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[[underlined]] Chapter VI. [[/underlined]] 105. their structural materials by the local peasantry, and they fell into neglect and eventual decay. Consequently none of them has survived in its pristine condition down to our own day save those of the last two dynasties, the Ming and the Ch'ing. To these, then, we must turn, as well as to the written accounts of the earlier ones, if we would form an idea of the latters' original arrangement and appearance. We thus learn that about every [[underlined]] ling [[/underlined]] or imperial grave-mound was built a wall known as a [[underlined]] fang ch'êng [[/underlined]] 方城, which enclosed a large square space; the one erected around the Ch'ang Ling 長陵, the tomb of Han Kao-tzŭ, for instance, is said to have been seven [[underlined]] li [[/underlined]] (not far from two of our miles) in length. [[superscript]] (81) [[/superscript]] Of any such walls about the im- --------------------------- [[superscript]] (81) [[/superscript]] Under the Hans the enclosure was in theory equal/ [[insertion]] in extent [[/insertion]] to six times the area of the [[underlined]] fang chung [[/underlined]]. --------------------------- perial tumuli which we examined, we could find no recognizable traces; but vertical air-photographs, taken when the sun was low, might disclose their outlines. The area inside the [[underlined]] fang ch'êng [[/underlined]] was planted with trees, so as to present a park-like appearance; and in it were erected [[insertion]] numerous [[/insertion]] /buildings. Among the latter, the hall designed for the worship of the spirit of the deceased ruler was of course the most important. Some at least of the great stone bases of the wooden columns [[strikethrough]] (see fig. x) [[/strikethrough]] ^[[(cf. pl. [[strikethrough]] LII) [[/strikethrough]] 20, fig. 1)]] should remain [[underlined]] in situ [[/underlined]]; we found none, but they may have become covered with earth. In earlier times it had perhaps been the custom to bury some at least of a dead ruler's wives with him; instances of this practice are mentioned in the records. By the Han period, with which we have to do here, it was no longer usual. Instead, the inmates of the dead emperor's harem were required to spend the rest of their lives in seclusion in quarters provided for them among the buildings in the tomb-en-