary objects in the tomb had already filled the space of the tomb, and there was no room for more funerary objects.

People buried

occupant of a tomb

In 141 A.D., Emperor Liu Che built Shouling here, where he was buried after his death in 87 B.C. Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was a very talented feudal emperor who could be compared with the first emperor of Qin Dynasty in history. When he was in power, it was the heyday of the Han Empire. He adopted the grand strategy of rewarding farming, developing production, enriching the country and strengthening the army, and fighting against the Huns. He strengthened the centralized system in politics, and at the same time implemented the official system of boiling salt, smelting iron, transportation and trade in economy, and built water conservancy, The development of agriculture, foreign trade; military resistance to the Huns, opened up the road to the western regions, firmly controlled the Hexi Corridor, southward to Hainan, basically formed the pattern of the living space of the Chinese nation, so that the Han Empire stood in the east of the world with a unified, prosperous and powerful posture. Maoling mausoleum is a magnificent building, and the funeral objects inside the mausoleum are extremely luxurious and rich. It is historically known as "money and property, birds, animals, fish and turtles, cattle, horses, tigers and leopards, and all kinds of things are buried.".

Main funerals

A survey of funerals

The mausoleum is surrounded by tombs of concubines, maids, meritorious officials and relatives. Up to now, there are more than 20 sealed tombs, including those of Wei Qing, Huo Guang, Huo Qubing and Jin ribei. Many cultural relics have been found in this area, such as the exquisite blue jade animal face pattern shop head, the gold and silver cloud pattern steel rhinoceros Zun, as well as the rosefinch pattern, dragon pattern, geometric pattern and other large hollow bricks and character tiles. In 1981, more than 230 pieces of precious cultural relics, such as gilded bronze horse, gilded silver bamboo fumigation stove, and chain copper heater, were unearthed from the eastern Mausoleum of Maoling, which are extremely rare art treasures. The strangeness of mausoleum and other Han tombs is that they all have the meaning of "symbol", such as Mrs. Li's tomb, Weiqing's tomb, Huo Qubing's tomb and so on.

Tomb of Madame Li

The tomb of Mrs. Li enjoys the burial system of empress, which is called Yingling in history. Its tomb is tall, shaped like a millstone, small in the top and big in the bottom, with a ring line in the middle, commonly known as moziling. The legend of moziling is a good and moving folk story. Mrs. Li was so beautiful that she was loved by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. She was very beautiful and died early. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wrote a long poem "Ode to mourn for Madame Li": "Alas, I miss my soul!"

Tomb of Wei Qing

Weiqing tomb is the mausoleum of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. It is located 1 km northeast of the tomb of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and adjacent to Huo Qubing's tomb in the East. From afar, the tomb is like a hill with soft lines. According to the biography of Huo Qubing in the history of Han Dynasty, the tomb is like Lushan.

Weiqing mausoleum is a two-story platform covered with bucket shaped soil. It is the largest mausoleum buried with important officials in Maoling mausoleum. Its bottom is 113.5 meters long in the East, 90 meters long in the south, 72.6 meters long in the north, 107.2 meters long in the west, 25.5 meters high, 15 meters north-south and 6 meters East-West at the top, and 25.5 meters high. It covers an area of 8064.55 square meters with a volume of 94412 cubic meters. The northwest corner is concave, while the southwest corner is protruding. It looks like a hill in the distance. The south slope is steep, the north slope is long and gentle, and there is a platform in the middle.

The tomb of Huo Qubing

Huo Qubing's tomb is like Qilian Mountain. Symbolizing the great victory of Huo Qubing in Hexi before his death, the stone carvings on the tomb are the earliest, most complete and most valuable large-scale stone carvings discovered in China so far. Its carving technique is succinct, imitates the shape with the help of the stone, is natural, vivid, full of spirit, and has the marvel of perfection, which is regarded as the treasure of human art. It enjoys a high reputation in the world and is always appreciated by art masters. Mr. Liu Kaiqu, former chairman of the all China Art Association and art master, said: "Maoling stone carving is one of the greatest works of ancient art in China, and it is also the best tradition. It should be carried forward to create new art."

At the age of 17, Huo Qubing went out with general Wei Qingda to fight against Xiongnu. Especially in the Hexi Corridor and Qilian mountain area, they galloped and fought for thousands of miles, sweeping away the main force of Xiongnu, thus completely opening the Silk Road to the western regions. For the Han Dynasty to consolidate and open up the northwest frontier, made brilliant achievements. Emperor Wu loves talent and treats Huo Qubing with his father and son.

Unfortunately, Huo Qubing died young. Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty was very sad