The Guangxu Emperor was the eleventh emperor of the Qing Dynasty, reigning for 34 years, which is the longest reigning emperor in history. Although the reign of the Guangxu Emperor was not short, his 34-year imperial career was very tragic, with the ambition to revitalize the Qing Dynasty, but he could not get rid of the shackles of Empress Dowager Cixi, and finally he was imprisoned in Yingtai and spent the last years of his life in loneliness.
Compared with the depression before his death, the events behind the Guangxu Emperor were extremely solemn, as if the return of the light of the feudal era was returned. His funeral was held strictly in accordance with the emperor's funeral, all the funeral rites were arranged solemnly, and tens of thousands of people were mobilized before and after the entire funeral process, costing more than 400,000 taels of silver, and the scene was very huge.
On November 14, 1908, the Guangxu Emperor, who was in his prime, died suddenly at the Hanyuan Hall in Yingtai. He was imprisoned here for ten years, and when he died, there was not even a person around him, until the Guangxu Emperor swallowed his last breath, and no one came to see him. Because at this time, the entourage in the palace knew that Lafayette was about to die, and they all gathered around the Yiluan Hall, waiting to deal with the aftermath of Lafayette.
The Guangxu Emperor's life was very humiliating, but the things behind him were extremely solemn, as if they were for the sake of the final decency of the whole royal family. Although the Qing Dynasty at this time was already in ruins, it still squeezed out a large amount of silver to handle the funeral of the Guangxu Emperor. However, it is more embarrassing that although the Guangxu Emperor reigned for 34 years, he was unable to build a mausoleum for himself during this period. Therefore, when the Guangxu Emperor died, where to bury it became a big problem. It was not until three days later, after some deliberation among the ministers in charge of the emperor's funeral, that it was decided to park the emperor's Zi Palace in liang gezhuang palace and bury it after the Chongling Tomb was built.
On March 12, 1909, the Guangxu Emperor's Zi Palace was moved from the Jingshan Guande Hall to the Xiling Liangzhuang Palace "Temporary Security". The distance between the two places is 240 miles, which is undoubtedly the fastest way to transport by rail. However, according to the ancestral precepts of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor had to walk out of the funeral, and finally had to follow the ancestral system, using the traditional funeral method to transport the Guangxu Emperor's Zi Palace to the Liang Gezhuang Palace.
Because the Zi Palace of the Guangxu Emperor was too tall and bulky, and Guangxu was also an incomparably honorable emperor, nearly 8,000 people were used to carry the coffin. These people were divided into 60 shifts of 128 people each, in addition to 240 helpers, to replace those who were physically exhausted in the middle of the way. In order to avoid too much bump in the Zi Palace during the funeral, these bartenders practiced for 10 days in the square outside the Desheng Gate, and the pace of 128 people was uniform to ensure that the Emperor Zi Palace was not bumped.
The funeral procession of the Guangxu Emperor was very large, stretching for more than ten miles, and the convoy of funerals alone was as high as more than 1400 vehicles. The Green Camp Horse Team of Taining Town was the vanguard to open the road, and the Great Inner Guards and gendarmes were on guard along the road, and the team responsible for the honor guard alone lined up for more than 5 miles. When the funeral procession had not yet left the capital, officials, ordinary people, merchants, students, etc. of the imperial court received advance notice and gathered near the city gate where the Emperor's Zi Palace passed, and all knelt down to salute when the Zi Palace passed. However, when the funeral procession left the capital, there were still hundreds of people watching, but no one was willing to kneel.
In ancient times, the funeral of the emperor was a major event of the country, and according to the provisions of the feudal etiquette law, the people along the way had to bow down to greet him. However, at that time, the Qing Dynasty had declined, the status of the imperial family among the people was not as good as before, and the feudal imperial system was on the verge of extinction. Although there were countless people watching the Guangxu Emperor's funeral, no one was willing to kneel down to greet him. The Green Battalion cavalry and the Great Inner Guard, who were responsible for maintaining order, also pretended not to see, and in the face of the crowd that did not want to kneel, they could only resign themselves and did not take measures.
After the funeral procession of the Guangxu Emperor arrived at the Liang gezhuang Palace, the Zi Palace was placed in the main hall, where it was parked for a total of four years and eight months, until November 1913, when the Guangxu Emperor was buried in the Chongling Underground Palace. At this time, the Qing Dynasty had long since perished, and the feudal imperial system that had lasted for more than two thousand years had long since become a passing cloud.
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