One day two thousand five hundred years ago. A funeral procession attracted thousands of people to watch. I saw that in this funeral procession, a white crane danced with its huge wings to the rhythm of mourning. People were dumbfounded, and unconsciously followed the team all the way forward. It was not until the two huge stone doors behind them slammed shut that they found that what had been introduced was a cemetery with no way to escape, and that thousands of people had become martyrs.
This is not a legend, but an incident recorded in the history book "Wu Yue Chunqiu Chronicle" in which King Wu lu lud the people to bury his daughter. The daughter of King Wu committed suicide because of her resentment toward her father, and he was so grief-stricken that he built a tomb for the female master, "chiseling the ground for the pond, accumulating the soil for the mountain", and making exquisite coffins and gold, silver and jade treasures to accompany the burial. On the day of the burial, the dancing white cranes walked in the funeral procession, and thousands of people were attracted to follow and watch, and unconsciously entered the cemetery. The King of Wu, on the other hand, "made men and women enter the door with the crane, because of the plug." Before these thousands of cranes could react, they were unjustly martyred for others.
Tomb No. 1 of the Duke of Qin
In the blink of an eye, it was the reign of Duke Mu of Qin. The "History of Qin Benji" records: "Thirty-nine years, Miao Gong died and buried Yong. From the one hundred and seventy-nine of the deceased, the three sons of Qin Zhiliang's sons, named XiangXi, Zhongxing, and Needle Tiger, were also in the midst of death. The Qin people mourned, for the song of the yellow bird poem. "The short fifty words in the history books are described plainly and concisely, as if they are explaining a very ordinary thing.
Qin Mugong died and was buried in Yong. There were 179 martyrs, including three sons of the dynasty, named Xiangxi, Zhongxing, and Needle Tiger, who were also martyred. The common people mourned their deaths and made a poem "Yellow Bird" to commemorate them.
Miyoshizuka
Cross the yellow bird and stop at the thorns. Who is from Mugong? The sub-car is dying. Viva is dying, Centurion. Near its cave, worried about its chestnut. Heaven forbid, annihilate my good man! If it is redeemable, the man is full of his body!
Cross the yellow bird and stop at the mulberry. Who is from Mugong? Sub-car zhongxing. Wei this middle line, the defense of the centurion. Near its cave, worried about its chestnut. Heaven forbid, annihilate my good man! If it is redeemable, the man is full of his body!
Cross the yellow bird and stop at Chu. Who is from Mugong? Sub-car needle tiger. Wei this needle tiger, the centurion of the emperor. Near its cave, worried about its chestnut. Heaven forbid, annihilate my good man! If it is redeemable, the man is full of his body!
Translated into modern language:
The yellow birds chirped and mourned, and stopped on the branches of the jujube trees. Who was martyred from Mu Gong? The sub-car is dying and fateful. Who does not praise the good dying, one of the centurions. The crowd mourned martyrdom and buried them alive in fear and sorrow. Heaven on the top please open your eyes, pit kill good people should not! If he could be redeemed and died, a hundred people would be willing to go to Quantai.
The yellow birds chirped and mourned, and the mulberry branches rested. Who was buried with Mu Gong? Zi Che Zhongxing suffered a disaster. Who does not call the good middle of the line, a talent among the centurions. The crowd mourned martyrdom and buried them alive in fear and sorrow. Heaven on the top please open your eyes, pit kill good people should not! If he can be redeemed and died, the hundred will be willing to turn to dust.
The yellow birds chirped and mourned, and the branches of the thorn tree fell. Who was buried with Mu Gong? The sub-car needle tiger was mutilated. Who does not praise the good needle tiger, the centurion among the auxiliary talents. The crowd mourned martyrdom and buried them alive in fear and sorrow. Heaven on the top please open your eyes, pit kill good people should not! If he could be redeemed for his death, the hundred men would be willing to bury Artemisia.
The yellow bird has been singing for thousands of years, and since then, people have only known that three good ministers have been martyred. Someone erected a monument to them and was praised by the world.
However, the excavation of the "Tomb no. 1 of Qin Gong" in Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province, has made this understated historical event impressively presented to everyone thousands of years later, even if thousands of years have passed, its scene is still chilling. Since then, it has also unveiled the darkest moments in the history of the burial of the living.
During the excavation, at the base of the second floor of the tomb, the archaeologists excavated a skull with his mouth wide open, as if he was shouting something before he died. Later that night, not far from the skull, another section of the broken arm was found. Archaeologists worked overnight and then cleaned up 20 human skeletons. The 20 mysterious corpses were all coffinless and disorganized. Archaeologists speculate that these 20 martyrs were martyrs as human animals, they may have been prisoners of war or slaves before they died, and the tomb was cut down for sacrifice when it was buried. Since then, 166 martyrs in wooden boxes or boxes have been excavated, and with the addition of 20 animals previously found, the total number of martyrs in this tomb has reached 186. There are 7 more than the 179 people recorded in the history books! The Qin people only remembered the three innocent and dead courtiers, while the remaining 185 people were nameless and nameless, and they were taken away on that incomparably dark day and buried forever under the boundless darkness. The most pitiful thing was that the 20 "human animals", who were obviously human beings, were cut down and sacrificed like livestock!
