Qian Mausoleum, the tomb of Emperor Gaozong and his empress Wuzetian, is located on the peak of Liangshan, 80 kilometers away from Xi’An. The great mausoleum was first built in 684 and is one of the best preserved tombs among the Tang Dynasty’s 18 mausoleums. Stone sculptures scatter around everywhere in the mausoleum sites. Exquisite and elegant, these stone carvings upright on top of the mountain for over 1,200 years. The first stone sculpture encounters visitor is a pair of ornamental pillars. The tall and upright pillars are charismatic and their shafts, plinths and crown were all decorated with line carvings. Along the sacred path, visitor will then find pairs of winged horses and rose finches. Ancient Chinese supreme rulers wanted their underground life would be prosperous so they often had propitious creatures, birds, beasts placed in front of their mausoleum to guard them. The winged horses, wings decorated with slender, delicate lines, are in a flying gallop. The rose finches, in high relief, were beautifully shaped and sturdily carved. It is said that because rose finches were a gift from Afghanistan for the funeral and could serve as guards, a pair of them were erected in front of the tomb.

The Tomb of Princess Yongtai is the first tomb to be excavated and remains the most impressive of all the satellite tombs in Qian Mausoleum. Princess Yongtai was the granddaughter of Tang Emperor Gaozong and his wife Empress Wu Zetian. In 700, she married Wu Yanji, son of Wu Chengsi, who was Wu Zetian’s nephew. In 701, Princess Yongtai died in Luoyang, at the age of 17. The tomb of Princess Yongtai held more than 1,000 valuable cultural artifacts, including murals, pottery and wooden figurines, tri-color glazed pottery figurines, gold vessels, jade articles, and copper wares. The tri-color glazed pottery figurines, which are beautifully shaped and have peculiar decorative designs, demonstrate the high artistic level of the Tang Dynasty ceramic industry. The antechamber represents a drawing room with murals mainly depicting elegantly dressed women attendants. With different articles in their hands, they carry themselves with grace and wear different expressions from one another. They look as if they are on the way to serve Princess Yongtai. On the ceiling of the chamber are painted celestial figures. There is a triple-leg rooster symbolizing the sun, a Jade Hare representing the moon, with the Milky Way in between. The mural reflects the highly developed astronomy at that time. The stone coffins of Princess Yongtai and her husband are in the rear chamber. The coffins had an outer one and an inner one. The outer coffin was carved with exquisite pictures on both sides. The inner wooden coffin had completely rotted away due to its long-time saturation in silt.