Pyramids on the River
The Western Han dynasty is the Chinese “Age of the Pyramids”: The Emperors were indeed buried under huge, squared mounds of rammed earth. These mausoleums form a fascinating sacred landscape along the course of the river Wei, not far from modern Xian. The
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Astronomy, Feng Shui, and the Mandate of Heaven
Sacred Landscapes of Imperial China
Giulio Magli
Sacred Landscapes of Imperial China Astronomy, Feng Shui, and the Mandate of Heaven
123
Giulio Magli Department of Mathematics Politecnico di Milano Milan, Italy
ISBN 978-3-030-49323-3 ISBN 978-3-030-49324-0 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49324-0
(eBook)
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Introduction
You look and you marvel. A couple of life-sized, recumbent stone elephants greet you along the way, and as you look back and forth, dozens of other statues do the same. On the far horizon behind you, a prominent mountain occupies the scene in alignment with a huge, five-arched doorway which, however, has no walls at its sides. When you look forward, the path bends for no apparent reason, but you do know that it is because malevolent spirits only go straight, and that the magnificent tomb of the emperor will be at the end of the path, to the north, still many kilometers away. Beautiful, dragon-shaped hills harmoniously surround the place to the east and west, and a river quietly flows to the south. Some readers might have recognized the place I am speaking about: It is the UNESCO site of the Necropolis of the Chinese emperors of the Qing Dynasty traditionally called the Qing Eastern tombs. We shall be visiting and studying this place in great depth in this book: The Qing Eastern Necropolis is indeed just one example of the many astounding masterpieces—arising from a skillful combination of man-made and natural features—to which this book is devo
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