[2025 Xingping Attraction] Travel Guide for Maoling Museum (Updated Feb)

The Maoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of Han is the largest of the Western Han imperial tombs, and is rich in historical and cultural significance. It is the burial place of the great Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, and is surrounded by many burial tombs, bearing witness to that glorious era. Transportation Public transportation: - You can take Metro Line 1 to Baoquan Road Station, and then take a taxi to the Maoling Museum, which takes about 20 minutes and costs less than CNY 20. Taking a ride-hailing car is more cost-effective. Self-driving: - If you choose to drive, set the navigation to Maoling Museum. There is a parking lot in the scenic area. Attractions Maoling Museum: - The museum houses important relics such as the tombs of Huo Qubing and Jin Midi. The stone carvings of Huo Qubing's tomb are very distinctive, showing the superb artistic level of ancient times. There are also a few cultural relics exhibitions, folk customs exhibitions, chimes, and introductions to the lives of Huo Qubing and Emperor Wu of Han. Maoling: - After leaving the museum, turn right and follow the signs. It takes less than 20 minutes to walk to Maoling. Along the way, you will see beautiful rural scenery, and you will pass by a botanical garden (you can visit it if you are interested). Maoling itself is the tomb of Emperor Wu of Han. Although the site is still being improved, you can still feel its grandeur. Dress It is recommended to wear comfortable sneakers for long walks. You can choose casual clothes suitable for the season, focusing on lightness and comfort. If it is a sunny day, remember to bring a sun hat and sunglasses. Travel tips Learn about the stories of Emperor Wu of Han and related historical figures in advance, so that you can better understand the historical significance of the scenic area. There are few restaurants nearby, only snack stalls at the entrance (such as fried cakes for CNY 5 each, mulberries for CNY 10 per box, etc., which are not expensive and taste good). If you are not used to eating street food, it is best to bring some food yourself. The tomb of Wei Qing may not be open sometimes, so you can find out in advance before you go. The tomb of Lady Li may not be easy to find, so don't worry too much about finding it. It is reasonable to arrange your itinerary according to the time mentioned in the guide. If you return early in the afternoon, you can usually get a taxi smoothly. If you have enough time, you can consider visiting other places of interest nearby after visiting Maoling.

#asiatrip Maoling is the mausoleum of Emperor Wudi Liu Che of Han Dynasty. It is located in the northeast of Xingping City, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province. It is the largest, longest-built and richest funerary mausoleum of the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty. The construction of Maoling Mausoleum began in the second year of Jianyuan, lasted 53 years, and was completed in the second year of Later Yuan. The location of Maoling Mausoleum reflects the strict feng shui concept of the tombs of ancient emperors. It is located in the hinterland of the Guanzhong Plain, bordered by Jiujiang Mountain to the north and Zhennan Mountain to the south. The terrain is high-pitched and the field of view is wide, which conforms to the ideal pattern of “backing the mountains and facing the water”. The building of Maoling is large-scale and has a rigorous layout. It is divided into two inner and outer city walls. The inner city is the imperial mausoleum cemetery, and the outer city is the burial area of the queen and the nobles. The cemetery is surrounded by rammed earth walls, with gates on all sides, and the gates are towering and spectacular. The cemetery has built-in sleeping halls, toilet halls, mausoleums and other buildings, which are used for worship and residence of officials guarding the mausoleum. The structure of Maoling's underground palace has not been fully excavated so far, but according to historical records and archaeological speculation, its underground palace is large-scale and complex in structure, and may contain multiple burial chambers and funerary pits. The funeral system of Maoling is extremely rich, including a large number of precious cultural relics such as gold, silver, jewelry, jade, lacquerware, terracotta cars and horses, reflecting the highly developed material civilization and funeral culture of the Western Han Dynasty. Maoling and its funerary tombs have undergone many archaeological excavations since the 20th century, and have achieved fruitful results.Archaeologists have discovered a large number of funerary pits and tombs around Maoling, and unearthed a large number of precious cultural relics, including golden wisps of jade clothes, bronze carriages and horses, terracotta warriors, etc., which provide valuable physical materials for the study of the history, culture and art of the Western Han Dynasty. At the same time, Maoling, as one of the outstanding representatives of the tombs of ancient Chinese emperors, has had a profound impact on the construction of the tombs of future emperors, and has become an important window for domestic and foreign tourists to understand ancient Chinese history and culture.

Xianyang City. Maoling Museum. Located to the east of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's Maoling in Nanweizhen, Xingping City, Xianyang, it is within the cemetery of Huo Qubing, the Marquis of Champion and General of the Swift Cavalry of the Western Han Dynasty. In 1956, the Maoling Cultural Relics Management Office was established; in 1979, it was renamed the Maoling Museum and officially opened to the public. It is a museum of Western Han dynasty history featuring Emperor Wu's Maoling, Huo Qubing's tomb, and a large group of stone carvings.

