As we all know, there has always been a custom of martyrdom in the ancient history of our country. This custom first appeared in China's Shang Dynasty, where people firmly believed that after death, the soul lived in another world, and the tomb was the resting place of the soul of another world. Therefore, the Shang Dynasty people generally followed the principle of "death as life, and death as things survive", and burials were naturally quite common.
In the Yin Ruins excavated in Anyang, Henan In modern times, the tomb of a slave owner at will has the scale of the martyrdom of as many as a dozen people, not to mention the tomb of the emperor.
The burial system originated in the Shang Dynasty and flourished in the Qin Dynasty. Although the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin has not yet been excavated, the number of martyrs in it is still the leader of all dynasties in the past. After the Qin Dynasty, the burial system gradually declined, although it was not completely abolished, but it was quite rare. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that Kangxi abolished the martyrdom system, and this bloody feudal practice that lasted for thousands of years completely disappeared from the stage of history.
It is also due to the popularity of the burial system in ancient times, most of the ancient tombs unearthed in China can more or less find the shadow of the martyr. Among these ancient burial tombs, the most creepy is a tomb excavated in Jiangxi in 2007. The burial chamber of this ancient tomb is only 163 square meters in size, but it is crowded with 47 coffins, which is a typical burial tomb that can no longer be typical.
So, in what era was this inhumane tomb born? Who is the owner of the tomb? I would also like you to read on. With further excavations by archaeologists and the identification of funerary items unearthed in the tomb. It is initially inferred that this tomb was built in the late Spring and Autumn Period 2500 years ago, and during this period, there was a small princely state called Xu Guo in the Jiangxi region, and according to the scale of the burial of this tomb, it is very likely that it was the tomb of King Xu.
When the 47 coffins were uncovered one by one, all the archaeologists present were stunned. It contains a total of 22 relatively well-preserved human remains, all of which are women without exception. He was between the ages of 15 and 25 and was wrapped in silk and bamboo mats. Such a gorgeous funeral specification, for a moment people can not tell whether they are martyrs or tomb owners.
The remains in other coffins are too old and weathered to identify them. But judging by the items in the coffin, it is highly likely that the remains, like the 22 remains, were women between the ages of 15 and 25.
However, to the confusion of archaeologists, many melon seeds were found in each coffin, and in the follow-up autopsy, experts also found "green flowers" in the joints and bone cavities of these remains. After laboratory analysis, the composition of these "green florets" is actually iron phosphate crystals.
Iron phosphate is a highly toxic compound, combined with the melon seeds in the coffin, archaeologists speculate that these martyred women, most likely given by Xu Wang smeared with iron phosphate melon, were poisoned and died after eating it without knowing it. After their deaths, they were wrapped in silk and bamboo mats, coupled with the textile tools placed on the side, they were likely to be the weaver girls of Xu Guo at that time.
The so-called "weaver girl" is the maid in the court who specially weaves clothes for the princes and nobles. Presumably, at that time, in order to continue to wear the brocade and silk of his life after his death, King Xu deliberately brought these "weavers" into the tomb together.
However, in these 47 coffins, archaeologists have never found the body of King Xu. The identities of the 46 "Weavers" who were martyred have all been determined, but the last coffin is empty, which can't help but cast another layer of doubt on the identity of the owner of this ancient tomb.
Of course, whether the tomb is Xu Wang or not, the scale of its burial and the way the Weavers died are shocking. It is also enough for today's people to see how barbaric and bloody the ancient burial system was.