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

Chapter 36 The Fourth Wave of Tomb Raiders: Tomb Raiders in the Song and Yuan Dynasties (1)
Tomb robbery intensifies

There are already records of tomb-robbing techniques in "Zhuangzi". "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" mentioned that tomb robbers in the pre-Qin period chose to live next to the large tomb with thick burials as a cover, digging day and night, entering the tomb from the crypt, and gaining the benefit of robbery.Bi Yuan's "Lu's Spring and Autumn New Correction" also mentioned the way of "traitor digging graves" in Guanzhong in the Qing Dynasty: "The rate is hundreds of steps away from the tombs of ancient nobles. It is in the burial place, so judging from its appearance, there is no sign of excavation, and the collection is empty." Ancient and modern tomb robbery techniques are inherited in one continuous line.

"Historical Records" once recorded that the folk custom of "digging graves" was popular in Zhongshan.The deeds of the ranger "casting money and digging graves" also attracted Sima Qian's attention.Yan Zhou of the Tang Dynasty once described the prevalence of folk tomb robbery in such a poem: "The line is worth the ancient tomb forest, and the bones are vertical and horizontal. The fields are erected to whip the skeletons, and the village children sweep the elves." The above is the English of the past." Han Yu also lamented the fact that many tombs of the Eastern Han Dynasty were destroyed, "the excavation of the tombs is the official road, and there are close relatives in Nanyang".Digging graves was once a game played by lawless nobles and bureaucrats.For example, Liu Qu, the king of Guangchuan in the Western Han Dynasty, had a hobby of digging graves openly. "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes" said that Liu Qu excavated ancient tombs "innumerable", "everything in the domestic tombs has been excavated", and there are as many as hundreds of strange ones.Since ancient times in China, tomb robbing has been very popular, and folk tomb robbing has become a common practice.This trend continued unabated in the Song and Yuan dynasties.

The trend of antique collection since the Song Dynasty has stimulated the custom of tomb robbery, and the discovery of tomb robbery provided conditions for the rise of gold and stone research at that time.The two complement each other, making the folk tomb robbery in the Song and Yuan Dynasties more and more intense.

Cai Sui said in "Tieweishan Cong Tan" that the emperor still likes to collect ancient treasures, and the theft of ancient artifacts became popular for a while, "so the tombs of the world were completely destroyed." At that time, someone sold soup and cakes at a folk house in Chang'an and got a white jade dome more than a foot high, engraved with clouds, dragons and phoenixes, and sacred mountains on the sea, and presented it to the imperial court.The same book also records that someone destroyed an ancient tomb in Guanzhong and found a large bi-color porcelain that could hold a dendrobium of water.

Secret and continuous folk tomb robbery accounted for a large proportion in the entire history of tomb robbery in the Song Dynasty.Especially in the Southern Song Dynasty, when folk tomb robbing became common practice, there were many folk tomb robbing in the history.

In the early years of Song Gaozong's Jianyan period, there were frequent incidents of robbing ancient tombs near Chang'an City.The Ming people wrote in the "Compilation of Barnyard History": "On the side of the official road near Chang'an, there is a large ancient tomb, which is used as a place where pedestrians often come and go, so it will survive for a long time. At the beginning of Jianyan, when the bandits were in chaos, someone sent it out and got it There are many ancient bronze bells and tripods, and they are all from three generations. The tomb is a tunnel chamber, the soil is as hard as a stone, and the surrounding circles are carved with figures and guards. The crowns are worn by husbands and women. They are all wide. Sleeves are quite similar to today's system, but slightly different. I know that crown clothes have been like this for thousands of years." The meaning of this passage is: There is a large ancient tomb next to the official road near Chang'an.At that time, many pedestrians came and went, so the tomb has been preserved for a long time without being excavated.However, due to the war in the early years of Song Gaozong Jianyan, this ancient tomb did not escape the catastrophe and was stolen.The tomb robbers got many artifacts such as ancient bronze bells and tripods in the tomb.After looking at the style, it was proved that it was a vessel three generations ago.This tomb has a tunnel, and the soil in the tunnel is as hard as stone.There are many figures of guards carved on the four walls of the tomb.The owner of the tomb has a Futou on his head, and his wife is wearing a dress with wide sleeves.It is very similar to the costumes of Song Jianyan period, but there are some small differences in some places.Therefore, it can be seen that people at that time came to the conclusion that the clothes thousands of years ago were already what they were in the Song Dynasty.

