There are opinions suggesting that the depth of the tomb of Qin Shi Huang is between 500 meters and 1,000 meters. But is this figure accurate?
Qin Shi Huang led his armies to eliminate the feudal states, completing the grand unification of all of China and ushering in a new era for the country.
Even today, after thousands of years of history, the influence of Qin Shi Huang remains substantial. What keeps people talking about him might be the mysteries within the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, located at the foot of Mount Li in Shaanxi Province.
One of the unresolved mysteries is the depth of the tomb. How deep is the burial site of Qin Shi Huang?
Overview of the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. Photo: Sohu.
According to the Records of the Grand Historian, when the Chancellor Li Si reported on the construction progress of the tomb, Qin Shi Huang felt that the current depth was insufficient and ordered an additional “three hundred zhang.” Additionally, the Spring and Autumn Annals also mentioned the depth of Qin Shi Huang’s tomb with phrases like: “deep to the water spring,” “three hundred zhang or more.”
This indicates how historians have debated the position of the tomb within the underground palace of Qin Shi Huang, as many opinions have been proposed over thousands of years without any certainty.
Inside the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. Photo: Sohu.
One of the hypotheses put forward by Chinese researchers suggests that the words of Sima Qian are the most reliable.
Sima Qian recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian: “The emperor who conquered the world has lived forever beneath Mount Li. More than 700,000 soldiers visit, but they must cross three rivers to see him one last time. The palace is adorned with gold, the coffin is made of bronze, along with extremely rare and strange artifacts. A skilled craftsman created a crossbow that could kill anyone who intrudes into the tomb. The mercury flows like rivers and oceans, infused with heaven and earth to ensure eternal life here.”
In the quest to determine the depth of Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, not only domestic experts but also researchers from Europe have joined the effort. They used the Records of the Grand Historian and other related documents to simulate the underground palace within Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, and the results indicated that the depth of the underground palace would be between 500 meters and 1,000 meters.
However, this result was quickly dismissed by Chinese researchers. They believe that if the depth of the underground palace is 1,000 meters, it would exceed the depth of the Wei River, which could pose a risk of the river water flowing back into the underground palace.
Moreover, domestic geological experts, after multiple field surveys of Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, also believe that the underground palace is not as deep as many think.
Therefore, Sima Qian’s statement about “crossing three rivers” is quite reliable, meaning that the burial site of Qin Shi Huang is only about 100 meters to 300 meters deep from the surface.
