Qianling Mausoleum

The Qianling Mausoleum is a Tang Dynasty (618–907) tomb site located in Qian County, Shaanxi province, China, and is 85 km (53 miles) northwest from Xi'an, formerly the Tang capital. Built by 684 (with additional construction until 706), the tombs of the mausoleum complex houses the remains of various members of the royal Li family. This includes Emperor Gaozong of Tang (r. 649–683), as well as his wife, the Zhou Dynasty usurper and China's first (and only) governing empress Wu Zetian (r. 690–705). The mausoleum is renowned for its many Tang Dynasty stone statues located above ground and the mural paintings adorning the subterranean walls of the tombs. Besides the main tumulus mound and underground tomb of Gaozong and Wu Zetian, there is a total of 17 smaller attendant tombs or peizang mu. Presently, only 5 of these attendant tombs have been excavated by archaeologists, three belonging to members of the royal family, one to a chancellor of China, and the other to a general of the left guard.