Society

Nine detained for robbing mausoleum in Xi'an

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-25 21:27

XI'AN - Police have detained nine people who allegedly robbed a mausoleum where the parents and grandparents of Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 - 210 B.C.) were buried in northwest China's Shaanxi province, local authorities said Thursday.

The police, with specialists from the Ministry of Public Security and State Administration of Cultural Heritage, have been investigating the case since a 30-meter-deep tunnel was found leading into a tomb of the mausoleum in October, according to a report from the culture heritage bureau of Lintong district in Xi'an.

The report did not mention the names of the detained, saying a further investigation was underway.

The police found some of the robbers' tools in the tunnel. Damaged coffins were found scattered in the tomb. Experts suspect other tombs in the mausoleum were also robbed, but this needed to be proven with excavations.

The 27-square-kilometer Qindong Mausoleum, or East Qin Mausoleum, is a national cultural heritage. It is to the east of Xi'an's Lishan Mountain, where the Mausoleum of the first Qin Emperor lies.

The about 56-square-kilometer Mausoleum of the first Qin Emperor, or Qin Shihuang, also known as China's first emperor, is the world's largest underground mausoleum and is famous for its terra cotta warriors.