Tomb of Shihuangdi

Tomb of Shihuangdi

Strayer University

HUM111

World Cultures

11/4/13

Tomb of Shihuangdi

The monumental size and complexity of the Tomb of Shihuangdi is astounding. It is

believed that the workers were forced to remain inside the tomb when it was walled shut so they

would not reveal the secrets of its construction. What was the emperor’s purpose for such an

elaborate burial place? Over 700 thousand workers were used in the construction of this tomb which took 15 years to build. This was also built in parallel with the Great Wall of China which employed a very large workforce as well (Sayre, 2012).

Qin Shihuangdi was buried with the terracotta army simply because of the belief in the afterlife. He wanted the same powerful status he had while he was alive which is why he also surrounded himself in a river of mercury buried with many treasures as seen with a metal detector (Sayre, 2012). The self proclaimed “Emperor” unified much of China during his short rule from 246 to 210 B.C. He is responsible for many engineering feats such as a uniform road system over 1.5 million square miles of the country and the engineering feats mentioned above (Sayre, 2012).

The terracotta army is a far cry to traditions earlier in the time period as military, concubines, servants and others were sacrificed or buried alive with the individual ruler. By Shihuangdi substituting the sacrifices for the terracotta version, he may have saved over 10,000 lives as this is how many of these soldiers are believed to be buried (None). Shihuangdi was buried under an enormous pyramid shaped mound that stands a good distance from the excavated sections of the burial ground. The central tomb is rumored to contain treasures and flowing rivers of mercury (None).

The Chinese government has taken a slow methodical approach to excavating the tomb. This tomb is being excavated better by the day as technology catches up with the excavating techniques. The secrets of this...