Tang Yuanling is located on Tanshan Mountain, about 15 kilometers northwest of Fuping County, Weinan City, and is the mausoleum of Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty, with the main peak at an altitude of about 851 meters. On the afternoon of October 30, 2021, my friend and I drove to Tang Yuanling, first arriving at the site of the East Gate (Qinglongmen) here, and then to the site of the North Gate (XuanwuMen) not far away.
Shen Weilong: "Shaanxi Wenbo Brother" after the 90s
The ruins of the North Gate of the Tang Yuan Tombs are also known as the "Xuanwu Gate" or the "North God Gate" site. Located on the hillside on the southwest side of Wenjia Trench Village in Zhuangli Town, Fuping County, it is relatively remote and rarely visited by tourists. At about 3:40 p.m., we arrived at Wenjia Trench Village and left the village in a southwesterly direction along a dirt road that ended at the door of a family.
Park your car in front of the villager's house and walk up the rough dirt road for about 3 minutes, with two stone-carved battlehorses appearing on either side of the winding road. The stone horse on the south side is next to the roadside and has a mutilated head; the stone horse on the north side is located on a higher platform and is well preserved.
Continue along the dirt road for about 50 meters, and at the fork appears a tall rammed earth que platform, which is where the ruins of the north gate of the Tang Yuan Tombs are located. Walking about 100 meters west at the fork, you can see another rammed earth que platform, the two que platforms are opposite from east to west, and the preservation is very good. Looking from north to south, the quetai stands tall, symbolizing the majesty of the emperor.
The rammed earth quetai site is conical in appearance, with a residual height of about 5 meters and a bottom diameter of 15 meters. Between the two rammed earth platforms, two north-south opposite stone tablets are erected, on which are written "Tang Dynasty Emperor Yuanling Northern Boundary" and "Yuanling Northern Boundary" are written in large characters.
On the north side of the rammed earth Quetai site, there is a Shinto route about 100 meters long, and six stone horses were originally symmetrically distributed on both sides. These horses are equipped with saddles on their backs, also known as "saddle horses". They imitate the "Six Horses" image of Li Shimin Zhaoling of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, guiding the soul of the emperor into heaven in peace. Therefore, it is also known as the "Six Dragons".
At present, in addition to the two stone horses just seen, there are three stone horses preserved on the west side of the Shinto. They are lined up in a straight line from north to south, wrapped in a fence full of weeds, making it difficult to see the original appearance of the stone horses. After walking in, look closely, each stone horse is seriously damaged, and the basic characteristics of the horse cannot be seen clearly.
About 20 meters to the south of the ruins of the two rammed earth quetai stands two stone lions facing east and west, still wrapped in a cold fence. I walked through the weeded grove to each stone lion and admired the details of the stone lion up close.
Two stone lions squatted on rectangular pedestals, their heads held high, facing north. Their bodies and pedestals are connected together, and their height is about 150 cm and their width is about 60 cm. The stone lion on the west side has a mutilated mouth, a clear mouth, exposed teeth, and curly hair, which is a male lion; the west side of the stone lion has a mutilated face and stretched hair, which is a female lion.
The North Gate site is about 800 meters southwest of the main peak of Tang Yuanling, about 1.2 kilometers southeast of the Tang Yuanling East Gate Site, and about 1.2 kilometers southwest of the Tang Yuanling West Gate Site. At present, there are two stone lions and five stone horses, as well as two huge rammed earth platforms facing east and west. Looking around, it is an idyllic scenery with great historical vicissitudes.