The ancestral shrines were built by the ancient emperors and dukes to be used as special places to offer sacrifices to their ancestors . Based on some historical documents and archaeological materials ,the writers attempts to offer discussions on categories of the Westem Han ancestral shrines and its division of time. .Di( emperor) shrines:built for the emperors. 1.Jing( capital) shrines:built in the capital city Chang’an and within the city limit. 2 .Yuan (原 ) shrines:bulit another shrine for the emperor who had a main shrine in the capital. 3. Ling ( mausoleum) shrine:builtclose to the tombs of the shrine owners. 4.Jun( prefecture) ,Guo( state of duke) shrines:shrines built by Jun or Cuo for emperors. .Huang shrines huang here refers to the title assumed by an emperors father when their sons became emperors in the reign including Taishanghuang- father of Emperor Gaozu,Liu Jin - father of Emperor Xuandi,and L iu Kang- father of Emperor Aidi.Its Sub- categoriy is as above .Hou ( empress and imperial concubines) shrinesThese shrines were built for the empresses and concubines who were not buried togetherwith the emperorThe three stages of establishing and abandoning the Western Han ancestral shrines:The first stage covers the period of Emperor Gaozu ,Emperor Huidi,and EmperorShaodi. The characteristics of the shrines during this stage are revealed to be the successorsbuilding the shrines for their ancestors- the Huang and emperor.Stage two includes the times of Emperor Wendi,Jingdi,Wudi,Zhaodi,and Xuandi withthe characteristics of the emperors building their own shrines while still alive.The last stage falls after the times of Emperor Yuandi and Chengdi. The characteristicsshowed the beginning of the Western Han to stangdardize the systems of running ancestralshrines by observing Confucianism. However,the practice experienced constant prevailing andabandoning until Wangmang’s uprising which overtherew the Westem Han Dynasty.Summery of the discussion:1. The Western Han ancestral shrines were mostly built near
The Qin tombs in Yi’er company is situated in Gaoling county of Shaanxi province and on the left bank of Weishui River From Mar to Nov,2002,Yangling Archaeology team,organiszed by Shaanxi Archaeology Institute,excavated the cemetery The 51 Qin tombs can be categorized into 3 types Type A,amount to 13 are rectangular pits,Type B, add up to 33, are rectangular pits with second-platform,Type C,only 5,are the cave-chamber tombs The excavetion finds out 205 relics of pottery bronze, iron, jade and mud Its time is from the early to the later of the Warring State Periods size of Yi’er cemetery may be a "cens cemetery"-a cemetery of common people The find of Yi’er cemetery is useful to establish the time when Qin people migrate eastwards and also supply precise materials for the research of the development of Qin tombs and Qin culture at the middle Guanzhong Region The mud relics is common at Yi’er cemetery It is important to learn about the development of sculpture from the Warring State Periods to Qin
