There are countless strange treasures all over the country, but have you ever seen an iron nail pierced with stone? In the great mosque in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, there is a magical Qing Dynasty stone, known as the "Test Official Stone", and it is also covered with various iron nails. Cultural relics experts said that this stone has a magical origin, what is the mystery? Why are so many nails pierced? If you also want to know, the following Xiaobian will reveal the secret to you.
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Xi'an is a thousand-year-old ancient capital, in history from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there have been thirteen dynasties to set the capital here, so Xi'an is also known as the "ancient capital of the thirteen dynasties". In fact, the history of Xi'an is far older than we think, and archaeological research shows that 1 million years ago, the Lantian ancients have flourished in the land of Xi'an. After the ancient ancestors spent a long Stone Age, Xi'an also ushered in the dawn of civilization, after more than 5,000 years of development, created a brilliant Chinese civilization.
In the territory of Xi'an, the cultural relics of successive dynasties are inexhaustible, from the Yangshao cultural site, to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang, to the Tang Dynasty Furong Garden, and the ancient temples and temples that are still full of incense, all reflect the cultural charm of Xi'an, an ancient city. It is worth mentioning that Xi'an during the Tang Dynasty was the city under the heavens, and countless foreign merchants arrived in Xi'an along the Silk Road, thus bringing different cultures, such as the construction of the Great Mosque during the Tang Xuanzong Tianbao period, which is the embodiment of cultural integration.
Today, the great mosque is still well preserved, but it is also known locally as the Great Mosque or The Great Temple. There are also many inscriptions in the temple, and experts have found through in-depth research that the great mosque has been repaired in later dynasties, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and has been expanded many times, gradually forming such a grand scale today, becoming the largest mosque in Shaanxi Province. The Great Mosque in Xi'an is different from mosques in other places, and its architecture is more characteristic of ancient Chinese architecture, such as pavilions and various plaques. The most interesting thing is that there is also a Qing Dynasty stone in the grand mosque, which is called the treasure of the temple by the locals, and is generally not allowed to see.
The stone is irregularly shaped, about 145 centimeters at the highest point and about 52 centimeters at the widest point, and looks no different from ordinary stones in appearance, but experts say that according to local county records, it is a stone that fell from the sky, that is, it is a meteorite. Although meteorites are not very strange things, there are not many meteorites that are regarded as treasures, and this meteorite has been pierced with more than ten rusty nails, which many people are puzzled by, and they do not know that it has a wonderful use.
In the "Sequel to the Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decoction", it is recorded that the ancients believed that the flying stones in the sky had spirituality, and even could predict future events, that is, those who were admitted to the examination used iron nails to nail stones, and if they were nailed into it very easily, it meant that this person would definitely be lucky in the future; if it took a lot of effort to nail it, it would mean that the career path was bumpy, but it could also achieve some achievements; if it could not be nailed into it, and even broke the nail, it showed that this person had a bad omen on the road of career. Later, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, this statement was changed again, and if a person can be nailed into a stone, it means that he is a clean official, and vice versa, he is a corrupt official, so the Ming and Qing dynasties are also called "Qingguan stone".
Experts have studied and said that either claim is actually untenable, because nails like stones are inherently contrary to science. Nails can be nailed into dirt or wood, and even into gold, silver, copper and iron, because they are all ductile, while stones are not malleable, and once pressure is applied to the stone, it will not deform the stone, but only let it break. In ancient times, when mining stones, iron nails were used to split the stones, so the result of the iron nails nailed into the stone was that the stone cracked, and it was impossible to be well preserved. Besides, there were so many officials in the Ming and Qing court, if they all wanted to test whether they were Qing officials, then this stone would have been shattered into slag long ago.
After further research, the experts used X-rays to see through the stones, indicating that these iron nail caps were not nails at all, but iron ore formed hundreds of millions of years ago was wrapped in meteorites, and then the meteorite fell from outer space to the earth, in the process it rubbed against the atmosphere, and then ignited and melted, forming an iron scar like an iron nail. In ancient society, people did not understand the principle of meteorites, so they mistakenly thought that someone had nailed iron nails into meteorites, which led to many strange speculations.
In any case, this "Qingguan Stone" also shows the ancient people's yearning for Qingguan, and it also spurs every official to care for the people and eventually nail the iron nail into the stone. Today, the "Qingguan Stone" of the Great Mosque is still erect, as if telling its story to tourists, if you are interested, you may not be afraid to see the real face.
Resources:
"Complete Guide to Xi'an Tourism" by Liu Yingshu, Publisher: China Light Industry Press
Wenlan Hairun Studio Editor-in-Chief Wen Xiucai, this article is written by: Special History Writer: Liu Lijiang's