The Yellow River is Long and Bends: Emperor Wu of Han Li Yu said: Looking at the ancient emperors, the ones who were best at enjoying themselves were Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, and the one who was worst at enjoying himself was Emperor Wu. So how capable was Emperor Wu of Han? Sima Qian wrote: Up to now, your Majesty has been on the throne for several years, and during the more than seventy years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the country has been at peace, except for disasters such as floods and droughts. The people have enough food and clothing, the granaries in the capital and the countryside are all full, and the treasury has surplus goods and wealth. The money in the capital was so huge that the coins were so rotten that they could not be counted. The grain in the granary was piled up one after another, overflowing and exposed to the outside, and had become rotten and inedible. There are horses in the streets and alleys, and they grow in groups between the fields and lanes. But those who ride on female horses are unable to gather together. Those who guard the neighborhood eat Liang meat, those who serve as officials have their descendants grow up, and those who hold official positions use it as a surname. Generally speaking, when people have to solve practical problems, they will solve the practical problems first. Once the practical problems are solved, they will satisfy their ideals, fantasies, and imaginations. The latter is the most important condition for the emergence of romantic culture. Because Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing preferred to do less, the people had enough food and clothing, which was an extremely rare era for the general public. From top to bottom, everyone tried their best not to cause trouble to each other, and the self-driven society developed better. Such a good few decades were used up by the turbulent Emperor Wu's two large-scale attacks on the Huns! There was nothing that the Emperor was not interested in. His knowledge was so wide that he could have written many books in great detail. This is the end of a poem by You Ren: "Great knowledge and great talent, the crime and merit are not in regretting Luntai. After the Hundred Schools of Thought, there is nothing special." "Scholars, you will always be the source of disaster for China."

One of the strongest emperors in history, Emperor Wu of Han, his mausoleum - Maoling is known as the Chinese pyramid, a 2-hour drive from Xi'an, located on the Xianyang Plateau stretching for hundreds of miles northeast of Xingping. Maoling of Emperor Wu of Han began to be built after he ascended the throne, lasting 53 years, it is the longest-built, largest-scale, and most burial objects among the 29 imperial tombs in the 400-year history of the Han Dynasty. About 1000 meters away from Maoling is the resting place of the young war god Huo Qubing, located in the current Maoling Museum, the tomb is shaped like the Qilian Mountains. Huo Qubing was awarded the highest honor in the military - Wolf Ju Xu, he started leading troops at the age of 18, and together with his uncle Wei Qing, it took only 6 years to penetrate the Hexi Corridor, defeat the Huns in the lonely smoke of the desert, and hit the furthest Lake Baikal, making great contributions to Emperor Wu of Han's ultimate mission of unifying the Central Plains dynasty since Qin and Han. The Huns sang: 'Losing my Qilian Mountain, makes my six animals not multiply; losing my Yan Mountain, makes my married women colorless', creating a myth in the history of wars at home and abroad. Huo Qubing left the world at the age of 24, Emperor Wu of Han was heartbroken, his funeral was second only to the emperor, it is said that Emperor Wu of Han used a million troops to send him off. Now standing at the highest point of Huo Qubing's tomb in the Maoling Museum and looking around, tombs of all sizes can be seen everywhere. Apart from Emperor Wu of Han's Maoling, the most spectacular is Huo Qubing's tomb. Next to Huo Qubing's tomb is the tomb of Wei Qing, who has repeatedly made military exploits. The tomb is shaped like Yin Mountain, the two form a sharp contrast, one is carved beams and painted buildings on both sides of the steps, several vermilion birds circling the beams, respected by thousands of people, the other is piled with weeds, slightly desolate and neglected. The reason why people particularly love this young war god, apart from his brilliant military achievements, is his untimely death. In front of the tomb of Huo Qubing in the Maoling Museum, there is a group of rare and well-preserved stone sculptures of burial objects on both sides, one of which is a national treasure - the stone statue of a horse stepping on a Hun soldier. This horse is mighty and tall, strong and vigorous, realistic in image, and of high historical value. Under the horse's feet, a Hun soldier who is thrown off his horse is stepped on, showing the mighty divine power of the young general. Around Maoling, there are also the tombs of Emperor Wu of Han's beloved concubine Lady Li, beloved minister Dong Zhongshu, Huo Guang, Jin Midi and others. Emperor Wu of Han, because of adopting Dong Zhongshu's cultural strategy of 'abolishing all schools of thought and exclusively honoring Confucianism' and the concept of governing the country with 'heaven-man interaction', Confucianism officially became the official philosophy and the political concept that the Central Plains dynasties strived to build. There are many tombs around Maoling, and when you look at each tomb, the magnificent history of the Western Han Dynasty will be presented in front of you. It's a pity that Zhang Qian, the diplomat who made great contributions to the Western Han Dynasty, is buried in his hometown of Chenggu in Hanzhong, Shaanxi, which is relatively far from the Jiuzong Mountain burial group, otherwise it would be a way to pay homage and recall.