Qin Shihuangdi began supervising the construction of the Qin Ling, his burial tomb, as soon as he took the throne in 246 BCE. Work intensified after the conquest of the rival states, and continued for about 40 years, even after his death in 210 BCE. Only the fall of the dynasty itself in 206 BCE halted work on the elaborate funerary complex.

The site chosen was south of the Wei River beside the slopes of Black Horse Mountain in what is now Lintong County, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Xi'an. The entire site measures approximately seven and a half kilometres square. Interior and exterior ramparts were built around its edge, probably out of the earth removed in the course of digging graves and chambers within the mausoleum. The exterior of the mausoleum is in the form of a low earth pyramid (see photograph page 4) with a wide base about 350 metres (382 yards) square. Originally it was 115 metres (377 feet) high, but more than 2,000 years of erosion have reduced this to 76 metres (249 feet). The emperor's grave itself, Qin Ling, which lies less than two kilometres west of the burial ground of the terracotta army, has not been excavated. Beneath it is thought to lie the underground palace in which the remains of Qin Shihuangdi were laid to rest over 22 centuries ago.

Investigations have confirmed that there was an inner and outer enclosure and preliminary archaeological investigations have revealed what appears to be the underground palace's wall just four metres below the surface. What actually lies in the underground palace will remain a mystery for the moment, since the Chinese Ministry of Culture has no plans to excavate the site. The official line is that Chinese archaeologists are reluctant to open the tomb until they know a way to preserve what may be very delicate remains.

The mausoleum is thought to have been plundered at least once, by a rebel general called Xiang Yu in 206 BCE, but no excavations have yet been done. It is known, however, that not only was the body of Qin Shihuangdi interred in the tomb (in 209 BCE, a year after his death), but also those of his childless wives-who were buried alive-together with artisans who had knowledge of the inner structure of the mausoleum.

Information about the construction of the mausoleum comes almost entirely from Sima Qian, the chronicler of The Historical Records-China's first large-scale work of history which was written about a century after the fall of Qin. He recorded that a labour force of 700,000 was used to construct the mausoleum. The underground palace was said to comprise various chambers, the most important being the burial chamber. It featured bronze walls with heaven and the known world- the Qin empire-being reproduced on the ceiling and floor respectively. The sun, moon and stars-the last represented by pearls-were depicted, while features on the floor included the 100 rivers of the empire flowing mechanically into a sea on which floated golden boats. Tests on the mausoleum have shown minute traces of mercury over an estimated area of 12,000 square metres (14,352 square yards), adding substance to this claim. In all, some 17 skeletons, probably of princes and princesses, and perhaps of Qin Shihuangdi's parents, have been unearthed.

The show put on at Qin Shihuangdi tomb.