introduction
The announcement of the archaeological results of the Han Dynasty's Baling Tomb shocked the archaeological community, and this ancient tomb is located near Jiangcun in tuanling District, an eastern suburb of Xi'an, and has been previously considered a funerary tomb. However, this time the archaeological results clearly tell the world - this is the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han.
Speaking of the discovery process of emperor Wen of Han's tomb, he had a close relationship with a tomb robber named Zhang Xiaoyan. It was he and his accomplices who stole 180 pieces of black pottery nude figurines from this mausoleum, and then 6 pieces of black pottery figurines were smuggled to the United States, and the foreign affairs department took action to recover 6 pieces of terracotta figurines back to China, and the mysterious Western Han Black Pottery Nude Figurines attracted the attention of relevant departments, and also unveiled the archaeological prelude to the Han Wen Emperor's mausoleum.
The Western Han Dynasty black pottery nude figurines appeared at the Auction in New York
On March 24, 2002, the Sothby Art Auction in New York was about to start, and six black pottery nude figurines from the Western Han Dynasty of China attracted special attention. These 6 black clay figurines are exquisitely crafted and have peculiar shapes, which are obviously different from the pottery figurines of the Western Han Dynasty in the past in the art form. The black clay figurines were listed for $6,000 to $8,000 each on the auction list.
As the auction was about to begin, a Chinese hurried to the scene and found the head of the Sosby auction house. This person revealed his identity - the secretary of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, and after a frank and serious communication with the head of the auction house, the six western Han black pottery nude figurines from China were removed from the shelves because of the fact that the six pottery figurines entered the United States through smuggling channels.
On June 17, 2003, the US representative officially handed over 6 pieces of Western Han black pottery nude figurines to Chinese representatives, and 6 Pieces of Western Han Pottery Figurines returned to the embrace of the motherland after more than a year of wandering.
Grave robbers who came after him
So, where did these 6 black pottery nude figurines come from? Why was it smuggled to the United States?
Speaking of these 6 pieces of black pottery nude figurines of the Western Han Dynasty, we have to mention that chen Jinfu and Zhang Xiaoyan, the tomb robbers who stole and dug this batch of black pottery figurines, were the two groups of tomb robbers who went to the tomb one after another to rob the tomb, so that this batch of black pottery figurines appeared in the world, and finally the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han surfaced.
In March 2001, Chen Jinfu, Yan Baojun and Xin Laihu, laid-off workers from Xi'an's Baqiao District, came to Jiangcun, Tuanling District, on the eastern outskirts of Xi'an, where they planned to steal the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han, Empress Dou's mausoleum. After several days of preparation, several of them dug a large hole several meters deep with a Luoyang shovel, and then filled it with explosives and blew out a large hole. However, before they could ship the goods, they were discovered by the police patrolling the cemetery, Chen Jinfu and Yan Baojun were arrested on the spot, and Xin Laihu escaped by chance.
In October 2001, Xin Laihu met Zhang Xiaoyan. Zhang Xiaoyan, a native of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, has not studied since he was a child, dropped out of school without graduating from junior high school, and wandered the society with a nickname - "Old Eight". Zhang Xiaoyan was sentenced for stealing cultural relics with others, and after his release from prison, Zhang Xiaoyan started the "old business" of tomb robbery.
After Getting to know Zhang Xiaoyan, Xin Laihu told Zhang Xiaoyan about his failure to rob the tomb a few months ago, and the speaker had the heart to listen and the intention, Zhang Xiaoyan decided to take advantage of the sorghum ripening season in October to go to jiangcun in the eastern suburbs of Xi'an to "filter the pit" (continue digging along the previously left robbery hole).
On October 16, 2001, Zhang Xiaoyan and Huang Shimin, a repairman at a factory in Xi'an Textile City, came to a sorghum field near Jiangcun in Tuanlin District, the eastern suburbs of Xi'an, and they found the robbery hole that Xin Laihu had dug earlier and continued to "filter the pit" below.
That night, they dug up an orderly patch of wood. Zhang Xiaoyan was overjoyed, he knew that this time he had dug a little.
