Mount Lishan is a man-made necropolis of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. His grave is a dragon-shaped mound with the burial itself in its eye. This symbolizes that even after his death, the emperor watches over his state.
Shi Huangdi was a great but stern ruler. He created a strong centralized state, enacted a standard system of weights and measures, built the Great Wall of China, and abolished the feudal system.
But not all of the emperor's actions were approved by his subjects. It is known that Shi Huangdi ordered 450 scholars who disagreed with him to be buried alive, and when his eldest son dared to express his opinion, different from that of his father, he was exiled to the remote border of the empire.
One of the most condemned actions of the head of state was the burning of all books that contradicted the religious, historical and philosophical views of the emperor, first of all it concerned the teachings of Confucius. As a result, the emperor's life was repeatedly consumed and he surrounded himself with sorcerers, astrologers and alchemists, who should have predicted the dangers that threatened him.
Along with this, Shi Huangdi was obsessed with the search for the elixir of immortality and even sent an expedition to the legendary island off the east coast of China, where, according to the legend, the immortal keepers of the magic drink lived. But the expedition never returned, and all attempts to create or find the coveted elixir ended in failure. In 210 BC. Qin Shi Huangdi died of a serious illness.
The emperor was buried in a tomb, which he began to prepare for himself as soon as he ascended the throne. 700,000 people worked on the construction of the tomb. The secrecy of the location of the tomb was completely preserved, since the designers and builders were buried in it together with the emperor. A follower of Shi Huangdi ordered that all the women who lived at the palace, with the exception of those who raised their sons, were also buried in this "city". To hide the tomb from prying eyes, a whole forest was planted above it, which made it look like an ordinary hill from the side.
In 1974, his burial was found by peasants who were digging a well and stumbled upon pieces of terracotta. Deeper three meters, they found the first terracotta statue in full human growth. Further excavations uncovered a tomb and about 8,000 more statues.
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The army was built in order of battle, four soldiers in a row, they guarded the tomb of the emperor for more than twenty centuries. In this army, all the ranks that were available in the army of China at that time were represented, the face of each soldier is different from the faces of the others.
It is assumed that each figure retains a portrait resemblance to a real soldier of the Shi Huangdi army. All the figures were brightly colored, and in their hands they had real weapons: bows, swords, crossbows. To the surprise of archaeologists, horses and chariots, also made of terracotta, were also found here.
According to ancient scriptures, the tomb resembles a huge underground city over 40 meters high and 20 square miles in area. The vault of the tomb was a shimmering starry sky, and the floor was decorated with an image of a map of the imperial domain, with tiny towers, palaces and houses. Also, according to this drawing, depicted on the floor, a mercury "river" flowed, which flowed into the "ocean". It took a lot of gold and precious stones to create this splendor.
It is also believed that charged crossbows were installed to protect wealth from tomb robbers, automatically firing at intruders trying to disturb the peace of the dead. This is most likely true, since several centuries ago there were already recorded cases of the death of jewelry hunters who were faced with such a protection system.
Now on the site of the ruins there is a museum, but the study of the necropolis continues to this day, and the very place of the emperor's burial is still awaiting an autopsy. People can only guess what countless treasures, deadly traps and ancient secrets can await archaeologists.