A seminar held recently in Xi'an to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of the interment of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, into the Qianling mausoleum has roused again a half-century dispute. Should it be opened, or left closed?

Half-century dispute over a 1,300-year-old mystery

Qianling can be counted the most special one among tombs of Chinese emperors of all dynasties.

Located 85 kilometers Northwest of the ancient city of Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is the joint tomb of Wu Zetian, who remained in power for 50 years, and her husband, Emperor Li Zhi of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It is the only tomb in China that contains the bodies of two emperors with different dynasty titles, and also the only Tang tomb that has not been looted.

Extraction proposals have been placed forward one after another. More than forty years ago, local cultural authorities submitted to the central government an extraction plan, but Premier Zhou Enlai instructed to leave it to later generations. In 1973, noted scholar Guo Moruo raised the topic again, and Premier Zhou answered "not within ten years". Similar suggestions cropped up every few years since then, but were all rejected.

Extraction was shelved again when experts, after careful investigation and discussion, turned down a report by Shaanxi provincial government to central authorities in April 2000 saying "rescue-oriented extraction is the best way to protect Qianling relics". The report said that since the bomb is of karst topography, surface water would seep into the ground easily and worsen the internal environment of the tomb. An earthquake, in particular, would be unimaginable.

Pros: time is ripe; extraction will help preservation

Famous archaeologist Shi Xingbang, honorary director of the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute, is the firmest and most influential supporter. According to prospecting work, he said, Qianling has happily become an imperial tomb never robbed so far, within which the body remains and various kinds of articles of gold, silver, wood, pottery and textile are of dramatic archaeological significance. In addition, rich experience and advanced techniques have been built up during more than forty years of extraction work on bombs of similar sizes and levels.

Shi fears that the numerous cultural relics in the underground palace might deteriorate, especially paintings and silk under geological and climatic effect. When digging out the Famen Temple near Xi'an in 1987, he said, some silk relics had been partly or completely damaged despite others unearthed intact. Without timely protective treatment, the remaining part would rot thoroughly.

Once opened, Qianling might become the world's largest and most enjoyable museum, experts predict. Investigation has shown four stone caves on each side of the front and back passage, filled with treasures of Tang dynasty in its prime.

Cons: techniques not mature enough, better stay underground

In contrast to Shi's views, more experts stand for leaving the tomb to later generations, chiefly because those current techniques are not yet good enough for proper protection of the site and relics to be brought to light. Previous extractions at other sites have proven a nearly 50 percent loss of archaeological information, particularly on silk and paper. Once a tomb was opened, those silk items of extraordinarily vivid color had more often than not been oxidized into ashes instantly.

Liu Qingzhu, director of the Archeological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is firmly against the extraction. The local archeological institute, culture authority and government have applied several times, he said, and the State Council has organized expert panels to which he was a member. After studies into the possible impact of earthquake, earth and climate, experts rejected point by point arguments supporting the extraction.

Archeology professor Su Bai of Peking University also calls for caution on objects handed down by our ancestors. An established belief of the world archeological circles is "better left alone" when techniques are limited, he said, because comparatively, the underground micro-environment for 1,000 years is stable.

By People's Daily Online