Anecdote of the Yellow River

Chapter 3 Ancient Tombs of the Eastern Han Dynasty (1)
My surname is Tuoba, and my single name is an orphan.

Tuoba is a surname derived from the Xianbei people, and is said to be a descendant of the Yellow Emperor.

Our Tuoba family was a royal family in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Later, with the passage of time and the change of dynasties, the clan fell apart and became displaced.Later, the ancestors of our branch ended up in Hezi Village in Sanmenxia. Since then, we have lived on the banks of the Yellow River for generations, so we have deep feelings for the Yellow River.

I don't know when my ancestors entered the Yellow River Corpse Hunting business. I only know that the craft of Yellow River Corpse Hunting was not passed down to my grandfather's generation.Grandpa was planning to pass this craft on to my dad, but my dad had an accident while out on a boat and passed away prematurely, leaving me young and ignorant, and my heartbroken mother.The death of her father brought a heavy blow to her mother. She was depressed all day long, and two years later, she died and followed her father.It was my grandfather who pulled me up single-handedly.Because I have no parents, my grandfather changed my name to Tuobagu.

Dad is the only son of grandpa, and his death also brought a strong mental blow to grandpa.Since then, grandpa has established a rule that the descendants of the Tuoba family are no longer allowed to engage in the business of salvaging corpses in the Yellow River.

Since I was a child, my grandfather has been very strict with me. In order to cultivate my strong character, my grandfather even sent me to Songshan Shaolin to learn Kung Fu for several years.Probably children without parents are sensible very early. I studied very hard and was admitted to a college of higher learning in Northwest China that year.What I saw and heard since I was a child made me very interested in strange things, so I entered the archeology major and studied under Professor Ye Sheng, who is well-known in the archaeological field in Northwest China.

On this day, we followed Professor Ye Sheng to Zhengzhou.The Zhengzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau recently took down a gang of tomb robbers, and found many artifacts from the Eastern Han Dynasty in the place where the gang hid their stolen goods.After interrogation, it was learned that these artifacts were stolen from ancient tombs in Anyang, Henan.The police attached great importance to this and immediately reported to their superiors, who instructed to organize a provincial archaeological team and asked them to carry out rescue excavations on the Anyang ancient tomb.After the provincial archaeological team arrived in Anyang, they found that it was a tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty.So the provincial archaeological team immediately contacted the well-known Professor Ye, hoping that Professor Ye could come to the scene to direct the town in person.

Because I am eager to learn and motivated, and I am quite talented in archaeology, Professor Ye thinks highly of me and takes me with me wherever I travel.Therefore, although I am only in my twenties, I have already accumulated a lot of archaeological experience.

Besides me, Professor Ye has a very important female assistant - Gu Meidi.Strictly speaking, Gu Meidi is my senior sister.She graduated from the same university as me, two years older than me, and has been with Professor Ye longer.Gu Meidi is knowledgeable and talented. She knows a lot about astronomy, geography, biochemistry, human history, and has a very high IQ.Not only that, but she also knows taekwondo, and it is said that she has reached the fourth-dan black belt level.The most astonishing thing is that Gu Meidi has the extraordinary ability of never forgetting. Everything she glanced at will remain in her mind like a brand. It is no wonder that she can understand so much knowledge.

Gu Meidi and I are like Professor Ye's personal entourage, wherever Professor Ye appears, Gu Meidi and I must exist.

We got off the train in Zhengzhou, and after a brief meeting with the special case personnel of the Public Security Bureau and the provincial archaeological team, we drove to Anyang.

Anyang is located in the northern part of Henan Province, leaning on the majestic and steep Taihang Mountains in the west, and bordering the endless North China Plain in the east. It is one of the eight ancient capitals of China and a famous historical and cultural city in China.The earliest writing used by the Chinese nation - oracle bone inscriptions - was discovered here, and the world's largest bronze vessel - Houmuwu Ding was also unearthed.