In fact, folk tomb robbery was not unique to the Song Dynasty at that time.The Jin Dynasty that coexisted with it also had many excavations of tombs. There is such a record in the "Golden History": Shangshu Xingzuo, who stole a tomb, said: "There are also people who have been found in the tombs of heroes. There is no reward for arrest, so people are fearless. From now on, the truth is true." The number and rewards will be given.” The incidents of posting graves were so common that even the “graves of meritorious officials” in this dynasty could not be preserved.

The reason why tomb robbery is so common is that tomb robbers are too greedy for the burial belongings of the tomb owner.Sima Qian once said in "Historical Records" that social behavior is often driven by profit, and those who dare to risk their lives and "do not evade the law" are actually motivated by the pursuit of wealth. "Yuan History" has such a record: In the era of Emperor Taizu of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Rong awarded Jin Ziguang Shilu Doctor, Shandong Xingshangshu Province and Marshal of the Army and Horses, who knew the affairs of Jinan Prefecture. Order to ban it." It is also a historical example of people stealing graves for economic purposes.

But tomb robbers sometimes have surprising motives. "Yiyuan" records that the tomb of Jingfang, a Han Dynasty man, was robbed and excavated in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the remains were still intact. "Zombie flesh can be used as medicine, and the soldiers divided it." The legend of healing "broken limbs" is close to the superstition that "zombie flesh can be used as medicine".And Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" also quoted this theory, which shows that it is popular among the people.Wu Youru's "Dianshizhai Pictorial" in modern times has a story titled "A group of thieves stealing bones", in which it is written: "Some bandits pried open seven or eight coffins and stole the dead bones. It is a combination of medicine bait. Although the matter is proposed, it is not comparable to stealing clothes and accessories." This kind of tomb robbery motive of taking dry bones "for scent" or "using them as medicine bait" is really surprising.Everyone is familiar with the story of Wu Zixu's "whip the corpse", which is an extreme form of revenge for the excavation of tombs.In history, there are many other cases such as disposing of graves and cutting corpses, dissecting coffins and burning them.

The Imperial Tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty are miserable

In 959 A.D. (six years after Zhou Xiande), Shizong Chai Rong died of illness, and Emperor Gong who succeeded him was only seven years old, so the politics was unstable at that time.Zhao Kuangyin, the Jiedu envoy of the German Army, was inspected in front of the palace, and sworn brothers such as Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi, senior generals of the Forbidden Army, took control of the military.On the first day of the first lunar month in 960 A.D. (the seventh year of Xiande in the later Zhou Dynasty), news of a large-scale invasion by the Liao Kingdom and the Northern Han Dynasty suddenly came.At that time, Empress Dowager Fu, who was in charge of the government, was a woman with no opinions. When she heard about this incident, she was at a loss and at a loss. In the end, she condescended to seek help from Prime Minister Fan Zhi, and the majesty of the royal family disappeared.Fan Zhi thought to himself that only Zhao Kuangyin could rescue the generals in the court, but Zhao Kuangyin shied away from the number of major generals and was unable to fight.Fan Zhi had no choice but to entrust Zhao Kuangyin with the highest military power, who could mobilize troops from all over the country.

A few days later, Zhao Kuangyin led the army out of Tokyo City (now Kaifeng, Henan) and marched to Chenqiaoyi (now Chenqiao Town, southeast of Fengqiu, Henan).At that time, not long after the army left, there was a rumor in Tokyo that Zhao Kuangyin would become the emperor. I don’t know who spread this rumor, but most people didn’t believe it. But already panicked.Although Zhao Kuangyin is not in the court at this time, he knows everything that happened in Tokyo city like the back of his hand, and this is also his masterpiece.When Zhou Shizong was in power, he used this trick to remove his son-in-law Zhang Yongde from the post of inspector in front of the palace and let him take over.Zhao Kuangyin knew the emperor's psychology and was afraid that his country would be taken away by others, so they were very suspicious.This time, the old plan was repeated, in order to cause confusion in the court and make his army have no choice but to obey him absolutely.And at Chenqiaoyi, Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Kuangyi (later Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi) and the secretary of the Guide Army Zhao Pu instructed the soldiers to put a yellow robe on Zhao Kuangyin and support him as emperor.On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Zhao Kuangyin led his army back to Kaifeng, forced Emperor Gong to abdicate, easily seized the power of Hou Zhou, changed the name of the country to "Song", and established the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Kaifeng was the capital of the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Kuangyin's descendants began their 167-year luxury life.There were nine emperors before and after the court. Except Huizong Zhao Ji and Qinzong Zhao Huan were captured and killed in Mobei by Jin soldiers, the other seven emperors, together with Zhao Kuangyin's father Zhao Hongyin, the seven emperors and eight tombs were all located far away from the capital Kaifeng. Gong County, Henan Province.This seems to be hard to understand for a while, but people can get a glimpse of what happened from Zhao Kuangyin's actions.

