About Site of North Sima Gate 北西马门遗址

Geographical Location: On the top of Mount Jiujun, about 23 km northeast of Liquan County, in Shaanxi Province

Period: Tang Dynasty (618-907)

Excavation period：2002, 2003

Shaanxi Provincial Archeological Research Institute, led by Zhang Jianlin

Findings

The Chinese archeologists carried out two excavations in 2002 and 2003 at the North Sima Gate(北西马门Bĕixīmămén) of the Zhaoling Mausoleum of the Tang Dynasty , which is located on top of Mount Jiujun, about 23 km northeast of Liquan County(in Shaanxi Province). With an excavation area of 5,100 square meters, the site is about 86 meters long from south to north and 61 meters wide (at its widest point) from west to east.

The ruins are distributed evenly along a west-east axis. A number of cultural relics were identified as foundations of houses, remains of inscribed stone pillars, engraved tomb epitaphs, rectangular bricks, various tiles, animal-headed bricks, etc. Of all the discoveries, the most significant are the remains of the world-famous "Six Horses of the Zhaoling Mausoleum " -- six horses carved on 2.5-meter-high by 3-meter-wide stone slabs and arranged in rows on the eastern and western verandas of the northern gateway. It is said that the six horses were carefully seleced from a good breed of Persian horses from the western region.

Another important discovery is the stone engraving "Fourteen Chieftains". In the Tang Dynasty it was common practice to erect inscribed stone pillars in front of tombs and to place engraved epitaphs within tomb chambers. These stone engravings provide excellent examples of the magnificent panorama of early-Tang calligraphy.

Significance

In Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty is often referred to as a period when the ancient Chinese civilization was at its peak. However, researchers had no idea how a Tang royal mausoleum was actually laid out. Did the designers of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) tombs in Beijing and Hebei follow in the footsteps of their Tang predecessors?

The site of the North Sima Gate of the Zhaoling is by far the first well-preserved and distinctly planned tomb complex ever discovered among imperial mausoleums of the Tang Dynasty. Excavations at the site help provide significant clues in the study of imperial burials and mausoleum architecture of ancient China, especially in the Tang Dynasty. The identification of the remains of the "Six Horses of the Zhaoling Mausoleum" and the stone engraving "Fourteen Chieftains" are of great significance to China's painting history.

Related: Six Horses of Zhaoling

The "Six Horses of the Zhaoling Mausoleum" were destroyed in 1914. Two of them were shipped secretly to the museum of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, while the other four underwent repairs and were displayed in Shaanxi Province.

Historical records indicate that the six horses were carved on 2.5-meter-high by 3-meter-wide stone slabs and were arranged in rows on the eastern and western verandas of the northern gateway.

First in the eastern row was the yellow Le Biao (the "fatty" prince), with an off-white mouth, who carried Li Shimin to suppress Song Jingang. The second, Qing Zhui (black and gray) was hit by five arrows while carrying Li in battle with Dou Jiande. The third, Shi Fa Chi (red), was hit by four arrows in the front and one in the back while carrying Li to suppress Wang Shichong and defeat Dou Jiande.