- "According to the legends, Ch'in's tomb is an immense underground city filled with unimaginable riches, which took thousands of workers several years to build. After its completion, all those involved with the construction of the tomb were sealed inside."
- ―Indiana Jones[src]
The Emperor's Tomb is the underground enchanted burial tomb of the First Emperor of China. It went unexplored until 1935 because it had been forbidden, generally due to Chinese superstition and respect for the Emperor. American adventurer Indiana Jones, Chinese agent Mei-Ying, Nazi agent Albrecht Von Beck, and members of the Black Dragon Triad were the first people to enter the tomb in centuries. The explorers found that the supernatural, subterranean palace was inhabited by disembodied spirits, animated terracotta statues, and undead guardians.
Structure[]
Hall of Trials[]
The entrance hall of the Tomb consisted of three perilous trials: a trap room with crushing spike-lined walls; a series of connected chambers consisting of deadly pits and shooting flames; and finally, a series of chambers decorated with lethal, electrified orbs.[1]
Path of Unseen Peril[]
The inner region of the Emperor's Tomb followed a path through which invisible obstacles could crush or impale any unknowledgeable intruders. The special glowing light of the Mirror of Dreams was required to illuminate the mystically unseen dangers which included colliding walls and spikes thrusting upward from the floor. With the aid of the Mirror, Indiana Jones was able to safely cross the age-old traps and deactivate them, allowing Mei-Ying to follow him in.[1]
Bell Room[]
The path led to a trapdoor, descending into another section of the tomb. Following this new path led to a room filled with various bells at each corner. A series of bells in the center of the room would chime and the enterer would have to match the melody on similar bells in the room. Four melodies were played before the door opened into the next area of the tomb: the maze. If the wrong melody were played, two spirits would emerge from the walls and attack the ringer. Jones was able to fend off spirits throughout the tomb with the Pa Cheng.[1]
Terracotta Maze[]
Past the room of bells, was the maze of terra cotta soldiers, a long winding stone corridor with countless deadly pits and holes. Nazi treasure-hunter Albrecht Von Beck burrowed into the room with a drill tank in order to head off Jones. Using his efficient and murderous vehicle, he pursued Jones through the maze until Jones swung over a particularly large abyss with his whip; Von Beck was unable to brake his tank in time and it crashed down into the huge hole. A room at the end of the maze contained a swirling portal into the Netherworld.[1]
Entrance to the Netherworld[]
All along, the Emperor's tomb had been designed as a diversion and test of trials while the true crypt existed in another realm: the Chinese land of the dead. Within the Netherworld, Jones would discover the body of the Emperor intact after centuries.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The tomb of Qin Shi Huang first appeared in the opening of Max McCoy's 1999 novel Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx in which Indiana Jones gains access to the tomb on Mount Hua. He manages to lose Qin's head down the mountainside before being arrested by Japanese Imperial Army soldiers on the claim that Jones had wandered into Japanese occupied Manchuria (Mount Hua is hundreds of miles southwest of Manchuria).[2]
However, 2003's Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb has Jones discovering the tomb again for the first time at Mount Li — the real world location of Qin Shi Huang's resting place — in 1935.[1]
While the tomb itself isn't seen in 2011's Indiana Jones Adventure World, set in 1934, Professor John Allen is accused of having destroyed the First Emperor's tomb.[3]
Appearances[]
- Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx (First appearance)
- Indiana Jones Adventure World (Mentioned only)
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
