Only two mausoleums -- the Zuling Mausoleum
and Qingling Mausoleums -- can be identified as the imperial mausoleums of the
Liao Dynasty (916-1125). The Zuling Mausoleum for Emperor Taizu of the Liao
Dynasty lies in the valley, two kilometers northwest of the Zuzhou City relics
in the Balin Left Banner of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. Qingling is
the general name for the mausoleums of the three emperors and their queens,
which lie in Wangwen Valley, 10 kilometers north of Jiangqing City relics in the
Balin Left Banner of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region.
The Fengling Zuzhou City is divided into the
outer city and the inner city, with a perimeter of about 2 kilometers and
remaining height of about 6 meters. The relics of the four gates of the outer
city still remain there, and from the east gate and the north gate one can see
the relics of the Weng City. The inner city has several huge bases of
architectural structures, and a stone house stands on the northwest corner. The
south gate of the inner city has a street of more than 40 meters wide directly
linking the south gate of the outer city. On both sides of the streets still
remain relics of some constructions.
The three mausoleums of the Qingling
Mausoleums are generally called as the East Mausoleum, the Middle Mausoleum and
the West Mausoleum. The three mausoleums are arranged from the east to west with
a distance of about 2 kilometers between each two. In the early years of the
Republic of China (1912-1949), the mausoleums were once robbed and many of the
funeral objects were gone.
Ten kilometers south of the Qingling
Mausoleums of the Liao Dynasty are the relics of Jiangqing City, which is 930
meters long from south to north and 1,090 meters wide from east to west; some of
the remains are 2.5 meters high. Northwest of the city is the brick tower for
the Sarira of Shkyamuni of the Liao Dynasty.