First, the ancient tomb appeared
One day in March 2003, the Inner Mongolia Archaeological Research Institute received news that an ancient tomb was suspected of exploding at the Turki Mountain Quarry in Tongliao City, and Deputy Director Tara immediately led a team to the scene.
On the slopes of the southern foothills of Mount Turki, archaeologists began to clear the ground of rubble. A month later, a cemetery about 30 meters long revealed its true face. The frescoes on both sides of the tomb have long since fallen off, but the heavy sealing stone at the end of the tomb is still rock solid.
Needless to say, there must be an ancient tomb hidden behind the stone gate, which dynasty will it belong to?
On the white gray surface of the tomb, archaeologists accidentally found some strange writing, which was identified as Khitan script!
Recall that more than a thousand years ago, the Khitan people rose up and established the Liao Dynasty on the grasslands, which dominated half of China. With a powerful iron horse, the Liao Dynasty confronted the Northern Song Dynasty in the Central Plains for more than a hundred years. This place is within the territory of the Khitan people.
Facing this Liao tomb, archaeologists are worried at this time, because the Liao tomb has always been ten rooms and nine empty.
The Khitans were influenced by the Han Chinese, and the practice of thick burial prevailed, so their tombs have always been the preferred target of tomb robbers. In addition, after the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao, the Jurchens, in order to take revenge on the Khitans, had wantonly destroyed the Liao tombs, especially the tombs of the Khitan nobles. So, can this Liao tomb in front of you be destroyed for the rest of your life?
Pushing open the sealing stone, a wooden tomb door appeared in front of him, and the copper lock on the door had been severely rusted. The process of opening the wooden door was very careful, because the archaeologists were worried that there was a mechanism hidden behind the door, but fortunately, everything was in danger.
The first time the wooden door was opened, the leader Tara could not wait to take a flashlight to inspect the dusty dungeon: the ancient tomb area is not large, the length and width are no more than 4 meters, and the sediment on the ground is very thick. To Tara's great excitement, he saw that in the center of the tomb, a bright red color, carved with golden phoenix, and a very well-preserved colored coffin was buried in the mud and sand. Apparently, this tomb was fortunate to escape the clutches of the Virgins and tomb robbers of all dynasties. More importantly, the vivid golden phoenix on the coffin shows that the owner of the tomb is most likely a female Khitan nobleman.
With the removal of the silt, the burial items of the tomb owner are gradually revealed. Although the area of the burial chamber is not large, there are nearly two hundred pieces of gold and silverware for burial, and its exquisite production is from the royal family at a glance. This made everyone curious about the identity of the owner of the tomb!
Second, there are many doubts
The easiest and most effective way to decipher the identity of the owner of the tomb is to find the epitaph. There are general epitaphs in the tombs of the nobles of the Liao Dynasty, but strangely, archaeologists have searched every corner of this tomb and were surprised to find that this tomb does not have an epitaph.
The strangeness of this tomb is not only this, this is obviously a noble tomb, the funerary products are luxurious and rich, but the burial chamber is extremely small, especially the surrounding tomb walls, it is all made of stones, a green brick has never been seen, it is really a strange thing!
Tara suspects that the owner of the tomb may have been buried in a hurry, because he found that the frescoes that fell off in the tomb had one thing in common – all face up. If they are old and the murals naturally fall off, they should face down. The frontal facing up indicates that the fresco is not falling off, but slipping along the tomb wall, and the reason for the slippage is that the owner of the tomb is too anxious to bury, the white ash on the tomb wall has not dried, and the mural is anxious to paint it.
Who is this tomb owner? Why did she rush to the burial? Why is there no epitaph in the tomb? With a cloud of doubt hanging over every archaeologist, Tara had a hunch that the owner of the tomb had most likely died unnaturally.
All hopes of unraveling the mystery are placed in the only place in the tomb that has not yet been cleaned up— the rare colored coffin!
Third, the gorgeous phoenix coffin
The exquisite shape and color of this tomb coffin are far more shocking than in the movie. Even Tara, who has a wealth of archaeological experience and knowledge, recalls that he has never seen such a colored coffin!
This coffin is made of fine cypress wood, with a coffin on top and a coffin bed on the bottom. The whole coffin is mainly red and black, and the upper and lower levels are painted. The coffin is carved with a large number of exquisite gold patterns, the most eye-catching is the golden phoenix that is only about to come out. Feudal society was hierarchical, and except for the royal family, the people were absolutely not qualified to use the phoenix.