The yellow bird chirped, tossing among the thorns, mourning for the three good ministers, but who is going to cry for those who died innocently?
After Qin Mugong, such a tragedy was far from over. After the death of Qin Shi Huang, Qin II Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, this tyrannical tyrant, completely disregarded the decree of the ancestor Qin Xiangong abolishing the martyrdom, "The second emperor said: 'Those who do not have children in the palace of the first emperor are not suitable for them. 'All are ordered to die, and many are dead.' The burial has been laid down, or the craftsman is said to be an opportunity, and the Tibetan is known, and the weight of the tibetan is discharged. After the big thing is completed, the envy is closed, the door is envied, the craftsman is hidden, and there is no comeback. This inhuman Hu Hai not only forced all the childless concubines and palace ladies in the harem to be martyred, but also buried thousands of innocent craftsmen in the imperial tomb to prevent the leakage of secrets. If the historical records are true, if the tomb of Qin Shi Huang began to be excavated, then the number of martyrs presented to the world may be far more than 186 people, and the scene may be a hundred times more cruel than the Qin Gong No. 1 Tomb.
In front of the ancient feudal emperors, the lives of others were really like ants.
In the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, perhaps the degree of social civilization increased, and the phenomenon of living martyrdom was somewhat reduced.
But more than a thousand years later, this inhuman tragedy has re-emerged. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, martyrdom seemed to have become a "special honor" for women.
According to the Ming History and the Biography of Later Concubines, zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, alone and his four subsequent emperors, had hundreds of concubines buried. Maybe I also feel that it is contrary to human morality, so I am ashamed to record it in the history. However, the Korean historical record "Records of Lee Dynasty Sejong" details the process of martyrdom of the concubines who were martyred for The Ming Dynasty Ancestor Zhu Di.
After Ming Chengzu's death, more than thirty concubines and palace ladies in the harem were "invited to dinner", and the banquet was extremely sumptuous, and these more than thirty flower-like women gladly dined. After the End of the Last Supper, these thirty or so people were forcibly taken into the main hall for collective "suicide", and they were forced to stand on a small wooden bed for each person, "hanging a lanyard around it, taking their heads in it, and taking their beds, all of them died of pheasants". The Records of Sejong lee dynasty also specifically records a Korean palace maid who, before dying, shouted to the nursing mother who was waiting by her side: "Mother, I will go!" Mother, I go also! Before the words could be heard, the eunuch kicked the wooden bed open and left with hatred. Concubines who are forced to be martyred are also often powerless and vulnerable groups.
Among the 10 palace concubines who were martyred for Emperor Xuanzong, there was a palace man named Guo Ai, who had been in the palace for less than a month, and had not even seen Xuanzong's face, so he was forced to be martyred. The Biography of Ming Shi Houfei contains: "Guo Niang, Ming Ai, Character Shan Li, Fengyang Ren. Virtuous and literate, he entered the palace for twenty years and died. Knowing the date of death, Shu Chusheng mourned himself. The word is: "Repair the short and have a number of xi, the deficiencies are more than also, born like a dream, and the death is also aware." I have returned to my relatives before, and I am ashamed of my loss of filial piety. The heart can not be healed, but it can be mourned. Before his death, the talented Guo Ai left a poem to the world, lamenting the teasing of fate, which can be described as blood and tears.
Any scenes of jealousy and death in the harem depicted in the palace fighting drama now are not as tragic and terrifying as these real scenes in history.
Since then, the vice of human martyrdom has been intermittent. After the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, it even extended martyrdom to the whole country in the form of a fixed law. "In February, the funeral sacrifice is fixed, and the wife and martyr listen to it, and still give it a watch." After the death of Qing Taizu Nurhaci and Rui Prince Dolgun, they were buried with many concubines and palace women. Subsequently, the official governments in various parts of the people also vigorously praised their wives and concubines for martyrdom, calling them "martyrs" and "festival women", and wrote biographies for their cultivation and established chastity arches.
Born as a woman, she may not have enjoyed many blessings with the man she married before she died, and perhaps suffered a lot, but after this man died, he had to take his own life to accompany the funeral, and he also called it "festival" and "spirit". These women who were forcibly tied to the "Jie Lie" card did not know where their wronged souls were placed.
In the 12th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1674), the Han general Zhu Fei boldly petitioned for the end of the martyrdom system, and Kangxi agreed. He also issued an edict prohibiting slaves below the Eight Banners from being buried with their masters, and finally ended the inhumane system of living burial in feudal history.
The dawn of civilization has finally split the dark clouds and mists in the sky of history, but the sad songs that once remained in the depths of the years are worth remembering forever.