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

Chapter 27 The first wave of tomb robbery: the history of tomb robbery in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties (3)
He wants to make the game more exciting, and the more difficult it is, the more his fighting spirit will be aroused.He sent troops to guard the tomb, and people began to enter the tomb and were not allowed to leave.Seven days later, the yellow mist finally dispersed, and Liu went to lead the crowd.The subordinates knocked open the big lock on the stone gate with a sledgehammer, and rushed in bravely. The tall coffin stick of King Wei Xiang was the first thing that caught his eye.The coffin was black and shiny. It was made of raw lacquer mixed with rhinoceros hide. It was several inches thick. He sawed it open and collected all the treasures in the coffin, and the bones of King Wei Xiang were also thrown out of the coffin.Liu went to continue to explore around the tomb. After turning around a few times, he suddenly found a very secret stone door next to the tomb with a hidden lock on it.For him, the game is even more fun.

According to "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes", the scale of the tomb is very large. At each of the four corners, there is a stone dog holding a candle for lighting. There are more than forty statues of stone men and stone women standing around. As soon as the air enters, all the gorgeous clothes change instantly. Turned into ashes, exposing a dry bone.However, after more than 300 years, Jin Linggong's body was still intact, and gold and jade were placed in his mouth, nose and other "holes".There are many objects in the tomb, which cannot be identified because of the long time or rot or decay, but there is also a jade toad, which is about the size of a fist, with an empty belly and as smooth as new.Liu went to see a jade toad the size of a fist among the funeral objects, and took it back as a water bowl for storing water and grinding ink.Liu Qu went to the stone bed, picked up one of the bronze swords, put it on his waist triumphantly, and then walked out swaggeringly. The rest of the treasures in the tomb were all stolen by his minions.

There are still many famous ancient tombs that were robbed by Liu Qu, such as the tomb of Qiequ, the son of King Wei, the tomb of King You of Jin, the tomb of Luanshu, and a large number of ancient tombs.But there are too many tomb robbers, and Liu Qu is also afraid. "Taiping Guangji" records that when Qiequ's tomb was excavated, Liu Qu was frightened to death, and the people inside turned out to be lifelike.Liu Qu hurriedly asked his subordinates to stop, quit, and sealed it up again.He regards the tomb robbery as a game.If the game is played well, it is naturally full of joy.If the game is not played well, he will even more unscrupulously dig the tomb to forget the unhappiness in his heart.Almost none of the tombs in the Kingdom of Guangchuan was spared.There are more tomb robbers, and more strange things are encountered.As the saying goes, many unrighteous actions will lead to self-death, such a perverted game finally came to an end one day.

Once, Liu went to lead his tomb robbers to rob the tomb of Qiequ, the son of King Wei.After they opened the tomb, they found that there was no coffin in the tomb, and the stone bed was covered with natural mica stones. On the bed, there was a man and a woman, about [-] years old, lying naked. Their skin color seemed to be alive.The soldiers around were very frightened and did not dare to touch them.Liu Qu was also scared when he saw such a scene, and hurriedly retreated.

Another time, when Liu Qu was excavating the Jinyou Cemetery, he encountered a "hell" thing.The tomb of Duke You of Jin is tall and majestic. When Liu went to dig the tomb, he found that the top layer was covered with thick chalk. After digging more than 3 meters deep, only one foot thick mica was found. After clearing, more than [-] corpses were found.None of the bodies had decayed, they were perfectly preserved, as if they were asleep.

