Tang Zhangling is located in the eighth group of Lei Village, Gongli Town, Fuping County, Weinan City, and was built in the sun of Tianniu Mountain, about 15 kilometers north of the county seat, as the mausoleum of Tang Wenzong Li Ang. On the afternoon of May 5, 2020, I came to Tang Zhangling for the third time and operated my own DJI drone to take aerial photos of the Shinto here.
Shen Weilong: "Shaanxi Wenbo Brother" after the 90s
On August 6, 1956, the "Wenzong Zhangling Tomb" was announced by the Shaanxi Provincial People's Committee as the first batch of provincial-level cultural relics protection units. On June 25, 2001, as part of the "Imperial Tomb of the Tang Dynasty", it was announced by the State Council as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
On April 23, 2011, I had a hard time finding Zhangling and only saw a national key cultural relics protection unit monument; on September 8, 2018, I came to Zhangling again, where archaeological excavations are underway, so I did not take any photos. In the blink of an eye, two years have passed, the archaeological excavations have ended, and Zhangling has returned to calm.
Today, on the Shinto road on the south side of Zhangling, only a mutilated stone figure remains, standing alone under a persimmon tree next to Yangjiayao Village. It wears a robe and holds a sword in both hands, in the form of a military attaché. The head is mutilated, the legs are buried in the ground, and it looks like a huge stone from a distance.
The drone rises from the dirt road next to the stone man and flies over the village of Yangjiayao on the southeast side, from which the Shinto extends north, and the whole view of the Zhangling Tomb is unobstructed. In 2018, in the village of Yangjiayao, in the open space in front of the house, a well-preserved stone table was excavated, proving that this is the southernmost point of Shinto.
Subsequently, the drone flew along the Shinto path from south to north. The stone carvings here were basically destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and apart from the severe destruction of mountains and fields full of crops, nothing can be seen and appear empty. In 2018, a large number of stone carving fragments were excavated underground on both sides of Shinto, and later backfilled on the original site.
Zhangling is a mausoleum because of the mountain, the whole sits north and faces south, the plane is close to square, the length of east and west is about 1350 meters, and the length of north and south is about 1300 meters. The cemetery is surrounded by a wall, with a platform at all four corners, and gates on all four sides, with a total length of about 5530 meters. Shinto is located outside the South Gate, between the Milk Terrace and the Gate Gate, with a length of about 570 meters from north to south and a width of about 70 meters from east to west.
Also known as "Xiling Mountain", Tianlu Mountain is an independent mountain body running east-west, centered on the semi-circular summit in the north, composed of limestone peaks, and 783 meters above sea level. Here the mountain is gentle, and the left and right peaks are raised, resembling double breasts, hence the name. The underground palace of Zhangling is excavated in the southern foothills of the mountain range, with a dangerous location and a wide view.
Emperor Wenzong of Tang (809-840), originally known as "Li Han", was the second son of Emperor Muzong of Tang and the half-brother of Emperor Jingzong of Tang, Li Zhan, who succeeded Emperor Jingzong as the 15th emperor of the Tang Dynasty. On December 8, 827, emperor Jingzong was killed by the eunuch Liu Keming and others, and the eunuchs Wang Shoucheng and Liang Shouqian led a forbidden army into the palace, and the 18-year-old Li Han took the throne and changed his name to Li Ang, with the era name "Yamato".
Li Ang is a frugal and elegant person, and a broad group of books. In the early years of his reign, he worked hard to seek treatment and released more than 3,000 palace women. Release the Wufang Eagle Dog, and reduce redundant personnel, reuse Li Xun and Zheng Zhu and others. On November 21, 835, in the ninth year of Yamato (835), Li Ang plotted the "Ganlu Revolution" in an attempt to eliminate the eunuch forces. After the defeat, he was placed under house arrest, and the government was controlled by eunuchs. In the fifth year of Kaicheng (840), Li Ang died of depression at the age of 32 and was buried in Zhangling.