In the 29th year of the Wanli Calendar, there was a large-scale uprising in Suzhou, and most of the 20,000 people who participated in the uprising were textile workers. After the imperial court sent troops, the uprising was completely put down, and the leader of the rebel army, Ge Xian, was also captured. However, what is strange is that the imperial court has always been secretive about the cause of the uprising, which makes contemporary people wonder about the deep meaning. It was not until archaeologists opened the Tomb of the Wanli Emperor that the mystery was completely revealed. What's going on here? If you want to know, let Xiaobian reveal the secret for you:
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Fan Chengda, a scholar of the Song Dynasty, once mentioned a famous saying in the "Wu Junzhi", called "There is heaven on the top, and Suzhou and Hangzhou on the bottom". It is true that the land of Suzhou and Hangzhou has always been the water town of Jiangnan, and Hangzhou is one of the six ancient capitals of China, as well as the political, economic and cultural center of Zhejiang Province, and has enjoyed a high reputation in all dynasties and dynasties.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Jiangnan region became the pillar area of the national economy at that time, where the climate was mild and humid, suitable for the growth of cotton and linen crops, so the Ming Dynasty set up a special weaving and dyeing bureau for the court in Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places, and regularly delivered silk to the imperial court.
However, no one could have imagined that in the 29th year of the Wanli Calendar, there was a large-scale textile workers' uprising in the prosperous Suzhou area. The uprising paralyzed the weaving and dyeing bureaus across Suzhou and killed a number of officials in charge of overseers. After being suppressed by the imperial court, the uprising was forced to fail, and finally the leader of the uprising, Ge Xian, was captured. Logically speaking, the rebel army had been wiped out, and the imperial court should immediately inform the people of their "crimes", but the matter was ultimately over, and even the historical records failed to fully record the causes of the uprising.
Many historians in later generations are very curious about this, the rebels of the past generations are all poor mountains and bad waters and people who have no livelihood, how can the rich Jiangnan water town set off an uprising? Could it be that the Wanli Emperor wanted to avoid something difficult to show? This matter once became a historical mystery, until the Wanli Emperor Dingling re-saw the light of day, which revealed the mystery to the world.
From 1956 to 1957, China organized a large-scale excavation of the underground Xuangong, and the object of the archaeological experts to explore was the tomb of the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty - Dingling. When archaeologists entered the Dingling Underground Palace, they found many treasures in it, including the emperor's crown and imperial dress, various gold and silver artifacts, and the remains of the Wanli Emperor, which had been ossified.
According to the reasoning, most of the above cultural relics are rare in the world, and their appearance has caused a huge sensation in China's cultural relics industry, which can be called valuable.
But it is worth mentioning that archaeologists have also found more valuable treasures in the coffins of the Wanli Emperor. What are they? The answer is bundles of silk fabrics.
At this time, some readers will question, although the silk brocade is precious, can their value be comparable to real money and silver? Xiaobian told you that the silk excavated from the tomb of the Wanli Emperor is definitely a treasure among treasures. After the investigation of archaeologists, it was found that the amount of silk in the coffin was considerable, with a total of 69 volumes. Not only that, the tapestries are all rolled up in separate rolls, and they are also tied with ropes at both ends and in the middle in the form of "waist seals". The middle bundle is distributed in a herringbone shape, and there is square paper underneath, and the handwriting on the square paper is faintly visible, and its content is the name, place of origin, date of weaving and the name of the craftsman corresponding to the tapestry.
According to experts, the brocade in the coffin of the Wanli Emperor is gorgeous and abnormal, and it has the sum of the patterns of the past dynasties since the Han and Tang dynasties in China, including plain grain, twill satin pattern, change organization, double organization and complex structure of the sarong, which is dazzling. Their appearance alleviated the dilemma of the "silk fabric shortage" in the field of archaeology, and archaeologists no longer need to study the remnants of Ming Dynasty clothes or the remaining silk fabrics left over from the decoration of Buddhist scriptures. Such a large number of silk tapestries, like a treasure trove of silk heritage given by God, can help archaeologists uncover many secrets of China's textile industry.
As we have already said, under the silk tapestry found in the coffin of the Wanli Emperor, there is a square paper with its details. It is on this square piece of paper that archaeologists have also discovered the cat grease of the uprising in the 29th year of the Wanli Calendar. On several pieces of square paper, the names of the craftsmen are: Zhao Xu, Ni Quan, Xue Xiao, Shen A Dog, Ge Xian...
These names are the names of the members of the rebel army mentioned in the history books, and almost without exception they all participated in the struggle against the Ming Court. Only at this time did the experts realize that the silk tapestry in the coffin of the Wanli Emperor was only a small part of the number of suzhou offerings, and a large number of silk objects were used in the palace. In other words, it was the imperial court's large-scale collection of silk brocade from Suzhou that caused the textile workers to work a huge amount, while their remuneration was minimal, so that their lives had been in a state of collapse, so that Ge Xian and others would take risks and eventually embark on an extreme road against the oppression of the imperial court.
The extravagance of the Wanli Emperor is obvious to future generations, and because of his own selfishness, he has added tremendous pressure to the people and laid the foundation for the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. However, it is precisely his unreliable behavior that has finally left a large number of precious cultural relics for future generations, which can also be regarded as a "great achievement". From this point of view, history is always so interesting, it will make people make heartfelt sighs and shouts, and it will inadvertently leave us with a surprise.