The burial complex of China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang, located in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, has never been disclosed. Archaeologists are too scared to dismantle the historic site.
No one had ever peered into this tomb in over 2,000 years, when the much-feared emperor lay buried there.
The main reason behind this fear is that archaeologists are concerned about how excavations could damage the tombs and lose important historical information.
Quoted from IFL Science, this site was first revealed in 1974. A group of farmers found one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time in a modest field in Shaanxi province, China. When excavated, they found fragments of human statues made of clay.
This is only a small part of the findings. Further excavations by the archaeological team revealed that the field apparently sits above a number of pits crowded with thousands of life-size models of soldiers and war horses, not to mention statues of distinguished dignitaries, and other animals.
It appears that the mission of the Terracotta Army was to guard the nearby tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty who ruled from 221 to 210 BC.
Most of the cemeteries that surround it have been explored. But Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb was never opened, and many myths and intrigue surround it.
Emperor who wants to live forever
Qin Shi Huang's figure is phenomenal and is known for his desire to live forever. In fact, death is a certainty that cannot be avoided by every living thing.
Qin Shi Huang came to power in 221 BC or at the age of only 13 years. The Chinese Empire under his leadership managed to make great achievements.
He managed to build an optimal army. This army later became the spearhead of the glory of the Chinese Empire. Thanks to a good military, Qin managed to expand the territory and unite all the local Chinese empires into a single empire. Its territory is recorded as far as Hong Kong and Mongolia.
Because of its vast territory, Qin made integrated highways. This is intended to facilitate mobility. Not only that, he was also recorded as creating the world's first equalization system of exchange and measurement.
His greatest achievement, which we can still see today, was ordering the construction of the great fortress that is now known as the Great Wall of China. The fort, which spans 21,196 km, is intended to withstand attacks by bar-bar tribes from North China.
Quoted from the BBC, the success and glory made him think against fate. He wants to be able to live forever. For Qin, his death would bring an end to Chinese imperialism.
To realize this, he ordered Chinese officials, scientists, and explorers to spread overseas in search of the magic elixir of longevity. Until finally, one of them found a potion that supposedly made the ancient king live 10 thousand years. You do this by drinking mercury.
Qin then believed and immediately imitated the same thing. He did not know that mercury is a dangerous substance. He then modified it by mixing mercury into the liquid fermented wine and honey. This herb is then routinely drunk.
Shortly after regularly drinking the potion, Qin experienced delusions, namely a condition in which the sufferer is unable to distinguish between what is real and what is not. Qin then met his greatest fear, namely death. Instead of living long and not dying, Qin actually died at a very young age, namely 49 years.
Qin's obsession with remaining immortal did not stop there. This obsession was continued by other rulers by flooding the underground area of Qin's burial with mercury. The goal is that the grave is not touched and not damaged at all.
In the study "Mercury as a Geophysical Tracer Gas - Emissions from the Emperor Qin's Tomb in Xi´an Studied by Laser Radar" published in Nature in 2020, based on laser imaging it was revealed that the air in the Qin burial area was heavily polluted with mercury.
Not only the air, the soil in the burial mounds also contains concentrations of mercury far above normal limits and elsewhere in the vicinity. This fact led archaeologists to believe that the body of the first emperor was lying in the middle of a large pool of mercury.
"Highly volatile mercury may have escaped through cracks, which developed in the structure over time, and our investigation supports ancient historical records in the tomb, which is believed to have never been opened or looted," the researchers wrote in their paper.
For this reason, since he died in 210 BC and his tomb was rediscovered in 1974, Emperor Qin's final resting place has not been opened. It is feared that the mercury content will damage the researchers' bodies, as well as damage the tombs that are thousands of years old.