In the winter of 1958, because the Sealand Highway passing through Qianling, Shaanxi Province, needed to be repaired, local villagers went to the nearby Liangshan Mountain to blow up stones to get stones, and accidentally found the tomb of the Qianling Underground Palace. In 1960, Shaanxi Province set up the "Qianling Excavation Committee" to prepare for the excavation of Qianling, but the excavation was stopped for various reasons. What is less known is that although Qianling has not been excavated, archaeologists have excavated some funerary cemeteries around Qianling, and today I will introduce you to the story of one of the cemeteries.
The Qianling Underground Palace can no longer be excavated, but archaeologists have excavated the tombs of Princess Yongtai, The Tomb of Prince Zhanghuai, the Tomb of Prince Yide, the Tomb of Zhongshu Ling Xue Yuanchao, and the Tomb of Li Jinxing, Duke of Yan. Among the funerary tombs excavated, the tomb of Prince Yide is the most well-known. Prince Yide, whose real name was Li Chongrun, was the grandson of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian, the eldest son of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, and his mother Empress Wei. Yongchun was made the emperor's grandson in the first year, but due to the loss of emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Chongrun was deposed as a shuren. In the first year of Wu Zetian's Dazu (701), Li Chongrun was "killed" by Wu Zetian in public, at the age of 19. After Li Xian's restoration, he was posthumously named "Prince of Yide" in the first year of Shenlong (705).
The tomb of Prince Yide, located in the southeast of Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province, north of Hanjiabao, is the largest and highest level mausoleum of the Tang Dynasty that has been excavated so far. In 1971, archaeologists excavated it, and the underground part consisted of eight parts, including a tomb passage, six caves, seven patios, eight small niches, a front Yongdao, a rear Yongdao, a front burial chamber, and a rear burial chamber. Archaeologists said that from the shape and scale of the cemetery, the jade mourning book of the burial, the golden armor horse riding figurines, the murals in the column, the three out of the que and other more than 1,600 cultural relics, all proved that this is a very high-grade Tang Dynasty cemetery.
In 1971, archaeologists carried out a protective excavation of the tomb of Prince Yide, and the results made everyone happy, there were more than 1,300 precious cultural relics in this tomb, and the murals in the tomb were also colorful, including green dragons, white tigers, city walls, Que Lou, Le Qi, etc. However, in the coffin of Prince Yide, two bones of a man and a woman were found, what is going on? You must know that in history, Prince Yide did not have a proper wife, who is the identity of this woman? However, from the epitaph, we still found a hint, "Emperor Zhongzong succeeded to the throne, posthumously gave the crown prince, and was known as 'YiDe', and accompanied the burial of Qianling." He still hired the deceased daughter of Pei Pu, the superintendent of the state, to marry and bury her together. ”
The custom of "meditative marriage" has a long history, it is said that it appeared as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, and has been passed down to this day, and there is still a phenomenon of "meditative marriage" in some remote mountainous areas in China. This custom has such a long history that it still exists in some remote areas today. Some netizens also said: This way is not something that ordinary people can do, a little afraid, this may be the fear of the heart, but it feels very reasonable, very humane, at least after death in another world will not be so lonely. Of course, some netizens said that this is an ugly custom and a feudal superstition, which is unbelievable and cannot be imitated. What do you think about that?