After more than an hour of bumpy rides, we finally came to Anfeng Township, where the site of the ancient tomb has been cordoned off.The Anfeng Township Police Station mobilized almost all of its police force, dispatching more than a dozen policemen to protect the scene.

After arriving at the site of the ancient tomb, we and the archaeological team immediately started investigation work.The police set up several tents not far away as the lounge and studio of the archaeological team, and various testing instruments and chemicals were moved into the studio.

After surveying and mapping, this ancient tomb is in the shape of "A", facing west to east. It is a double-chamber brick tomb with a sloped passage. It is large in scale and complex in structure. It is mainly composed of front and rear chambers and four side chambers.The slope tomb passage is nearly 40 meters long, about ten meters wide, and the deepest part is about 15 meters from the surface.The plane of the tomb is slightly trapezoidal, about 50 meters wide on the east side, about 32 meters wide on the west side, and 18 meters long from east to west. The large tomb covers an area of ​​more than 400 square meters.

Judging from the scale of this ancient tomb, the owner of the tomb should be a high-ranking official and aristocrat in the Eastern Han Dynasty.It's a pity that this ancient tomb has been stolen many times, and I don't know if there are any valuable objects left in the ancient tomb.

After the hard work of the archaeological team, until dusk, the slope in the middle of the ancient tomb was excavated.This slope is academically called "tomb passage", that is, the road leading to the tomb.

The tomb passage is paved with rectangular blue bricks, laid vertically and stacked with staggered joints, which is very characteristic of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Exquisite murals are carved on the walls on both sides of the tomb passage, and the contents of the murals are all graceful ancient beauties.There are six murals of beautiful women on the left and right walls, and there are twelve in total.The women on each mural are in different shapes, some are holding a flute, some are holding a pipa, and some are playing a guzheng, which is like a palace playing music.Those murals were originally painted, but due to years of erosion by the earth's atmosphere, most of the colors have peeled off, exposing the yellow-brown adobe, which is not so luxurious.

At the end of the tomb passage lay a huge and heavy stone, blocking the door of the tomb tightly.A three-clawed flying dragon is carved on the stone, and the dragon's body is smeared with gold paint, showing a gorgeous and noble air of king.

For such a stone, we call it "Broken Dragon Stone".The main function of the broken dragon stone is to protect the tomb door. Simply put, it is like the anti-theft door used in modern society.The dragon-breaking stone is very heavy, and it is difficult to remove it simply by external force, which prevents the tomb from being stolen.

When Professor Ye saw this dragon-breaking stone, he was so excited that his breathing became short of breath.

Anyone who knows a little about history knows that the hierarchical system of ancient Chinese feudal dynasties was very strict, and only the royal family deserved to have such mythical and animal patterns as dragons and phoenixes.In other words, the owner of this ancient tomb in Anyang is a relative of the emperor with a very high status.

The archaeological team had no time to rest and couldn't wait to open the ancient tomb.To open the door of the tomb, the dragon-breaking stone, which weighs several tons, must first be removed.Someone suggested blasting a hole in the Broken Dragon Stone by fixed-point blasting, but this method was rejected by Professor Ye.Professor Ye wanted to keep the Broken Dragon Stone intact, so he ordered someone to call in a large crane.People fixed the steel rope on the Broken Dragon Stone, and as the big crane slowly hoisted the Broken Dragon Stone to the ground, the tomb door appeared in front of everyone.

It was already dark at this time, and the members of the archaeological team devoted themselves to the excavation of the ancient tomb, forgetting their hunger and exhaustion.A bonfire was lit on the construction site, and searchlights were turned on, illuminating the entire cemetery like daytime.

We followed Professor Ye to the front of the tomb gate. The tomb gate is two combined stone gates. Auspicious clouds are carved on the stone gates, and two moiré stone rings are hung on them, which looks simple and solemn.

We pushed open the stone door with all our strength, then retreated to the side, and waited until the fresh air outside filled the tomb before we lit torches and walked in.Because the ancient tomb is a closed space, the air inside has been unable to circulate for thousands of years. Under the action of bacteria, it is easy to become a disease-causing poisonous gas.Once this poisonous gas is inhaled, it will cause great harm to the body, and in severe cases, disease and death may occur.