Legend has it that Liu Qu, king of Guangchuan, was punished in Luanshu's tomb for offending the soul in the tomb.When he led the people to open the tomb, a white fox ran out of it. Liu went to order the soldiers to shoot the fox's left leg with an arrow, and the fox fled with injuries.At night, Liu Qu dreamed of an old man with white hair and eyebrows, and said to him viciously, "I have no grievances with you, why did you do this?" Then he hit Liu Qu's left foot with a cane.After Liu Qu woke up, he found that his left foot was swollen, and a few days later he developed a malignant sore.No matter how much it was treated, the sore didn't get better, as if it had been cursed.Later, his ugly crimes were exposed, causing an uproar in the government and the public, and ministers demanded that he be executed.However, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty couldn't bear to use capital punishment on members of the royal family, so he issued an imperial edict to remove Liu Qu's throne, demoted him to a commoner, and exiled Shangyong (now Zhushan County, Hubei).Liu Qu committed suicide while in exile.

Liu Qu is a small figure in the 5000-year history of China. He has no earth-shattering achievements, no ability to turn the world around, and what he has is just a lot of evil deeds and the guilt of tomb robbery, which has been reviled by later generations.

The Tomb of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty

Maoling is the most prominent among the tombs of the Western Han Dynasty.Therefore, the number and scale of robbed excavations are far more than other imperial tombs.There are only five stolen incidents recorded in history.In the 54th year of the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Maoling Mausoleum was built for 53 years. When he buried the Maoling Mausoleum, the trees on the seal had already embraced each other.Due to the long construction time of Maoling, it is not difficult to understand that there are too many burial objects in the mausoleum to attract frequent visits by thieves.

In the fourth year after the burial of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, that is, one day in 84 BC, someone in Fufeng City near the capital Chang'an was selling a jade box and a jade staff.This was very common, but it happened to be seen by an attendant who had served Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty passing by here.He saw at a glance that it was the favorite object of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it was a tribute item from King Xihu Kangqu, so he immediately reported it to the government.The government thought the matter was serious and arrested the peddler for interrogation.This person only said that he bought it from someone else with 30 bolts of green cloth and 9 copper coins, but he didn't know who this person was or where he came from.The case had to be dropped at this point. From this, it can be seen that the earliest evidence for the theft of Emperor Wu's tomb was this year.

Herein lies the mystery.Since Emperor Wu had amassed treasures for decades and put them in the tomb, a few thieves would not be able to take everything away anyway. If so, then there should be a lot of treasures in Maoling, but the fact is, There are very few treasures left in Maoling.Therefore, some people may ask: What kind of bad luck did Maoling suffer later?Did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the emperor with absolute power, live comfortably after his death?So far, what treasures can we get from Maoling?What surprises can Maoling leave for us?
History has created countless unsolved cases for Maoling.In 64 BC, a very absurd thing happened.There is a herb collector in Shanxi named Li You.This person often collects medicine in the mountains.Once, he came to Baodu Mountain in Shangdang to collect medicine.When he climbed halfway up the mountain, he was exhausted.At this time, he saw a cave and went in to take a rest.Sitting on the flat rock at the entrance of the cave, Li You looked down at Baodu Mountain, and saw greenery all over his eyes, and the gurgling stream in the mountain.After a short rest, Li You got up and wanted to leave.While getting up, he unconsciously glanced at the cave.With this look, he saw the problem, and he found something shining golden in the dark cave.Strong curiosity drove him to the cave.After walking about 200 meters, he saw the shiny thing, which turned out to be a gold box.He tried to hug it, but the box was heavy.After a lot of effort, he finally moved the box to the entrance of the cave.He opened the gold box carefully and found that it was full of books.The books are stacked neatly, including more than 40 volumes of miscellaneous books, including: 2 volumes of "Lao Tzu", 6 volumes of "Taisu Zhongzhi Jing", 9 volumes of "Tianzhu Jing", 7 volumes of "Liulongbu Yuanwen", "Ma Huang" "Shouzhenshu" 4 volumes.After further verification, the main officials were surprised, and it turned out that this was the funeral book of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.They hurriedly reported to the emperor at that time.However, because the emperor wanted to take his own face into consideration, he only imposed some simple punishments on the officials guarding the mausoleum, so the truth of this matter became an unsolved case.This is the first unsolved case about Maoling.

