Western Han dynasty imperial tombs

Two of the emperor's mausoleums are located southeast of today's Xi'an, which was then the capital of the Western Han dynasty, Chang'an,[1] and the other nine mausoleums are located in a string of pearls in an east–west direction north of the Wei River in Xianyang Prefecture north of Xi'an.

[4] The identification of the burial mounds is mainly based on texts from the stele erected in front of each grave.

[4] With the exception of Baling, all of the Western Han dynasty imperial tombs follow a consistent architectural pattern that is basically inspired by the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huangdi (died 210 BC).

[4] The emperor's burial chamber is covered with a large square or rectangular truncated packed earth pyramid with a flat plateau as the top surface.

[2] The tombs contain several decorated chambers containing grave goods, and the burial grounds have ritual architectural features such as processional routes and gates.

[4] The sides of the burial mounds are oriented in line with the cardinal points with varying degrees of accuracy.

[6][4] It is unclear why Baling deviates in execution, but one conceivable explanation may have been financial, but there are several other proposed explanatory models.