Many netizens have always had a deep misunderstanding of archaeology and tomb robbery, believing that there is no difference between the two. In fact, the purpose of archaeology is to preserve cultural relics and restore the real history of antiquity, which is very meaningful work. Tomb robbery, on the other hand, is self-serving and immoral. But in the modern archaeological community, an interesting thing has happened, archaeology has dug up its own ancestors. Today, we will talk about the beginning and end of this matter.
In life, whoever has the children and grandchildren of the family is rich and noble, the old people will say: "This is the green smoke on the grave of your ancestors", which means that the blessings of the descendants are the blessings of the ancestors. Although it is a feudal superstition, it also reflects people's reverence for their ancestors. The world is so big that there are no surprises, and in reality, there are really people who have inadvertently dug up the graves of their ancestors.
It happened in Hunan Province in 2016, when a construction unit contracted a piece of land and was preparing for construction. In the process of construction, the master of the excavator accidentally dug out a large stone slab. After the slab was dug, a deep hole appeared inside. The person in charge estimated that it should be an ancient tomb, so he immediately contacted the local cultural relics bureau.
When the Cultural Relics Bureau learned of this situation, it immediately sent archaeologists to excavate the tomb. When the expert arrived there, he first checked the surrounding environment, and it is reasonable to say that the tomb will not be buried so shallowly, and it is estimated that the perennial crustal movement and the rain washed away the tomb. But when I really started digging, something very embarrassing happened.
At that time, the leader of the archaeological team was named Wang Wenyuan, and when he was in the middle of the excavation, he found a stone stele with the identity and life of the owner of the tomb written on it. It can be seen from the stone stele that the owner of this ancient tomb is called Wang Shiming, a Songjiang prefect during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and is a member of the Four Pins! While everyone was happy about this discovery, Wang Wenyuan fell into contemplation, because the name seemed familiar.
Wang Wenyuan thought, "It seems that his ancestors are called Wang Shiming, things won't be so coincidental, right?" Thinking of this, he shouted, "Stop, this seems to be the tomb of my ancestors." Wang Wenyuan immediately called his family, looked up the family tree, and determined that Wang Shiming was his tenth ancestor. Later generations dug up the graves of their ancestors, and this probability really made him spread.
This matter is not over here, how to deal with this ancient tomb, let Wang Wenyuan is very embarrassed. Whoever spread this matter to, it is estimated that they will have to hesitate. After all, the culture of filial piety for thousands of years has been advocating that we respect the old and love the young. It is indeed inappropriate for future generations to offend their ancestors today. In the end, how to solve it, in fact, there are many versions, I will talk about the two versions I heard.
The first version says that after Wang Wenyuan learned the truth, he really couldn't bear to dig up his ancestors, so he asked the above to protect the ancient tomb and build a museum in the local area to display the cultural relics inside. This situation is very common, if there are more cultural relics, you can apply for the establishment of a museum.
The second version, which was seen on television, said that archaeologists at the time explored together and found that the objects inside seemed to have been taken by tomb robbers, so there was no point in continuing the excavation. The follow-up was handed over to other archaeologists, and the work was temporarily suspended.
In fact, no matter which version it is, I just want to say that this kind of small probability event will actually happen, which is really amazing. However, if it is me, I will not choose to excavate it myself. After all, this is a taboo.