Soon, another magistrate seized several jade dishes from a farmer. After inspection, they found that they were from Maoling, and the magistrate hurriedly reported them.Who would have thought that before the inspection team arrived, the farmer who hid the jade dish would die for no apparent reason, and no one would know where he got the jade dish from!This is the second unsolved case.The last unsolved case is even more bizarre.The county annals of a certain county in Jiangsu recorded such an incident: One day, a businessman went out to purchase goods and suddenly encountered heavy rain. He hurried to a temple of earth to shelter from the rain.Unexpectedly, an animal that looked like a dragon but not a dragon appeared in the sky above the Earth Temple amidst thunder and lightning. When the businessman wanted to see what happened, the animal suddenly spit out a precious pearl.The businessman picked it up and saw the word "Queen" engraved on it. How dare he keep it, he quickly handed it over to the government and told the whole story.Who would have thought that strange things would happen one after another.Soon the businessman disappeared, and a few months later, the jewel in the government treasury also disappeared, and there was no news of the court's strict investigation.Another three years later, people found that the merchant had died in a well not far from Maoling with his orb in his mouth. It is not known how long he had been dead.Later, members of the royal family of the Western Han Dynasty confirmed that this orb was the burial object of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and sent it back to the ancestral hall dedicated to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.It is said that the sound of thunder came faintly from the ancestral hall every night, so that the soldiers guarding the ancestral hall did not dare to approach the ancestral hall at night, and later the whereabouts of this orb was unknown.This unsolved case has been widely circulated for thousands of years, but no one can tell the truth about it. It may be true or fabricated, but this has shrouded Maoling with a little mysterious atmosphere.

These unsolved cases cannot tell exactly whether Maoling has been stolen, which makes it more attractive for latecomers to explore the secrets of Maoling's treasures.So who have really entered Maoling?What did those who entered Maoling take with them?Let us open the historical documents again, and it is not difficult to find such a record: In the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, Fan Chong, a native of Langye, led more than a hundred people into Mount Tai and started an uprising.In 22 AD, the new emperor Wang Mang sent an army of 10 to attack Fan Chong's army.Fan Chongjun was preparing for a big battle, and the rebel army painted their eyebrows with red as a mark of the rebel army, known as the "Red Eyebrow Army" in history.As a result, Wang Mang's army was defeated.In 25 AD, the 30th Battalion of the Red Eyebrow Army (one battalion had 1 people) invaded Chang'an.The first thing these farmers from all over the world did after entering the city was to plunder. After looting Chang'an City, the Red Eyebrow Army came to Xianyang Plateau again to excavate the tomb of the Empress Han and collect treasures.The 200-year-old cultural relics in Chang'an, Xijing, were almost destroyed.And Emperor Wu's Maoling, of course, is also doomed.

According to historical records, after the Red Eyebrow Army dug Maoling, tens of thousands of soldiers moved to take the treasures in the tomb.After moving for dozens of days, "the things in the mausoleum still cannot be halved."The emperor's mausoleum near Maoling also suffered the same fate.What is outrageous is that a few people even engaged in the shameful act of rape.According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty Liu Xuanzi Biography", the Chimei uprising army entered Guanzhong, captured Chang'an, burned the palace, and sent troops to the west. All the mausoleums took their treasures and insulted Empress Lu's corpse. Wherever the thieves found it, those who buried it in a jade box were as good as alive, so red eyebrows are more likely to be obscene."

In 26 AD, the Red Eyebrow Army "patronized" Maoling again.At that time, they were being defeated by the uprising army led by Liu Xiu. They were at the end of their way and retreated to Xianyang.Many soldiers deserted, and the morale of the army was even more unstable. Fan Chong was helpless.At this time, Xu Xuan, the military adviser of the uprising army, gave Fan Chong an idea and said: "Now we are attacked by Liu Xiu in the east and chased by Kui (wěi) in the west. We are attacked on both sides. It is impossible to retreat. We can only try Invading Chang'an again, there is a chance of life. It's just that the snow is so heavy now, and the morale of the army is unstable. I think it's mainly because the soldiers are free to make trouble. There are many mausoleums in this area, so it's better to ask everyone to dig graves and steal treasures. If you have the property, your morale will naturally be high, and there is hope for you to attack Chang'an." When Fan Chong heard this, Mao Sai suddenly realized, and immediately ordered the soldiers to steal Maoling again.

