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Science trumping tourism in China's "Valley of Kings"
2007-03-14
A heated debate over whether to excavate one of the 28 imperial tombs dotting the outskirts of China's ancient capital of Xian has resurfaced with a respected economist weighing in on the advantages to the nation of opening the royal grave. "The cultural enlightenment from excavating the tomb of Qinshi Huang will surpass the pyramids of Egypt," Zhang Wuchang of Hong Kong University said in a recent article that has sparked the debate. "Not starting excavations is the same as having nothing. Only by excavating will we find value capable of contributing to society." Zhang's article, posted on his website late last year, drew heated reaction with the official Xinhua news agency reporting that over 240,000 people had weighed in with their own opinions. According to Zhang, by opening up Qinshi Huang's tomb, the imperial tomb that accompanies Xian's famed terra-cotta warriors, tourism revenues in Shaanxi province would double. "Many view this kind of thinking as the main problem facing China today," said Duan Qingbo, head of the excavation team of the Qinshi Huang mausoleum. "A lot of officials are only thinking about money and the benefits that such an excavation will bring to them. Meanwhile they ignore the science," he said. "If any dig is going to be undertaken we have to ensure that what is found can be preserved, otherwise we will be killing the chicken that lays the golden egg." Over 40 million people have visited the mausoleum of Qinshi Huang, China's first emperor and ruler of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-207 BC), since the discovery of the terra-cotta warriors in 1974. In the first half of 2006, 356,000 foreign visitors and 12.6 million domestic tourists visited Xian, both up around 13 percent from the previous year, bringing in revenues of 8.49 billion yuan (1.1 billion dollars), according to the Shaanxi Economic Information Centre. Other leading candidates for excavation include the Han Yangling mausoleum of Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD) emperor Jing Di and the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Qianling mausoleum of emperor Gaozong and his powerful empress Wu Zetian. The Qianlong mausoleum is already a prominent tourist site, while the Han Yangling museum opened last year. Modern surveys indicate that the main burial vaults of the three imperial tombs remain undisturbed, Duan said. Historic records however suggest that grave robbers cleaned out at least 17 of the Tang tombs in China's "Valley of the Kings," most of the nine nearby Han tombs and even Qinshi Huang's tomb that lies east of Xian. Meanwhile, Duan recalls the late 1950 excavation of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Dingling Mausoleum near Beijing that was supposed to have brought China to the forefront of world archaeology. The dig was a disaster due to poor quality work that was worsened by the intervening Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when Red Guards destroyed some of the finds, including the remains of the dead emperor. "Chinese archaeologists have ruined many objects because excavations were not properly done and the technology was lacking," Duan said. This not only includes the bodies of former emperors and empresses, but also clothes, paintings and any other artifacts susceptible to disintegration after being exposed to different atmospheric conditions following up to 2,200 years of burial, he said. "Shaanxi province applied to excavate Qianling in 2000, but was turned down by (China's cabinet) based on the opinions of archaeologists around the country," Wu Xiaocong, curator of the Han Yangling Mausoleum, said. "But techniques are getting better and if a tomb is going to be excavated, Qianling would likely be the first." Wu's museum, in the northern outskirts of Xian, boasts state of the art techniques, with the ongoing dig being carried out under climate-controlled conditions that will ensure the preservation of the finds. Such new techniques mean that the time is nearing when the state-protected imperial tombs may be excavated, he said. According to written records, the Qianling tomb holds the Gaozong emperor's most precious possessions including paintings, silks, lacquer objects, ceramics, wooden objects, silver, gold and jewelled articles. He is also said to be buried in a jade coffin, which purportedly can prevent the corpse from decaying. Qinshi Huang's tomb is even more elaborate with historical records saying the coffin of the first emperor is encased in molten copper and sits in a large tomb chamber full of fine vessels, precious stones and rarities. The ceiling of the chamber is studded with jewels that represent the stars, sun and moon, while on the floor rivers of mercury represent the earth. "Certainly recent initial surveys have found high concentrations of mercury under the tomb chamber," mausoleum archaeologist Duan said. "But we will never know how accurate the historical records are until actual excavation takes place."
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