Sacred WayⅢ

Behind the stele pavilion, the road is guarded by eighteen pairs of stone creatures. These creatures includes twelve pairs of different animals like lions, horses, elephants, camels and other fabulous beasts, and six pairs of human beings like generals, officials and meritorious ministers. The figurines signify that the dead emperor still presides over everything. Some of the larger figurines were hauled here with great difficulty. In winter, water was splashed on the roads to form an ice layer over the roads, thus allowing the huge statues to be slid over the slippery ice.