The coffin bed is a Sumire throne, with eight floors: there are hollow railings on the top, and on the railings are six majestic gilded bronze lions, and in the middle of the four golden phoenixes, two opposite each other.
It is puzzling that in addition to a large number of phoenix motifs, the coffin and the coffin bed are also covered with gilded brass bells, what is their special meaning?
Fourth, open the coffin for autopsy
After more than a month of busyness, the archaeological excavations in the field were all completed. Considering that the site did not have the conditions to open the coffin, on June 2, the coffin was sealed and packaged, and transported to the Inner Mongolia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, more than 1,400 kilometers away, and put into a specially prepared studio equipped with air conditioning and humidifiers. At the same time, a group of 5 members of the State Cultural Relics Expert Group flew from Beijing to Hohhot at the invitation of the Autonomous Region Department of Culture to guide the next coffin opening work.
At 11 a.m. on June 12, the coffin opening work officially began. Archaeologists first opened the huge coffin lid of the colored phoenix coffin, only to see that there was also an inner coffin inside the coffin. The inner coffin is also made of cypress wood, and the lid of the coffin not only reappears with a dazzling phoenix pattern, but also a dragon. This made the people present excited, there were dragons and phoenixes, who was this mysterious tomb owner, and how could there be such a high treatment?
After a period of intense mapping and photography, the archaeologists began to open the lid of the inner coffin. At this moment, everyone at the scene held their breath.
To everyone's surprise, the owner of the tomb lay on his back in a coffin, surrounded by layers of silk, hidden deeply! To be on the safe side, the next morning, the expert group decided to use the "X" ray perspective method to first investigate the secrets hidden under the layers of silk. The health department strongly supported this, and in the afternoon, radiologists from Hohhot Municipal Hospital carried a large "X" light meter and took a perspective photo of the owner of the tomb.
The results show:
1. The owner of the tomb is about 1.56 meters tall, has a complete skeleton, and is a female gender;
2. The owner of the tomb is full of bone and does not age. This indicates that the owner of the tomb was well nourished before his death, and his age should be in his youth;
3. Perspective found that the head, chest, back, waist, wrists and ears of the tomb owner were buried with a large amount of metal or jade. Discerned from the shape, it should be bracelets, rings, necklaces and other jewelry. In addition, a sabre and a purse are found on its waist.
The owner of the tomb is very healthy, but he died at a very young age, and with the conjecture of the previous hasty burial, the possibility of the unnatural death of the tomb owner is increasing!
It is worth mentioning that there are two things in the perspective photograph that are difficult to identify: one is a large number of irregular spots on the chest of the tomb owner, which look like blood, and Tara has a premonition that they may be related to the death of the tomb owner. There is also the head of the owner of the tomb, there is an unusually strange shape, indescribable object, what will they be?
Fifth, peel off the cocoon
On the morning of June 14, the intense divestiture work officially began. In order to facilitate the operation, the archaeologists first removed the inner coffin with a rope, and then began to carefully peel off the layers of silk on the owner of the tomb.
To the great shock of the archaeologists, the owner of the tomb actually wore a full 8 layers of silk robes when he was buried. Unfortunately, due to the erosion of water and soil after thousands of years, the outer layers have become unrecognizable and seriously decayed. However, the inner layer, especially a piece of Luo Qun on the seventh layer, is exceptionally well preserved. Although this Luo Qun has also faded, the embroidery of the phoenix tuanlong outlined with gold thread is still golden and brilliant.
When the last layer of clothing receded, the sight was a big surprise. I saw that the owner of the tomb had a terrible face, wearing a strange gold hoop on his head, and his bones were dark and abnormal.
It turns out that the mysterious object on the head is a headband made of gold. The headband is still decorated with a phoenix motif, and Tara has seen it for the first time in his archaeological career.
A total of more than 30 burial items were found in the coffin, including necklaces strung with red agate, black crystal and gold silk balls, gold bracelets engraved with dragon patterns, and gold rings with precious stones, each of which is a rare treasure.
While cleaning up the jewelry worn by the owner of the tomb, archaeologists also found that the mysterious spots of suspected blood on the chest of the tomb owner gathered in those photos turned out to be mercury! Associated with the blackened bones of the owner of the tomb, archaeologists speculate that the owner of the tomb is likely to have been poisoned!
At the tomb owner's leg, archaeologists again found the familiar copper bell, the size of a walnut, and a whip.
