Eight Mysteries of The Qin Shihuang Mausoleum
Mystery 3: What is the significance of the astronomical
symbols?
In recent years, researchers discovered murals in Han Dynasty tombs (at
today's Xi'an Jiaotong University) The upper part of the murals symbolize the
sun, moon and stars, while the lower part of the murals represent mountains and
rivers. It is thought that a more comprehensive 28-constellation map may be
drawn in the upper part of the underground palace of Qian Shihuang, with mercury
used in the lower part to represent mountains and rivers. In this underground
kingdom symbolizing heaven and earth, the soul of Qin Shihuang can look up at
the heavens and down at the earth.
Mystery 4: Is there mercury buried in the underground
palace?
Whether or not there is mercury in the Shi Huang Mausoleum has been a puzzle
for centuries. Modern science and technology allows scientists to verify this
age-old question. After repeated tests, geologists have discovered that mercury
shows up in frozen earth samples from the mausoleum. There is almost no mercury
content in the earth samples of other places. Scientists have therefore drawn
the preliminary conclusion that the record of huge amounts of mercury buried in
Shi Huang Mausoleum as noted the Historical Records is accurate.

Mystery 5: How many precious treasures are there in the underground
palace?
Sima Qian wrote in the Historical Records: rare and precious treasures have
been transported here to store in the palace. The Historical Records explicitly
mentions a golden goose, pearls, jade, emeralds and other precious objects.
Archaeologists unearthed a group of large color drawings of bronze chariots and
horses in the late 1980s.
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