Xu Xuan came up with the idea to steal Maoling this time, in addition to wanting to improve morale, a more important reason was to get the Taoist secret book in Maoling.It turned out that Xu Xuan was able to pinch and count. He used to be a jailer in the county, and he had a lot of attainments in the "Book of Changes".He knew that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed in gods and respected immortals, and collected a lot of Taoism from alchemists, so he guessed that there must be secret books in his tomb.But later facts proved that Xu Xuan's idea was just a guess: the soldiers searched all corners of Maoling, and even destroyed the famous Maoling accompanying tomb - the tomb of Huo Qubing, the great general of the Western Han Dynasty. There is no trace of it.

There are many strange things about tomb robbery in the Han Dynasty

China's tombs developed to the Qin and Han Dynasties, and already had a fairly complete system.Starting from Qin Shihuang, the tombs of the supreme rulers had special regulations, which created the mausoleum system of successive emperors in China.In order to show the difference between the emperor and the common people, the emperor's tomb was built high and large, like a hill. "Shui Jing Zhu" says: "The tomb of the Son of Heaven in the Qin Dynasty is called the mountain, and the Han is called the mausoleum, so it is called the mountain mausoleum." Because the status of the emperor is the highest-level privileged figure, he has the ability to surpass all people during his lifetime, and he also has financial resources after death. Build the tomb extremely huge, so as to show the supremacy of military power.The "Qin Huang Han Wu" mentioned by Mao Zedong in his poems were not only outstanding emperors at that time when they were alive, but even after their death, their tombs all showed the luxury of the world.Driven by them, the style of thick burial in China has reached a climax.As we have said before, an important reason for tomb robbery is thick burial, which will inevitably lead to tomb robbery.Therefore, this period is also one of the most rampant periods of tomb robbery.Historically, there are so many looted tombs of the Han Dynasty that it is difficult to count them all.Due to limited space, we only list some important or interesting tomb robbery events as follows:

"Book of Jin Mindi Ji" records: "(Jianxing three years) in June, Han Ba, Du Erling and Bo Empress Dowager Mausoleum were stolen. , there are many ques in the service chapters, and the rest are collected by decree to strengthen the inner government."

According to "Historical Records", Empress Dowager Bo died in the second year of Emperor Han Jing, that is, 155 BC, and her tomb was stolen 470 years later, that is, in 315 AD.According to "Ancient Book Tucheng Kanyu Juan", the tomb robbers are Yin Zhi and Jie Wu from the Sanqin period.But what is ironic is that when Emperor Jin Min established his dynasty, it was even a problem to wear clothes, so he had to clean up the "mess" left by the tomb robbers to enrich the needs of the inner palace.

In front of the Han Dynasty Tomb in Guishan, Xuzhou, there is a stone tablet, on which it is written in irregular small seal characters:

The hundredth Shangshi, Chu Gu Corpse King.According to Tianshu, the inner and outer coffins of the burial are not clothed with extraordinary vessels, so that the officials have been buried and go to serve the mother's current jade.Later generations are fortunate to look at this book, and those who (eye) this is also heartfelt.

This tomb is the tomb of Liu Zhu, King Xiang of Chu of the Western Han Dynasty, and his wife in the same tomb but different caves.The inscription is mainly to warn future generations that although he is a generation of Chu kings, there is neither luxurious clothing nor treasures buried with him in the tomb. When you see the inscription, you will definitely feel sad in your heart.

