According to Ancient Chinese Taoist legends, the ancients, and even many people today, believe that after death the soul will live in another place, which is similar to the world of the human beings. Itâs the opposite of the Yang world, where people live, and that place was called the Underworld.
People have imagined how the Underworld would be like ever since the ancient times, which resulted in this practice to become a tradition.
The ancient Emperors paid extra attention to their residences after death, and most of the Emperors began to build their Mausoleums as early as when they ascended the throne. The Mausoleum of the first Emperor, the Emperor of the Qin Dynasty <sup>1</sup> was built for 35 years, and the construction of the Zhaoling <sup>2</sup> Mausoleum lasted for 107 yearsâŠâŠ
The world most famous Terracotta Warriors and Horses, with their huge pits and exquisite terracotta figures were breathtaking. However, these terracotta warriors and horses were only a small part of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Sima Qian <sup>3</sup> recorded: â The dungeon was dug extremely deep, and under the Three Springs, there laid the coffin. The Palace was set up by a hundred officials and the rare artifacts, treasures, and strange stones were moved inside, filling it to the full. He ordered the craftmen to make crossbow arrows, so that the one who dares to come, will be shot to death. There were rivers and lakes out of mercury, and some machines were used to pour and transport it. The top wall had astronomical images, and at the bottom, there were geographical figures <sup>4</sup> ââŠ..
The secrets of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin were still hidden deep underground. And at this moment, Qin Cheng knows that by uncovering the layers of fog this Mausoleum is shrouded in, it will be a discovery that will shake the world.
After removing the stone slab, Qin Cheng was the first one to enter through the excavated tunnel, after him, the other archeologists followed. The light from the searchlight gave very little light to the darkness all around, but it was enough for Qin Cheng to see the place clearly. It was a huge space inlaid with flat stone slabs, but it was empty.
At the south of the space there was a tomb channel that led towards the coffin chamber, but it was blocked by a huge stone plug. At the north there was a huge wall, and in the center of the wall, there was a crack, apparently due to the passage of time. The gap was in a regular rectangle, more than two meters long, and about three meters high.
âThe door to the Underground Palace <sup>5</sup> should be there.â Qin Cheng took a camera and took a look with it, then he said: âBehind the stone wall should be empty, for these cracks to appear like this.â
âWell, according to the Ming Dynasty, this should be called the Diamond Wall.â Professor Liu approached the wall. âI guess weâll have to demolish it to pass through.â
He Xing looked at the empty, confined space, and for some reason, a trace of fear suddenly arose in his heart. Surrounded by these black stone walls, he was now breathing the air of thousands of years ago. Thousands of years ago, the Emperorâs coffin passed through this placeâŠ..
âNot necessarily, you can see that the four sides of the wall look the same, in shape, materials and size. How can we be sure that this is the gate to the Underground Palace? What if this is just a cover? Doesnât everyone here know how evil this tomb can be?!â
What happened that night inside the tunnel left a scar in He Xingâs heart. Watching Zhang Qishuo die like that in front of them, how could he feel at ease when he stepped into this place again?
Qin Cheng understood the reasoning behind He Xingâs cautions, and itâs not like he wasnât worried himself.
At that time, in order to avoid another incident like the one Zhang Qishuo suffered, they changed the direction of the tunnel and avoided those strange holes made by the grave robbers. The original plan has been modified, but no matter how much it was changed, the team already had a hurdle in their minds that they couldnât avoid no matter how much they changed the course.
âActually, I think that He Xing has a point. Ancient books also recorded a lot of mechanisms and traps inside the Imperial Mausoleums built by skilled craftsmen. Like floors that can collapse when you step on them; no one can tell if these are false or not.â Wu Haiâs words made the team members, who were already hesitant to move forward, nod their heads in agreement.
âYes, itâs better to be as careful as possible. If thereâs another homicide, Iâm afraid that our work will be stopped immediately!â
âLet one go explore first to see if thereâs anything unsafe around.â
âIf there really are some mechanism traps, and if there really are hidden arrows like in the ancient records, then wonât we all get hit by them?â
Zhang Jun looked at the few people that were arguing and frowned: âWhat do you mean? Let one go in first? So, whoâs the one that is going to go first?â He pointed at the arguing men separately: âYou? Whoâs gonna be the lucky one? Or are all of you unwilling to move?â
As soon as Zhang Jun said that, all of them shut up.
âNo one actually knows whatâs going to be inside. Letâs take down a piece of the wall tiles and use the searchlight to see whatâs inside.â Qin Cheng took off his glasses and wiped the dust off of them. âWe should always take the first step.â
Qin Cheng was right about this. Even if they were worried about the tomb and whatâs inside waiting for them, they still had to keep going regardless.
