Shadow of the Tomb Raider: A Complete Record of the History of Tomb Raiders in China

Chapter 23 Dangerous games under harsh punishments and harsh laws: Punishment of tomb robbers in the past (1)
Theft and anti-good and evil are incompatible

The shameful acts of tomb thieves have always been hated by people. No matter in ancient my country or in modern times, people cannot forgive them.Therefore, except for the ancient emperors and other powerful people who would not be punished for robbing tombs, ordinary tomb robbers will be detected by the government, and tomb robbers will be severely punished.This is even more so in modern my country. The public security officers will do their best to find out the truth of the tomb robbery cases, arrest the tomb robbers and work hard to recover the stolen cultural relics.The height of the road is one foot and the height of the devil is ten feet high. Although we are constantly increasing the intensity of the attack on the tomb robbers, most of the tomb robbers' tomb robbery methods are very clever. Experience, mostly rely on buildings, dense plants, etc. as cover in the dead of night.Moreover, the number of tomb robbers is generally relatively small, and it is not easy to leave any traces by using the method of fleeing and committing crimes.In addition, what is even more exasperating is that some corrupt elements of the local government sometimes collude with the tomb robbers. The tomb robbers commit crimes under the protection of the government, and they are more daring and unscrupulous.All of these make the tomb robbers escape without leaving any obvious clues, which brings many difficulties to the detection of tomb robbers.

During the long-term struggle with the tomb robbers, the government gradually mastered some methods to solve the case and summed up some rules.This has enabled many major tomb robbery cases to be solved.Especially the modern public security personnel, through some advanced technical equipment, has accelerated the process of solving the case.

In ancient my country, due to limited conditions, officials used relatively simple methods to detect tomb robbery cases, and relatively speaking, the success rate was relatively low.Except for those royal tomb theft cases that can be actively paid attention to by the government, the cases are generally accepted through the public's report or the tomb owner's complaint.

There are many cases about the detection of ancient tomb robbery cases. Let's first look at a case recorded in "Song History".There used to be a censor named Liu Jing who supervised the army in Zhiyong County.During this period, people continued to report to him about the tomb robbery of a prodigal son named Fan Wei.Originally, this prodigal son's family did not have any prominent figures, but he pretended to be the late county magistrate Fan Zuo of Wugong County as his grandfather.In order to prove this lie to the world, Fan Wei secretly dug up Fan Zuo's tomb and buried his grandmother's body in it.Because of this backing, Fan Wei began to commit crimes here. Not only did he escape 50 years of taxation and corvee, he even robbed tombs many times.After the government captured him, he was sentenced to imprisonment or exile, but he was not really convicted because he was a son of an official.After Liu Jing received the report, he immediately arrested Fan Wei.In order to investigate whether he is the descendant of Fan Zuo, Liu Jing collected evidence from hundreds of people for investigation.However, halfway through the trial of the case, Liu Jing was ordered to return to Beijing.Although there were hundreds of testimonies, Fan Wei gritted his teeth and refused to admit it. The other officials had no choice but to let him escape punishment again.Although Liu Jing has returned to Beijing, he has never forgotten the case of Fan Wei's tomb robbery.After learning that Fan Wei had not been punished, he reported the matter to Song Renzong.Song Renzong was very furious, and ordered Fan Wei to be escorted to Beijing and handed over to Yushitai for investigation.After such a toss, the case finally came to light, and Fan Wei was sentenced to death.

From the process of solving this ancient tomb robbery case, it can be seen that the trial of tomb robbery cases in ancient my country was relatively hindered.First of all, the premise of handling the case is that there must be honest, upright officials in the court.However, my country's ancient management system has many weaknesses. Many officials are incompetent, incompetent, and there are even collusion between officials and robbers.Secondly, due to the backwardness of science and technology, there is always a certain gap between the government's methods of solving crimes and the methods of tomb robbers.The officials look down on the behavior of the tomb robbers, and even less disdain to understand the crooked knowledge of tomb robbers. Therefore, they cannot grasp the main points of the case in the process of solving the case.

In ancient times, the detection of tomb robbery cases was often traced from the things left by the tomb robbers accidentally.However, the technology was backward at that time, technologies such as fingerprint identification and genetic testing did not appear, and there were not many available tools for solving crimes, so those cases with no obvious clues could only be dismissed.

Although our country attaches great importance to the protection of tombs in ancient times, and the country has formulated a series of laws and regulations to protect non-renewable resources such as ancient tombs, the phenomenon of tomb robbery is still repeatedly prohibited.The various detection techniques in ancient times were relatively backward, which was not conducive to the protection of ancient tombs. Even if those caught tomb robbers would be severely punished by the death penalty, they still could not stop the army of tomb robbers.Since modern times, a large number of advanced technologies have also been applied by public security personnel to the detection of tomb robbery cases.For example, a lot of information about tomb robbers can be known from the remains of the tomb robbery scene.As long as there is a written mark on the remnant, it can be found out where it was produced, and the scope of the tomb robber can be roughly determined.In addition, various specific information of tomb robbers can be detected through fingerprint identification, genetic testing and other technologies, so as to narrow down the suspects.