Behind the stone gate is the front room of the ancient tomb, with an area of ​​almost two hundred square meters.

The front room was empty, only some faded murals, almost all of which were battle scenes.Professor Ye analyzed that the owner of the ancient tomb was probably a general in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In addition to the murals, there is also a canopy carriage in the center of the front room, and two stone-carved white horses pull a graceful and luxurious carriage.The white horse is carved lifelike, with its hooves flying and the clouds under its hooves, as if galloping in the sky.

The carriage at the back is made of wood, and there are two obvious pits on the handlebars. In the past, there should have been gems inlaid here, but later they must have been looted by tomb robbers, and the gemstones on the handlebars were dug away. Only two ugly dimples remained, but the gilt lines on the wheels were still there.It's a pity that with the passage of time, the wooden carriage could not withstand the erosion of time after all, many of the wood had turned black and rotted, and there were cracks everywhere.

The canopy above the carriage is made of yellow cloth and satin, and a small silver bell is hung on the edge of the canopy, which has a unique shape.On the top of the canopy, a pattern of "one dragon and two phoenixes" is embroidered with gold silk.

On the left and right sides of the canopy carriage, there are two guard stone figurines of the same height as real people.The stone figurines hold sabers in their hands, and their tiger eyes are wide open, looking majestic.

Professor Ye rubbed his chin and muttered to himself: "In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the owner of this tomb is likely to be an emperor if he was able to drive such a luxurious canopy carriage!"

For archaeologists, it is a dream to excavate an emperor's tomb.This is not only because there are many valuable treasures hidden in the emperor's tomb, but also because the emperor is a symbol of a dynasty, and the excavation of the emperor's tomb is of great significance to the research of history and other aspects.

After getting the information that this ancient tomb is likely to be the tomb of the emperor, all members of the archaeological team rekindled their enthusiasm, and everyone swore that they would complete this archaeological work even if they stayed up for several days.

We walked into the back room with torches, which is the main tomb.To be honest, the main tomb is not as luxurious as we imagined, and it can even be said that the main tomb is simpler than the front room.The area of ​​the main tomb is [-] square meters. Generally speaking, for the owner of the tomb with such a large cemetery, his tomb should be very luxurious, but in this tomb, the only thing that can be seen are three bronze coffins, all alone. The ground is horizontally placed in the center of the tomb.Other than that, nothing else.Whether the main tomb was originally so simple, or it became like this after being looted by tomb robbers, we have no idea.

In the northeast corner of the tomb, we found several robber holes connected together, like a hornet's nest hanging on the top of the tomb.Some of those robbing holes are very smooth, and some are very rough. It seems that there have been several groups of tomb thieves here since ancient times, and the skills of these tomb thieves are also high and low.

Professor Ye sighed and said, "It's a pity that such a good ancient tomb was destroyed by these tomb robbers! Let's search separately and see if we can find some valuable funeral objects."

Soon, the members of the archaeological team were divided into several groups, and went to the side room to find valuable objects.According to the ancient tomb style, the side room is usually used to place the funerary objects, so we pin our hopes in the side room, hoping to find something valuable for archaeological research.

Hard work pays off. After the tireless work of the archaeological team members, a large number of ancient cultural relics were continuously excavated from the side room and sent back to the studio on the ground.

There are many incomplete stone tablets and stone plaques in these ancient relics. Probably the tomb robbers thought that these broken stones had no economic value, so they did not steal them. This left a glimmer of hope for our archaeological work.

"Tuoba Gu, you haven't closed your eyes for two days and two nights. You see your eyes are as red as rabbits, why don't you squint for a while?" Gu Meidi put a steaming cup of coffee in front of me. On the table.

I yawned and twisted my stiff arms, "I'll go to rest after clearing out the last stone tablet!"

(End of this chapter)