|
Tomb of Princess Yongtai
This was the first tomb to be excavated
and remains the most impressive of all the satellite tombs
in Qianling.
Princess Yongtai was the granddaughter of
Tang Emperor Gaozong and his wife Empress Wu Zetian. Her
husband was Wu Yanji, son of Wu Chengsi, who was Wu Zetian's
nephew. Princess Yongtai was well-known for helping people.
There are many stories told locally about how Princess Yongtai
had achieved high status in her qigong and martial arts
practice.
In 701, Princess Yongtai died in Luoyang,
at the age of 17. The epitaph suggests that she died in
childbirth, however the real reason was considered a mystery.
(Supposedly both she and her husband were poisoned by her
grandmother after Yongtai revealed secrets about the older
woman's affairs with two lovers.) She died in Luoyang, but
her father missed her and had her body moved to this tomb
outside Xi'an where he lived - after Wu Zetian had died.
This was in 705AD: the Emperor Zhongzong gave orders that
his daughter and her husband should be buried together in
the Qianling Tomb.
In front of the Tomb of Princess Yongtai
the road is lined with a pair of stone lions, two pairs
of stone figures, and a pair of obelisks (ornamental stone
columns). The tomb is pyramid-shaped, 87.5 metres long and
3.9 metres wide with a chamber 16.7 metres deep. A tunnel
leads to the tomb with charming murals on the walls. They
represent court attendants, almost all of them women, wearing
the elegant central Asian fashions of the day. On the walls
are six small niches in which a multitude of tri-color glazed
pottery figures, poetry and porcelain wares were placed.
The burial chamber represents the house where Princess lived.
|