As we all know, "yellow intestine inscription" is a kind of burial method dedicated to the Western Han Dynasty, which is a frame structure made of cypress stacks around the emperor's mausoleum, which is a special chamber for the emperor of the first level, and is the highest level in the western Han tombs.
The tomb that Zhang Xiaoyan excavated this time is the Yellow Intestine Inscription Tomb, which was finally identified as the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han, which is also the recently discussed "Jiangcun Tomb".
Because there was no tool to carry sawn wood, and at the same time, they were worried about the poison in the tomb, Zhang Xiaoyan did not dare to do it that day. The next day, they prepared gas masks, ventilation equipment and chainsaws, sawed the wood, climbed into the tomb from the robbery hole, and stole more than 200 artifacts (including 180 black pottery nude figurines) from the tomb with snakeskin bags.
Knocking over the "vinegar jar" was forced to turn himself in
After the western Han dynasty black pottery figurines were stolen, Zhang Xiaoyan sold some of the terracotta figurines to the market for 800 yuan a piece, of which 6 black clay figurines were exiled to the United States. These 6 black pottery figurines that fell to the United States appeared at the Sosby auction and attracted the attention of China's cultural relics department. According to the appraisal of cultural relics experts, the 6 pieces of black pottery nude figurines in the auction catalogue of Sosby Auction House are indeed cultural relics of China's Western Han Dynasty. This is the opening scene, after several cultural relics were recovered by our foreign affairs department, they finally returned to the embrace of the motherland.
The appearance of the black pottery figurines of the Western Han Dynasty in the world has long attracted the attention of the cultural relics and public security departments, and just when everyone is working together to solve the case, they did not expect that the main culprit Zhang Xiaoyan actually threw himself into the net, and the reason that prompted him to throw himself into the net is even more ironic - because Huang Shimin's wife was jealous.
After Zhang Xiaoyan and Huang Shimin excavated the Jiangcun tomb, they divided more than 200 cultural relics, and Huang Shimin brought home the nude clay figurines he had been given and hid them in the box where he put his clothes.
One day, when Huang Shimin's wife was tidying up her room, she accidentally found that there were several naked female clay figurines in Huang Shimin's box. Huang Shiming's wife thought that her husband had a flower heart, so she asked Huang Shimin: "Where did these naked female figurines come from?" What is it for? Huang Shimin refused to say anything, so Huang Shiming's wife had a big fight with Huang Shimin at home.
Even if the wife is a jerk, Huang Shimin has not revealed the origin of those clay figurines. Subsequently, Huang Shimin's wife began to inquire about her husband's recent developments and told others about the fact that she found her husband hiding naked figurines in a box at home.
The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, and after a righteous mass heard Huang Shimin's wife describe the appearance of the clay figurines, he realized that the figurines were probably cultural relics, so he immediately reported the situation to the police.
Zhang Xiaoyan had studied law when he was in prison before, and when he learned that Huang Shimin's wife had leaked out his tomb robbery, he was worried about being severely punished, so he took the initiative to go to the local police station and confessed his tomb robbery.
Confirmation of Baling
In 2014, another group of tomb robbers set their sights on the Jiangcun Tomb, and they used explosives to blow up the hole (which had previously been buried) that Zhang Xiaoyan had dug again with explosives. Because this time there were cultural relics stewards guarding this area, after hearing the noise, the clerk quickly arrived at the scene, and the tomb robbers were scared away without success.
Due to the repeated destruction of the Jiangcun Tomb, in November 2017, the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute and the Xi'an Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology jointly carried out rescue excavations of the ancient tomb. At this point, Emperor Wendi of Han's tomb was completely unveiled. It is precisely because Zhang Xiaoyan and several other groups of tomb robbers repeatedly robbed tombs that the confirmation process of emperor Han Wen's tomb was promoted.
As the saying goes, "good and evil will be rewarded", the tomb robber Zhang Xiaoyan was eventually severely punished by the law, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment for stealing ancient tombs and deprived of political rights for life. However, the story does not end here, before the Tomb of Emperor Wen of Han was officially excavated by the cultural relics department, a large number of cultural relics have been lost to the market, and are still being searched for recovery.