In the case where the public security personnel determined the activity area of ​​​​the tomb robbers by using the sacks and other tools left by the robbers at the scene, the robbery case of "Guojiagang No. 1 Tomb" is a typical case.After multiple visits, the public security personnel also found out the source of the detonators, explosives and other crime tools used by the tomb robbers, and further reduced the scope of the investigation.In addition, it is very necessary to set up a technologically advanced, flexible task force and use advanced tools such as computer networks.

Located in the southeast of the ancient city of Xi'an, the tomb of Liu Xun, the legendary emperor of the Western Han Dynasty Xuandi Liu Xun, is very large in scale and is one of the few remaining Western Han imperial tombs that are relatively well preserved.Around Duling, there are more than 100 funeral tombs of empresses and dishes, large and small.Under this vicissitudes of the emperor's tomb, there are countless precious cultural relics of the Western Han Dynasty buried.

However, although this royal tomb has escaped the flames of history and many tomb robbers for thousands of years, it is being targeted by tomb robbers today.The police in Xi'an received reports from the masses that a deep robbery hole was found on Du Ling's tomb.The tomb robbers have already attacked Du Ling.

After receiving the report, Xi'an police immediately investigated the case.They first went to Duling to investigate the scene and found the robbery cave that the reporting masses said.I saw that the diameter of the entrance of this robbery cave was about 1 meter. Looking down, it was bottomless. There were ropes left by the tomb robbers at the entrance.The criminal police who handled the case found that there were not many wear marks left around the hole, and the soil dug out was still very fresh. Based on these circumstances and past experience in handling cases, they preliminarily concluded that this was a hole just dug by a tomb robber. Steal funerary objects from the mausoleum.

Because they have fought against tomb robbers for a long time, the criminal police who handle the case generally have rich experience in the situation of tomb robbers. They know that after the tomb robbers have opened up the robbery hole, even though there are many precious funerary objects in the tomb, they will not blindly immediately kill them. Go down and dig, because the underground tomb has been closed for a long time, and it is very likely that some poisonous gas will be deposited in the tomb.These gases are a deadly danger to grave robbers.Therefore, they would rather take the risk of the robbery cave being discovered by the outside world and make the previous efforts of the tomb robbers go to waste, and they would not easily go deep into the ground to steal treasures.These tomb robbers often guard the vicinity of the robbery hole, and wait for the opportunity to commit crimes when they feel that there is no danger in the tomb.

In order not to startle the enemy, the criminal police who handled the case decided to temporarily leave Du Ling's robbery cave after deliberation, lurking in a distant place for peripheral ambush, waiting for the tomb robbers to come here again, at the moment before the tomb robbers entered the tomb room, they would kill the tomb robbers in one fell swoop. They captured.

Because Duling is outside the city, the traffic and other aspects are not very convenient, so setting up an ambush on the periphery is a very hard work.The criminal police can basically only stay in one place and cannot move. Only in this way can they ambush without exposing the target.

Following the news from the scouts again, the criminal police who were ambushing around rushed out like flying, and caught the tomb robber who was going down into the robbery cave.The grave robber was handcuffed before he could react.A total of 5 tomb robbers were captured this time, a premeditated tomb robbery plan was smashed, and the precious cultural relics in the thousand-year-old tomb escaped a catastrophe.

At any time, the detection of tomb robbery cases is a contest between good and evil.The wide application of modern information technology has brought great convenience to the work of solving crimes. Police officers can collect clues and ensure the coordination of actions through telephones, mobile phones, and the Internet.At the same time, modern communication tools have also provided more convenience for tomb robbers, and the phenomenon of modern tomb robbers still occurs from time to time.Tomb robbers generally choose those tombs that are relatively remote and inaccessible as the targets of tomb robbery; and the police have limited manpower, and it is impossible to send special personnel to protect every tomb, which gives the tomb robbers an opportunity.

All in all, the situation of the struggle against tomb robbers is still very serious.However, no matter how difficult the conditions are, the detection of tomb robbery cases must not be slack. Only in this way can this special cultural heritage of our country be prevented from being destroyed by tomb robbers, and more cultural relics can be left for future generations.

