Hsienyang

Hsienyang 

a city in China, in Shensi Province. Population, 70,000 (1956). Hsienyang has a railroad station. It is the trade center of a cotton-growing region and one of the centers of the cotton industry.

Beginning in 350 B.C., Hsienyang was the capital of the Ch’in state. In 221 B.C., after the unification of China by Ch’in Shin-hunangti, it became the capital of the Ch’in empire. After its fall in 207 B.C., the city was destroyed by fire and lost its importance as an economic and cultural center.

Excavations conducted between 1959 and 1961 revealed remains of the city wall, remains of several buildings with fragments of frescoes, potters’ workshops, and fragments of ceramic pipes, possibly from a water conduit. North of Hsienyang are numerous burial vaults of the Han emperors, including Wu-ti, and of military leaders. There are nine famous stone sculpture groups around the burial site of Huo Ch’ü-ping, a military commander of the second century B.C., including Horse Trampling a Hun.

REFERENCE

Viatkin, R. V. Muzei i dostoprimechatel’nosti Kitaia. Moscow, 1962.