Tomb of the first emperor is located on Yanzhai Village. 5 kilometers east to the Lin Tong County. Shanxi Province. Lishan Mountain is on its south and River Wei is on its north. Judging from the air. the tomb looks like a huge pyramid.

The structure of the tomb almost copies the capital of Qin Dynasty Xianyang. The underground palace below the huge pile of soil is the symbol of the magnificent palace. And the inner city and outer city of the tomb are the same with that of Qin capital. The total area of the tomb and cemetery is 66.25 square kilometers. which is more than twice as much as the area of Xi`an now. 

Since 13 years old. the first emperor began to build the tomb in Lishan for himself. After he finished unification of China. he recruited over 100 thousand people to continue the construction until his died when he was fifty. The construction has a time span for 37 years. It is recorded in the history that the grave is dug under a spring and reinforced by copper way. In the grave there are palaces. chambers and buildings. The officials of every rank have their positions in the grave. Much precious jewelry is displayed in the grave palace. In order to guard against stealing. there are sensitive stabs in the back. There are diamonds and pearls on the room of the grave palace. which stands for sun. moon and stars. The floor of the palace has all kinds of terrains. A lot of mercury was irrigated into the floor as a symbol of water in rivers and seas. A lot of golden chickens are swimming in the so called rivers and seas. The pilot burners made by whale oil are shining in the grave. And a big array of terra-cotta warriors was displayed around the tomb. The design of the tomb shows the supreme power and dignity of the great emperor.　

In 210BC. the first emperor suddenly died in Pintai. which is now in Hebei province. Two months later. his body was transported to Xianyang and a funeral was held. The new emperor. son of the first emperor ordered all maids in the palace and the workers for the tomb all buried alive with the dead emperor.

According to Han History and other books. Xiang Yu destroyed the tomb in 206BC. In Li Daoyuan book he wrote that after Xiang Yu entered in Xianyang. he ordered 300 thousand workers to transport the goods into the tomb. However. they could not finish the transport within a month and the thieves from the Northeast stole the copper coffin away. Afterwards. a shepherd held a torch into the grave and led a fire. The fire didn`t stop for 90 days. When Sima Qian wrote the history. it is only a hundred years away from the First emperor`s death. Si Maqian used a whole chapter to tell the story about the first emperor. but the information about his tomb was destroyed. But 600 years later Li Daoyuan described it very specifically. So it is very doubtful.
　
After 1949. the archeologists in China did the research for the tomb especially after the warriors were discovered. The archeologists dug over 200 holes around the grave palace. But just 2 stealing holes were discovered. one of which is located in the northeast of the tomb and the other is in the west. The diameter of the hole was about 90 centimeters and it had a depth of 9 meters. a depth 250 meters from the center of the tomb. The two holes are deeply buried into the stratum and we cannot see them on the surface. Thus we can reach a conclusion that the grave palace is well preserved. So Ban Gu and Li Daoyuan`s tale of the damage of the tomb is not reliable. So it is estimated that what Xiang Yu stole is the affiliated buildings of the tomb. If so. the tomb will surely be a unique underground palace.