The first emperor of the Tang dynasty, Gaozu awarded his grandfather, Li Hu (Jinghuangdi) and his father, Li Bing (Yuanhuangdi) with the titles of emperor and thus ordered the construction of tombs for each of them. Li Hu’s tomb was in Lingqian, Sanyuan county and Li Bing’s tomb was in Yaodiandong, Xianyang. These tombs were designated as emperor or ‘lin’ tombs as the occupant status was updated to become imperial ancestors and divination was done to figure out the location of these tombs. The two tombs were pretty modest as they were built when Tang control was limited to the capital, Chang’an and there were other groups who could potentially overthrow them so there were few available resources. They were bold political statements made at the founding of the Tang dynasty. The father’s tomb was built in close proximity to the Changling tomb which suggests that Gaozu wanted to glorify his family as the source of state power and his father as a source of a successful and long period of dynastic succession similar to Han Gaozu.
Imperial tombs in Tang China, 618-907: the politics of paradise
