In June 157 BC, on the day of his death, Liu Heng, the Emperor Wen of Han, died in the Weiyang Palace of Chang'an City.
According to the relevant ceremonial regulations: after seven days, Emperor Wen's body was buried in the Baling Tombs, and he rested peacefully in the land of jiuyou.
Qing Shijun believes that most history lovers know this period of history; however, what many people do not know is that for a long time, many historians have never stopped arguing about the above "historical facts".
And the focus of all the controversy is: where is the resting place of Emperor Wen of Han and the specific location of the Baling Tomb?
Someone must say: what is debatable about this? The location of his mausoleum is clearly recorded in the annals of history, how can he not know the specific location?
To clarify this question, we must first start with a story:
One day in 176 B.C., Emperor Wen of Han, who had been sitting on the throne for four years, led a group of his confidants to a mountain outside Chang'an City and ascended to the top.
However, at this time, Emperor Wen of Han was not touring the mountains and enjoying the scenery, but was delineating the location of his mausoleum.
After some inspection, Emperor Wendi of Han was very satisfied with the location of the mausoleum chosen by the relevant departments; he said to the people on the left and right: "With the stone of the North Mountain as a coffin, filling the ramie and silk wool in the crevices of the stone rafters, and then gluing them together with paint, can such a mausoleum still be opened?" ”
Emperor Wendi of Han's meaning is obvious: after this mausoleum of The Fallen, after it is built in the future, it will be impregnable and unbreakable!
Who knows, Emperor Wen of Han's words have not been silenced, and The Zhonglang general Zhang Shizhi, who was standing on the side, said: "If there are things that others want in the mausoleum, even if the whole mountain is sealed, there are still cracks; if there is no one in the mausoleum who wants something, even if there is no stone rafter, what is there to worry about?" ”
The meaning of "thorn head" Zhang Shizhi is also obvious: since ancient times, all the imperial tombs have been extremely luxurious and buried countless treasures; therefore, although they seem to be built incomparably strong, they cannot stop the covetousness of later generations.
That is to say: there is only one way to want your mausoleum to be safe and untouched (stolen) for a long time - everything is simple, and try not to accompany the burial of gold and jade.
From the line to the Baling, the upper group of ministers said: "Oh! Take the north mountain stone as the rafter, and use the silk past lacquer to paint it, how can it be moved! Left and right: "Good! The Interpretation of the Saying: "Let there be those who are desirable among them, although there are still gaps in the South Mountain; so that those who have no desires among them, although there are no stone rafters, how can they be related!" "The emperor is good.
Emperor Wen of Han, who had always pursued frugality and knew the hearts of the people, thought about it and immediately praised Zhang Shizhi's statement.
Seeing this, some people must ask: What does this story have to do with the specific location of Baling?
Don't worry! And listen to Qing Shijun's slow reasoning:
It was precisely because of Zhang Shizhi's "violation of Yan Zhizhi" this time that Emperor Wen of Han immediately changed the regulation of imperial tombs since ancient times; in the end, the history books used six words to describe the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han: because of its mountain, it could not afford a grave.
What does that mean?
That is to say, because Emperor Wen of Han agreed with Zhang Shizhi's suggestion, when he built a mausoleum for himself, he changed the custom of opening mountains and sealing soil and building obvious signs when building imperial tombs in the past; instead, it was built because of the mountain, and there was no grave (no sealing mound).
In a word: The tomb of Emperor Wen of Han has no obvious signs on the ground, and after the passage of time, it is not a party, and it is absolutely impossible to find a specific location.
Therefore, for more than two thousand years, although almost all the imperial tombs of the Eleventh Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty could be determined, and even the mausoleum of Emperor Wen of Han's wife Dou Yifang had been found, there was always a debate about where the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han was located.
For thousands of years, the only clue about Baling is in the "Chronicle of Chang'an" compiled in the Yuan Dynasty, and there is a record: Emperor Wen's Tomb is under the "Phoenix Mouth" in the north of Bailuyuan in Jingzhao Province, tonghua gate in Jingzhao Province.
"Phoenix Mouth", which is now a mountain peak on the banks of Bailuyuan in Baqiao District, Xi'an City, has a steep mountain that looks like a bird's beak towering straight into the sky from a distance, hence the name.
Because of this place, according to Emperor Wen of Han's wife, Dou Yifang's mausoleum is not far away, coupled with the conclusive records in the history books, it has been used as the mausoleum of Emperor Wen of Han for generations.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Bi Yuan, the governor of Shaanxi, also believed that the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han was in the mountain of Fenghuangzui after many studies; therefore, he carved the stone stele of "Emperor Wen of Han".
After the founding of New China, after several archaeological surveys by many experts, the same conclusion was also reached.
However, when the time entered this century, with the application of high-tech archaeological techniques, historians doubted this "historical fact".
Originally, after many archaeological surveys by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, it was found that there was no trace of artificial excavation on the "Phoenix Mouth" mountain.
(Even if the mausoleum of Emperor Wendi of Han was built using natural caves, the mausoleum must have been revised, so it will inevitably leave traces of artificial excavation.) That is to say, Emperor Wen of Han's tomb absolutely refused to be able to reach the "Phoenix Mouth" mountain. )
So, where is emperor Wendi of Han's tomb?
Just when many archaeologists were at a loss, six black clay figurines at the Sosby Auction House in the United States in 2002 sent them clues.
It turned out that a year ago (2001), the Han Dynasty Tomb in Bailuyuan Jiangcun near the Mouth of the Phoenix was excavated by the tomb robber Zhang Xiaoyan and others, and these 6 pottery figurines that were lost overseas were excavated from the "Jiangcun Tomb".
Although the official at that time did not know the origin of this batch of pottery figurines, in 2017, with the arrest of tomb robbers Zhang Xiaoyan and others, the secret of The Great Tomb of Gangchon was finally known to the archaeological community.
Since the Gangchon Tomb has been excavated, archaeologists have carefully explored it in accordance with the principle of rescue excavation.
Don't probe don't know, a probe is frightened!
With the deepening of exploration, a "sub" glyph-shaped tomb with a length of more than 200 meters and a burial chamber of 80 × 80 meters is presented in front of people's eyes. It should be known that the "sub" shaped tomb with four tomb passages is the highest level of tomb shape system in ancient China, and generally only the emperor is eligible to use it.
Moreover, because the Jiangcun Tomb is only about 800 meters away from the back mausoleum of Dou Yifang, there are obvious traces of rammed earth walls on the periphery of the two mausoleums.
That is to say, the "Jiangcun Tomb" and the mausoleum of Dou Yifang belong to the typical heterogeneous burial!
I would like to ask: Besides Emperor Wen of Han, who is qualified to be buried with Empress Dou?
Therefore, since then, the "Jiangcun Tomb" can basically be identified as the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han.
Eventually, through years of archaeological excavations, this fact was confirmed.