Why can the ever-burning lamps of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum burn for thousands of years? When the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was excavated, besides the nearby Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit, an ever-burning lamp was also found. The ever-burning lamp was still burning when the archaeologists opened the tomb. Why can the ever-burning lamp of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum burn for thousands of years? American scholars say the answer is not controversial.
In the Qin Dynasty, people used oil lamps for lighting. Once the oil burns, it won't ignite again. It took at least thousands of years from the successful construction of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum to its excavation. According to modern science, it is impossible for this ever-burning lamp to light all the time. Archaeologists have found that there are descriptions of ever-burning lamps in some ancient books, claiming that the fuel of this ever-burning lamp is petroleum extracted from Jiao Ren and can burn for a long time.
It is said that Qin Shihuang ordered the capture of a large number of Jiao Ren, boiled them into oil and put them in the ever-burning lamp. According to the expert's appraisal, those so-called Jiao Ren oils are more like whale oil. Although they burn for a long time, they can't burn for thousands of years.
American scholars gave a guess, which was widely recognized. At that time, an American scholar believed that the ever-burning lamp would not burn for thousands of years. In the case of lack of oxygen in the tomb, the ever-burning lamp must be extinguished. Later, archaeologists opened the tomb, oxygen entered the tomb, and the white phosphorus in the ever-burning lamp burned with oxygen, which ignited the ever-burning lamp again. As soon as this statement was put forward, it was recognized by most people, and the topic of ever-burning lamps was no longer controversial.