There used to be a large number of buildings in the mausoleum, which have gradually disappeared. The only things left are a few remains like the scarlet-bird gate, sacrificial hall, sacrificial altar and sima gate which have become present day tourist attractions.

"The bas-relief sculpture stone horses were originally placed at the sacrificial altar and we discovered the parts of the stone horses outside the ancient sacrificial altar and sima gate," Zhang said.

Because the stone horses were broken into pieces, the arrows originally engraved on the horses are not clear, and the words of praise by Emperor Li Shimin and the horses' names cannot be seen easily, Zhang said.

"Fortunately, the grave stones erected by You Shixiong, a well-known literati and general in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) remain intact, which tell us the details of the relief sculpture, the names, the hair features and the deeds of the six horses engraved on the stones using a line drawing technique, and the message of praise written by Emperor Li Shimin for the horses," Zhang said.

It was traditional to install steles in front of tombs and put epitaphs in the coffin chambers during the Tang Dynasty, so there are steles in front of most Zhaoling tombs each with an epitaph in almost every coffin chamber.

"These steles provide not only valuable material objects for Chinese calligraphy study, but also rare written data for further research on the Tang Dynasty," Zhang said.

Aside from the world famous six stone horses, the most important ancient relics discovered in Zhaoling are the pottery figurines. Large in number and rich in variety, these stone, wooden and pottery figurines carrying colourful paint and glaze provide valuable information for the study of Tang culture and art, Zhang said.

The Tang Dynasty was one of the most significant and prosperous of feudal societies in China and Emperor Li Shimin was considered one of the most capable and able-minded emperors in Chinese history.

"Therefore, Zhaoling is regarded as the best-known mausoleum under heaven. In 1961, the State Council claimed it to be one of the most important historical monuments maintained under State protection, and Zhaoling Museum was built at the same time to house the unearthed ancient relics from the cemetery," Zhang said.

(Editor: Maggie; Source: China Daily)