Nevertheless, later excavations proved that his tomb was robbed twice.What is even more ridiculous is that after two robbed excavations, jade, pottery, chariot and horse implements, pottery figurines, five baht coins, Linzhi gold, tortoise and cow silver seals, bronze spears, and Suzaku Xiao shapes were still unearthed from the tomb. India and other cultural relics.And the inscription reminds people of an old saying: There is no silver 300 taels here.

The tomb of King Chu of the Western Han Dynasty in Beidong Mountain, Xuzhou used a large number of stones to block the tomb passages. The weight of the stones can reach 7.8 tons, but it still failed to prevent the entry of tomb robbers.According to modern archaeological excavations, the thief who robbed the tomb either broke the plug stone or dragged it out, and finally entered the tomb successfully, looting all the funerary objects.When the archaeologists cleaned it up, they found that a block stone in the back corridor had been dragged to the front room by tomb robbers, and there was a bull nose button chiseled by the tomb robbers at the front end of the block stone for easy dragging.It is speculated that the tomb robbers tied the ropes with the chiseled ox-nose buckle, and pulled the stone slabs out of the room one by one with one or several cows, and then easily entered the tomb, opened the coffin, and stole the treasure.In the crevice of the plug stone, the cleanup personnel found pieces of jade clothing, which proved that the owner of the tomb had worn gold thread or silk thread jade clothing, and the tomb robbers robbed them together with the jade clothing and funerary utensils.

There are all kinds of bizarre things, but they are not uncommon in historical records.Legend has it that after the tomb robbers opened Liu Biao's tomb, the aroma was tangy, and when the coffin was opened, the fragrance filled the heart and made people feel refreshed, so that the fragrance could be smelled for several miles near the mausoleum.So, why is Liu Biao's tomb so fragrant for miles?
Liu Biao (AD 142-AD 208), courtesy name Jingsheng, was born in Gaoping, Shanyang.With a gentle appearance, he was well-known in the world when he was young, and he was named "Eight Talents" with the same name as the seven wise men.More than [-] years after Liu Biao's death, that is, during the Jin Taikang period, his tomb was patronized by thieves.When the tomb robbers opened the coffin, they not only felt the aroma, but also saw a miraculous scene: Liu Biao and his wife were so lifelike, their skin was similar to that of a living person, and it was said that they were smiling, as if saying to the tomb robbers: You are only here now. !We have been waiting for you for a long time!Regarding this matter, Li Daoyuan, a famous geographer in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, once recorded in "Shui Jing Mian Shui Zhu": "Liu Biao's tomb, two hundred steps outside the east gate of the city, was found in Taikang. It is just like that. The color is the same, just like in the whole life, the fragrance in the tomb can be heard three or four miles away, and it has been going on for a long time. Today, the tombs and ancestral halls are still well-organized."

So, why is there a fragrance in the tomb?It turned out that his son Liu Cong "holds dozens of precious incense from all directions and puts them in a stone coffin, and the incense of Su He for eliminating epidemics is fully prepared."The "Taiping Yulan" edited by Li Fang in the Northern Song Dynasty also said: "Liu Biao's tomb is in Gaoping County. Biaozi Cong and Sifang Zhenxiang are in dozens of stone coffins. The incense of Suhe's rescue is always available. Yongjiazhong, County Renheng Xifa's tomb looks like life, and the fragrance smells for dozens of miles."

Probably this large amount of rare incense has the effect of removing peculiar smell, so that bacteria, insects and mildew have no living environment. In addition, the spices also have the effect of maintaining the skin, so it has an antiseptic effect, so that the tomb robbers thought they saw a living person.In addition, because the spices filled the coffin and the tomb, and the fragrance could be smelled ten miles away, and it lingered for a long time, maybe Liu Biao hoped that after his death, he would not only have a long history, but also leave a fragrance in the world!
Although it is said that all kinds of ancient undecomposed corpses that are similar to legends recorded in historical materials cannot be examined in detail because they have long been submerged in the billowing smoke and dust of history, but there are indeed similar examples found in modern archaeological excavations.

(End of this chapter)