Tomb of Empress Lu

34.4361°N, 108.8817°E.

The Tomb of Empress Lü Zhi at Changling, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, China — the satellite tomb mound of the consort and effective regent of Emperor Gaozu after his death in 195 BCE. Original base 150 by 130 metres; original height 30.7 metres. Empress Lü ruled in fact rather than in name from 195 to 180 BCE — first as regent for her son Hui, then for two infant emperors she placed on the throne after Hui's death — making her the first woman to hold imperial authority in China. Her tomb sits immediately east of her husband's mound at near-equal scale, an architectural statement of co-regency unparalleled in the Han imperial tradition; later empresses' tombs are smaller and more remote. The mound is built of rammed earth in horizontal lifts and was sealed in 180 BCE on her death; her family was massacred within months of her funeral, and the tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity.

A pyramid for the woman who effectively ruled China for fifteen years, built next to her husband's at almost equal scale, in a satellite position that no subsequent empress was ever granted.