The Two Mausoleums of the Southern Tang Dynasty (907-960)
-- including the Qinling Mausoleum of Li Bian, Emperor of the early Southern
Tang Dynasty and his queen, and the Shunling Mausoleum of Li Jing, Emperor of
the mid Southern Tang Dynasty and his wife -- are located in Wangjiafen Village
south of Gaoshan Mountain of Dongshanqiao Village, Jiangning County (southwest
of Zutang Mountain outside Zhonghua Gate of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province). The
two mausoleums -- Qinling Mausoleum in the east and Shunling Mausoleum in the
west -- are located 100 meters away from each other, and were excavated in
1950-1951.
With a round mound on top, the Qinling Mausoleum is 21.48 meters long, 10.45
meters wide and 5.3 meters high. Its passageway is 19 meters long and four
meters wide. The coffin chamber has three main rooms and 10 side rooms,
including brick front and the middle chamber rooms and a stone back room. The
chamber gate and the room walls are engraved with pillars adorned with lotus,
peony and cloud patterns. The roof of the back chamber was painted with
astronomical phenomena; the floor was paved with black stone plates representing
the sky and earth. All four sides of the coffin display paintings of dragons
with three claws and rows of flowers. The gate lintel was painted with two
dragons playing with pearls.
The Shunling Mausoleum of Li Jing is 21.9 meters long, 10.12 meters wide
and 5.42 meters high. There are also three main rooms and eight side rooms, all
made of brick. The mausoleum's construction is similar to that of the Qingling
Mausoleum, only smaller. The colored paintings on the pillars and walls were
eroded by rainwater and silt.
Over 600 antiques were unearthed at the two mausoleums, including a jade
memorial record with gold inlays. As the most valuable relic, it records
memorial speeches given by emperors. It is an important factor in determining
the social status of the mausoleum owners.