The frequent appearance of brass bells, the sacred whip carried by the owner of the tomb, and the golden hoop on the top of the head, the tomb exudes a strong religious atmosphere. Expert Wang Dafang believes that the owner of the tomb is a shaman.
The History of Liao records that, like most ethnic minorities in northern China, the Khitans practiced shamanism. As clerics in shamanism who communicate with the gods, shamans are mostly held by women.
Wang Dafang's analysis is very reasonable, because when modern shamans exorcise ghosts and pray for blessings, they wear hat racks on their heads and decorate their bodies with bells, is this just a coincidence?
However, if the owner of the tomb is a shaman, then there are so many phoenix ornaments in the tomb, and even a dragon, how to explain? A shaman would definitely not have this treatment. What was the relationship between the owner of the tomb and the Khitan royal family?
Sixth, dual identity
To find out if the owner of the tomb was a member of the royal family, the archaeologists decided to start with her DNA. To this end, Tara removed the head of the tomb owner and took it to the Frontier Archaeology Research Center of Jilin University.
After comparison, the researchers found that the DNA of the owner of the tomb was very close to a sample of the previously excavated Yelü Yu family cemetery.
Yelü Yu's status was extremely prominent, he was not only the Khitan prime minister, but he was also in the same line as the Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji, and was a cousin. This shows that the owner of the tomb is indeed a member of the Khitan royal family. Both a member of the royal family and a shaman, the complicated and contradictory information has confused archaeologists, who is she?
At this time, a princess with a special status recorded in the "History of Liao" attracted the attention of experts - the princess of Zhengu. Princess Zhengu's special status is because she is not only the daughter of Yelü Abaoji, but also the Aogu of the Khitan people.
It is recorded in the History of Liao: "After Fanna, that is, one of the chosen venerables of the clan sat in the Ogu, and the Lord performed his ceremony, which was called the Aogu." Send the latter to worship and salute, so the cloud worships ori. ”
Ogu is a position peculiar to Khitan society, it is not a shaman, but it has a priestly color. In many activities, Ogu often plays a very key role.
The speculation of the princess of the ancients cleverly combined the two identities of royals and clergy, making the whole thing suddenly clear. As the daughter of Jeroboam, it is not surprising that the tomb has a golden phoenix and dragons, as well as many luxurious funerary items.
So, will there be a plausible explanation for other strange phenomena in the tomb? For example, why did the tomb owner die at such a young age? Why is the tomb so shabby and there is no epitaph? Another important point is that the Khitan nobles have always been buried together with husband and wife, so why did the tomb owner live alone?
Flipping through the history books, the archaeologists were surprised to find that the tragic ending of the ancient princess had perfectly answered all the doubts in the ancient tomb.
Princess Zhengu's husband was her uncle Xiao Muronglu, and this kind of political marriage between the superior and the pro-kin was common in the Khitan upper class. However, Princess Zhengu probably would not have imagined that this marriage would bring her an unbearable disaster.
In 907, Yelü Apaochi became the leader of the Khitan League. The khitan alliance leaders were originally elected every three years, and everyone took turns to sit. However, after the ambitious Yelü Abaoji came to power, he suddenly imitated the lifelong and hereditary system of the Central Plains Dynasty and forcibly changed the old system. This move caused strong dissatisfaction among several brothers, and the "Rebellion of the Brothers" broke out.
Jeroboam
From 911 to 913 AD, Yelü Abaoji's brothers, Razak and Diela, rebelled three times and wanted to push Yelü Abaoji off the throne, and Princess Zhengu's husband Xiao Mulu also participated.
In 913, after a bloody crackdown, the three-year rebellion ended with the victory of Jeroboam. As a loser, Xiao Mulu committed suicide in fear of sin, and Princess Zhengu immediately fell ill and died.
If the owner of the tomb is really a princess of Zhengu, then the cause of her death may not be the death of illness as stated in the history books, and she is most likely poisoned and committed suicide after her husband's rebellion failed.
In this way, the strange phenomena in the tomb have a very reasonable explanation: when he heard that his daughter had committed suicide, Yerushalayim was deeply saddened. He could not bury his daughter, who was the wife of a criminal minister, so he had to purchase luxurious funeral items and bury her in a hurry. As for the epitaph, Jeroboam didn't know how to tell it, and he never wanted to mention this sad past...
Of course, until more conclusive evidence emerges, everything is just conjecture. Whether the owner of the tomb is a princess of the ancients may always be a mystery...