154 Mount Li

A6.47

They returned to Xianyang via the expressway and then announced the death of Qin Emperor the First. In September, the Emperor  was buried in Mount Li. When he ascended the throne, Qin Emperor the First had Mount Li dug to build his mausoleum. When he had annexed the world, he conscripted more than 700,000 prisoners from all over the country, dug the ground to the depth of three springs, and poured melted liquid copper into the ground to make an outer coffin. The interior of the mausoleum was filled with palaces, government offices, rare and exotic treasures. And he ordered craftsmen to make mechanisms with bows and crossbows, that anyone who dug up the mausoleum and approached the tomb would be shot. Mercury was used to make rivers, lakes and seas in the tomb, and mechanisms were used to make them flow into and out of each other. There were the sun, moon and stars above and mountains and rivers below. There were candles made from mermaid fat estimated to last for a long time. Emperor the Second said, "It is not appropriate to release the concubines in the late emperor's harem who have no sons." He ordered them to be buried with the First Emperor, and a lot of them died. After the burial, some said that the craftsmen had built a mechanism and knew clearly what treasures were hidden inside, and the news of the treasures might leak out. So after the funeral was completed, the burial objects were sealed in the tomb chamber, and the middle door of the mausoleum was closed, and then the outer door was closed, and all the craftsmen and people who carried the burial objects were locked in the mausoleum, and no one escaped. They also planted grass and trees on the tomb mound to make it look like a hill.

行从直道至咸阳，发丧。太子胡亥袭位，为二世皇帝。九月，葬始皇郦山。始皇初即位，穿治郦山，及并天下，天下徒送诣七十余万人，穿三泉，下铜而致椁，宫观百官奇器珍怪徙臧满之。令匠作机弩矢，有所穿近者辄射之。以水银为百川江河大海，机相灌输，上具天文，下具地理。以人鱼膏为烛，度不灭者久之。二世曰：“先帝后宫非有子者，出焉不宜。”皆令从死，死者甚众。葬既已下，或言工匠为机，臧皆知之，臧重即泄。大事毕，已臧，闭中羡，下外羡门，尽闭工匠臧者，无复出者。树草木以象山。