Originally, Luoyang was the capital of Zhao Kuangyin's first choice.He had doubts about Kaifeng's geographical location until his death.Kaifeng is located in the plains, without the danger of mountains and rivers, and the Yellow River often causes floods, while Luoyang is the capital of successive dynasties.Such a capital made him feel that Kaifeng was really not the best choice.

In the third year after taking the throne, Zhao Kuangyin moved his father's coffin to Gong County.Zhao Kuangyin was quite satisfied when the astrologer in charge of astronomy and calendar in the imperial court divulged the specific location of Yong'an Mausoleum.

However, the move of the capital was delayed due to being busy with the war to unify the whole country. At this time, Kaifeng's economy and culture developed greatly in all aspects, and it became the most prosperous metropolis in the world in a short period of time.In particular, the imperial palace is magnificent, and the construction speed and scale are astonishingly large.Zhao Kuangyin gradually canceled his plan to move the capital to Luoyang.However, the site of the Song Mausoleum was permanently chosen in Gong County not far from Luoyang.Zhao Kuangyin intended to make his descendants accompany his father after death. (The reason for choosing Gong County as the Song Mausoleum has already been explained in Chapter 3: An Arrow Determines the Mausoleum of the Emperor, so I won’t repeat it here.)
Although the Song Mausoleum has a certain gap with the Qin, Han, and Tang Mausoleums in terms of scale, its Sui Mausoleum facilities and layout have their own unique systems and laws.The seven emperors and eight tombs are distributed within a distance of less than 10 kilometers. Moreover, around the tombs of the emperors are buried with the tombs of 21 empresses, more than 140 tombs of royal descendants, 7 tombs of outstanding generals and civil servants, and the tombs of various emperors. There are more than 200 clan clans, forming a large, dense and systematic mausoleum area.

After this large-scale mausoleum building, the Southern Song, Ming, Qing and other dynasties all inherited the system and tradition of centralized setting of this mausoleum area.

Zhao Kuangyin, who started his career by conspiracies and scheming, was afraid that the imperial power would one day be usurped by his subordinates with conspiracies, so he played a conspiracy of "drinking wine to release military power".After Song Taizu came to the throne, he accepted Zhao Pu's suggestion to remove the military power of generals, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the end of the late Tang and Five Dynasties.In the second year of Jianlong (AD 961), Taizu called Shi Shouxin, the commander of the horse infantry, and Wang Shenqi, the commander of the front of the palace, and other senior generals to drink, and persuaded them to release their military power. important steps to take.In the second year of Kaibao (969 A.D.), Taizu hosted a banquet for Jiedu envoys Wang Yanchao, Wu Xingde, Guo Congyi, Bai Chongzan, and Yang Tingzhang to persuade them to dismiss the town and change officials, so as to eliminate the hidden danger of separatism in the feudal town.Zhao Kuangyin's plan allowed the imperial power to be concentrated for his own exclusive use.This ruthless move was undoubtedly Zhao Kuangyin's victory, but it also left behind endless sharing of weal and woe, one of which was to provide convenience for the concubines in the deep palace to participate in the government.

