The most widely circulated spiritual anecdote about the tomb of emperor Qin Shi Huang – famous in Chinese history, must be told the story of the “never extinguished” lights in this mysterious mausoleum.
The fact is that such thousand-year-old lamps are found all over the world. A Greek historian once recorded a lamp that never went out at an Egyptian sun god temple. This lamp remains bright for centuries despite heavy rain and high winds.

There are many legends about the “Eternal Lamp”. Historical records say that when Qin Shi Huang was on a trip to the sea, he shot and killed a large fish (mermaid) and made a “mermaid’s” oil lamp. So it takes a long time for the oil to go out.
According to common chemical knowledge, the combustion process requires 3 basic requirements: oxygen, combustible material and a temperature reaching the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible substance.
In a tomb closed year-round, even if there is enough fuel, after burning a lot of oxygen, the light stays on forever. So why the phenomenon of “eternal lamp” above?

To solve the mystery of the eternal lamp in the mausoleum, scientists have studied for decades. Simon Affik, a chemistry teacher in the US, spent 31 years and conducted more than 700 experiments to come up with the most possible answer.
When Simon examined the chemical composition of the lantern, he found that the wick of the lantern in the ancient tomb contained a large amount of white phosphorus, and the kerosene was a mixture of various combustible substances.
White phosphorus is a chemical with a very low flash point. When the air humidity is high and the ambient temperature is up to 30 – 40 ° C, white phosphorus will burn. This phenomenon is called “spontaneous combustion”.
As long as there is enough lamp oil, every time the tomb door opens, you can see the scene of the burning lights. This scene gives people the illusion that the lantern burns for a thousand years.
Modern chemical research shows that the “ghost flame” is actually a flame of phosphorus. Because human bones contain a large amount of phosphorus, after a long burial period, the phosphorus in human bones will be converted to phosphorus with a flash point.
According to the INF newspaper, American scholars conducted 700 experiments in 31 years to find the answer that has puzzled scientists for a long time: why are the lights in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang still bright after more than 2,000 years .