In order to avoid the collapse of the stone wall, Qin Chengâs team had to set up a double-sided ladder to dig through the top of the cracked wall. Thatâs how archeology works, you donât know whatâs hidden at the other side of the stone wall. Is it a treasure? A trap? Will it be empty? If at the other side of the stone wall thereâs something precious, if they crush it by accident after breaking the wall, it will be too late for them to regret it. Therefore, they couldnât directly push down the wall, instead, theyâd have to slowly chisel away with their tools, and take down the slabs one by one.
As time passed by, the three meter high crack on the wall revealed a hole that allowed one person to bend through.
At the top of the ladder, Qin Cheng squeezed the Jade pendant that had been hiding in his pocket and asked Zhang Jun to pass the flashlight to him, so he could observe the other side of the wall.
At the other side, he saw a clean passage, a passage in which no one has stepped on for thousands of years.
âIt doesnât look like thereâs something wrong on the other side.â Qin Cheng said as he climbed down the ladder.
âDid you see if there were any traps?â
âHow could that be seen? With just a flashlight in Qin Chengâs hand, if he can see something, that would be a ghost.â
âSo, whatâs next?â He Xing looked at Qin Cheng and said: âWhy donât we try to find a sheep to throw in first?â
In fact, Zhang Jun also thought of throwing an animal in to explore first, so he nodded after he heard He Xingâs words: âOkay, letâs throw an animal first.â
âBut, how can the sheep tell us if itâs safe after we send it inside? We wonât even know if it died there.â
âFind a rope and tie it around the sheep, when it runs far enough, drag it back to see if itâs hurt.â
The teamâs plan was good, but when they found a sheep by afternoon, they didnât know what had happened. When they hung the sheep up and put it at the other side of the wall, the sheep refused to go any further, shivering instead in one corner against the stone wall, trying to hide itself.
Looking at this situation, Qin Cheng was feeling a bit embarrassed. Why does it feel like all of them were bullying a small animal?
âCome on, Iâll go inside.â
After saying that, Qin Cheng dragged the sheep up and untied the rope on it to let the sheep go. Then he tied the rope tightly around his waist: âI donât think there will be any problem. Iâll go find out whatâs inside and see if thereâs anything dangerousâŠ. in case thereâs really something dangerous there, you guys have to drag me back right away.â
âAre you really going in there?â Zhang Jun was a little bit worried, after all, he knew that Qin Cheng could see those kinds of strange forces, which makes him go overâŠâŠ
Qin Cheng smiled: âNothing bad will happen.â
After that, Qin Cheng asked Wu Hai to take another wooden ladder and hand it to him. Then he carefully placed the ladder on the other side of the wall. When the wooden ladder was settled down, Qin Cheng took the searchlight and went down the ladder step by step.
Step by step, Qin Cheng could see the four walls clearly with the help of the searchlight. The whole piece of lapis lazuli slabs put together one by one created the images of: A flying Dragon and a Phoenix, a Bixi, a Chiwen, a Tao Tie, a Yazi, a Biâan, a Lion Dragon, a Gongfu, a Jiao Tu, and a Pu Lao <sup>6</sup> . All of them looked so lifelikeâŠ..
With the flashlight, Qin Cheng looked up at the top, and he saw some strange patterns and confusing stripes. Qin Cheng seemed to have seen these somewhere before, but he couldnât remember it for the moment.
At the end of the passage, about 20 meters away, there was a whole gate made of white marble. The towering eaves and the high stone gate showed the ownerâs lofty status, making the one who looked at it stare in awe. Under the eaves, and above the door edge, there was a plaque made out of Jade, with a character carved in the center:
âMo.â
Beside the white marble gate stood two strange bronze statues of gods and beasts, about two meters high. They were grimacing their teeth and looked extremely vicious. It seemed like they were guarding the Mausoleum.
In ancient times, there was a saying: âAbove is home, and at the underground is the graveâ. The dead, especially the ones of high status, would build their Yin houses imitating the construction of their Yang houses <sup>7</sup> , bringing what they loved and owned to be buried underground with them, so they could continue to enjoy their lives in the Netherworld.
Then, the construction method and style of this Mausoleum should be the same as that.
After looking again at the character âMoâ carved on the Jade plaque, Qin Cheng squeezed the Jade pendant in his hand. It seemed that this was really the tomb ownerâs Jade pendant after allâŠâŠ
Su Jingmo âŠâŠ this name âŠâŠ
âItâs so beautifulâŠâŠâ
So⊠many⊠footnotes⊠_(:3 ăâ )_ And that passage from Sima Qian was such a pain to translate (ÂŽïŒÏïŒ`) I hope itâs understandable enough?
The archeologists have finally entered the Mausoleum!! ! ! Yay!!