When Zhenzong Zhao Heng, the third emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, died, his Empress Liu listened to the government behind the curtain and appointed Prime Minister Ding Wei and eunuch Lei Yungong to supervise the construction of Zhenzong's mausoleum.After the tomb was finally selected, the official in charge of astronomical phenomena Xing Zhonghe, the official in charge of astronomy, went to see it. After returning, he claimed that if he moved 100 steps up the hillside, there would be a rare "good cave" in the world that would never be seen in 1 years. , is the real "feng shui treasure land".The words reached the eunuch Lei Yungong, who immediately flattered him and reported to Empress Liu and Prime Minister Ding Wei.

Empress Liu and Ding Wei believed it was true and agreed to follow Xing Zhonghe's statement.Tens of thousands of craftsmen were conscripted to dig the tomb instead.However, just after digging the ground was not a few feet deep, a clear spring gushed out, and in an instant, the water merged into a pool, and the tomb was ruined.

According to ancient Feng Shui, it is unlucky for water to flow out of the underground palace of the mausoleum, and the matter quickly reached the ears of Empress Liu.She was furious when she heard the news, and immediately ordered Lei Yungong and Xing Zhonghe to be arrested for questioning.Lei and Xing were accused of harboring evil intentions and moving the palace without authorization to delay the construction period, and were beheaded.And Ding Wei, the powerful prime minister, was demoted to Yazhou because of the turmoil in the selection of the mausoleum, and lived a life of exile immersed in miasma.It can be regarded as self-inflicted.

Each imperial tomb in the mausoleum area has a complete cemetery, which is divided into the upper palace and the lower palace.The burial is far away from Kyoto, and the funeral costs a lot.When Zhao Kuangyin was buried, there were more than 3500 escorts alone. When Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi was buried, the number of escorts increased to more than 9400. When Song Renzong Zhao Zhen was buried, there were as many as 4.6 escorts, which is rare in the calendar. .

After the shame of Jingkang, Song Ling was stolen on a large scale.In the second year of Jingkang (that is, in the second year of Song Qinzong Zhao Huanbingwu, A.D. 1127), a country called Jin, a northern grassland nation, launched an army to invade the south on a large scale. Sweeping north, Song Baling was destroyed on a large scale for the first time.Dajin officers and soldiers wantonly robbed and excavated the eight tombs.In the tenth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1140), the anti-golden hero Yue Fei defeated Jin Wushu in Zhuxian Town. This hero admired by the whole country sent people to inspect the Northern Song Dynasty Imperial Tomb and renovated it, showing a patriotic The good state of mind of a loyal general.

After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, the eight tombs of Gong County were destroyed.According to legend, once Liu Yu got a crystal treasure bowl from a soldier and decided that it was not owned by ordinary people, so he found out that it came from Zhezong's Yongtai Tomb, so he organized the "Henan Sand Sweeping Team", which is the excavation of the imperial tomb. Team.After the Yongtai Mausoleum was excavated, all the treasures were looted and the bones were exposed. (About Liu Yu's tomb robbery, there will be a detailed introduction in the following chapters.) Since then, not only the tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty have been excavated, but even the folk tombs have not been spared.After the fall of the Jin Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty controlled the mausoleum area of ​​the Northern Song Dynasty, and all ground buildings except stone carvings were "turned into ruins". "There are still sad places in the Southern Dynasties, and the spring breeze in the Nine Temples has made a plow."