Tomb Raiders Never Forgive

China is a traditional patriarchal society, and tombs used to be a symbol of maintaining the spiritual authority of ancestors and reflecting the cohesion of clans.Protecting tombs has long been a moral principle.Du Xunhe's poem of the Tang Dynasty called "cultivated land invaded and even mounded soil", which shows that this kind of moral code also restricts the laborers at the bottom of society.The ancients attached great importance to funerals, and many rulers also used important funerals as political means.At the end of the Shang Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou conquered Yin, and after occupying Chaoge, he "sealed Bigan's tomb and honored Shang Rong's house".Biganhe and Shang Rong were veterans of the Shang Dynasty. They both died because they advised them to become kings. They had high prestige among the merchants. King Wu of Zhou's move was intended to bring closer the relationship between the Zhou people and the merchants.During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Shi Le, the ruler of Zhao in the north, went to war with Zu Ti (tì), a famous general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Shi Le was afraid of Zu Ti and wanted to curry favor with him, so he repaired the tomb of Zu Ti's mother in Fanyang.In this regard, Zu Ti also showed a friendly attitude, and the two sides had a truce.

On the contrary, there was a severe punishment in ancient times, that is, digging the graves of the ancestors, opening the coffin and killing the corpses, which is the biggest blow and punishment to a person.

Since the rulers attached so much importance to burials and funeral rites, in order to maintain the long-term stability of the society, the rulers enacted harsh laws to punish tomb robbers who steal graves and dig graves, in order to make an example of others, completely eradicate tomb robbers, and maintain peace.

The law prohibiting tomb robbery should have appeared in the pre-Qin period.For example, it is written in "Lushi Chunqiu" that at that time, there were already punishment measures for "prohibition with severe crimes" for "traitors" who robbed graves.This shows that as early as the pre-Qin period, the rulers strictly prohibited tomb robbery, and anyone who violated it would be punished with a felony.

After Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty entered Xianyang, the capital of Qin Dynasty, he made three chapters, which became a good story for a while.At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Huang Lao thought was used to govern the country, and after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was exclusively respected. Whether it was the Taoist thought of ruling by doing nothing, or the Confucian thought of advocating tolerance and benevolence, they all promoted tolerance and opposed harsh punishments. This established the foundation of the Han Dynasty prison system. Base.However, even in such a dynasty, the punishment for tomb robbers was very severe.The law prohibiting tomb robbery in the Han Dynasty can also be seen in related books of that era. "Huainanzi" mentioned that the criminal law has the content of "punishment for the thief" and "punishment for the tomb".

Chinese people describe a crime as serious and unforgivable, and a word they often use is "heinous".In ancient China, when the emperor enthroned, conferred the title of empress, set up a prince, birthday, celebration and other royal celebrations, the world would be amnesty and the punishment of prisoners would be reduced or reduced, but those who committed the "ten heinous" felonies would not be reduced or reduced.Although tomb robbery is not within the scope of heinous crimes, when the world is amnesty, tomb robbers are often not within the scope of amnesty.

During the period of Emperor Han Yuan, the tomb of Mrs. Fu, concubine Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty was excavated.It can be seen from this that in the Han Dynasty, the government's punishment for tomb robbers was quite severe.It is still stipulated that "the one who sends out the tomb will be punished", that is, the tomb robber will be punished with death.Even if it is not a criminal offense, as long as the grave is excavated, it is a serious crime in the Han Dynasty.During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, the eunuch Zhao Zhong violated the funeral system when he buried his father. Zhu Mu, the governor of Jizhou, ordered an inspection, and his subordinates "distributed the tomb and opened the coffin".Emperor Huan was furious when he learned about it, and ordered Zhu Mu to go to the court to plead guilty and punish him with hard labor.Thousands of Tai students petitioned for pardon.

Dig the internal organs and cook them for sacrifice

The Tang Dynasty was a period when ancient Chinese laws matured, and a "Law of the Tang Dynasty" became a model and blueprint for later generations of legal codes.The laws of the Tang Dynasty provided rational and detailed punishments for tomb robbers.The oldest and most complete surviving feudal criminal code in China and one of the earliest statutes in East Asia, the "Tang Law Shuyi" has clear provisions on the punishment of "post graves", for example: "Those who post graves, add Those who have already opened the coffin will be hanged; those who have not been released will be sentenced to three years in prison.” Divide the tomb robbery into three punishment methods: those who excavate the tomb will be sentenced to hard labor; those who open the coffin will be hanged; As for the coffin, three years in prison.There are also corresponding punishments for the act of damaging the vegetation of the mausoleum, hitting a hundred punishment rods and being sentenced to two years in prison.Through the content of the criminal law, it can be seen that the tombs of royal family members are specially protected.The guards will also be severely punished after the tomb robbery phenomenon occurs.

The consequences of stealing the royal tomb are indeed serious.Tang Ren Zaifu recorded in "Guang Yi Zhi" that he was severely punished for stealing the tomb of Tang Xuanzong Li Longji's favorite concubine Hua Concubine-"All the gangsters were collected, tortured and captured, and dozens of people were arrested. No one to be inspected. The king invited five of his chief commanders to avenge their relatives, and the emperor promised them. They all searched out the five internal organs, cooked them and sacrificed them. The rest were killed outside the gate of Jingzhao. The noble concubine was buried, and the king's heart was mourned for three years. .”

(End of this chapter)