Yongchang Imperial Mausoleum is not Yongchang

The mausoleum system of the Song Dynasty was a turning point in the ancient Chinese mausoleum system. The Song Dynasty began to concentrate the imperial mausoleums into the mausoleum area, and the layout was influenced by Fengshui. As the mausoleum of the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Yongchang Mausoleum created a model for the imperial tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty, although it was more shabby than the previous dynasty. .Yongchang Mausoleum is now located next to the road from Gongyi Development Zone to Xicun Town.This place no longer shows the royal aura, the hills are low, and the Shinto is very short; and there is no geomantic omen, the front and back are all slopes, and it is located in a low-lying area (the current name of this place is "Lingwa").The Yongchang Mausoleum consists of the Upper Palace, the Lower Palace, the Mausoleum of Empress Xiaozhang Song, the Mausoleum of Empress Zhang Huaipan and two accompanying tombs. The mausoleum area is 2000 meters long from north to south and 600 meters wide from east to west.The terrain of Yongchang Mausoleum’s divination palace is higher in the south and lower in the north. From the magpie platform at the southern end of the mausoleum area to the stone lions at North Shenmen, the difference between the north and the south is as high as 17.3 meters.Due to the leveling of the land all the year round, the landform of the mausoleum area has undergone great changes. There are eight terraces from Quetai to Beishenmen, each step lowering by 0.8 to 2.7 meters.The buildings of the Upper Palace of Yongchang Mausoleum roughly include:
There are 2 magpie platforms, juxtaposed from east to west, with a distance of 42 meters.The two magpie platforms are built of rammed earth, and the plane is roughly square.There are 2 milk platforms, located 115 meters north of the magpie platform.The West Rutai is juxtaposed from east to west, and is also built of rammed earth, with a raised top and a slightly rectangular plane.The bottom of East Rutai is 12 meters long from east to west, 6 meters wide from north to south, and 3.2 meters high; the bottom of West Rutai is 11 meters long from east to west, 6 meters wide from north to south, and 3.6 meters high.Miyagi is located at the northern end of the Shinto stone statue, and Nanshenmen is about 165 meters away from the Rutai foundation.The above-ground part of the sacred wall around the palace city no longer exists, and there are gates on both sides of the Four Gods Gate and the bases of the four corners.The distance between the two towers of Shenmen is generally 15 meters, and the distance between the base of the gate and the corner is between 85 and 90 meters.According to the positions of the existing gate and corner gates, the plane of the palace city is square, with a side length of about 240 meters.Mausoleum Terrace is located in the middle of Miyagi, 93-97 meters away from Sishenlang Terrace.The mausoleum platform is now in the shape of a square overlying bucket, with a flat top and straight slopes.The existing top is 18 meters long from east to west, 14 meters wide from north to south, and the bottom is 48 meters long from east to west, 45 meters wide from north to south, and 14.4 meters high.

According to the ancients, Gongyi is a place with high mountains and high waters.It is located in the north of Songshan Mountain, which is Yin; in the south of the Yellow River, it is also Yin, which meets the Feng Shui requirements of "north of mountains and south of water".As the saying goes, "the mountains in the south and the rivers in the north will bring prosperity and wealth." It seems that Gongyi is actually a rare royal cemetery in Zhao and Song Dynasties.

What makes people feel strange is that the eight Song mausoleums, including Yongchang Mausoleum, are all high in the south and low in the north, but the mausoleums with the highest status are at the lowest places in their respective mausoleum areas. The feeling that the emperor is high above, because the emperor is almost lying under people's feet, which is completely different from the burial method of the emperors of all dynasties.

So why did Song Ling make such a strange choice?In fact, such a choice is still related to Feng Shui.In the Song Dynasty, mausoleums were built according to Fengshui Kanyu (see Fengshui), and it was popular to say that "five-tone surnames are beneficial".The construction time of the imperial mausoleum in the Northern Song Dynasty was short, and the amount of material transportation, construction and burial was very large, so it imposed a heavy burden on the people.For example, when the Yong'an Mausoleum of Zhao Kuangyin's father Zhao Hongyin was built, more than 200 people were crushed to death.

The mausoleum system of the Northern Song Dynasty basically followed the system of the early Tang Dynasty, but changed the system of building Shouling in advance in the Han and Tang Dynasties.Construction of the mausoleum in the Northern Song Dynasty began after the death of the emperor, and the entire project had to be completed within seven months.Therefore, the scale of the cemetery in the Song Dynasty was not as good as that in the Tang Dynasty.Beginning with Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty, the tombs of empresses and concubines were not erected separately, but the Song Dynasty restored the regulations of the Han Dynasty, and the mausoleums of empresses were erected alone in the southwest corner of the imperial mausoleum.The architecture of the Hou Tomb is the same as that of the Emperor's Mausoleum, but the scale is smaller. Except for Taizu Zhuanghuai Empress Pan's Mausoleum, which has the mausoleum name "Baotai", the other Hou Mausoleums do not have a Mausoleum name.

The Yongchang Mausoleum faces south in a square shape, and a square three-story mausoleum is built on the tomb, with a pair of stone lions at each door.From the south gate to the north, there are ministers of civil and military affairs and various stone statues lined up on both sides of the Shinto.The layout of the cemetery is divided into the upper palace and the lower palace, which are respectively the places for worshiping and offering sacrifices to the upper mausoleum and daily worship and living places.

(End of this chapter)