In ancient China, there was one of the most cruel, ruthless, and bloody systems, and that was the system of martyrdom.
This system arose mainly because after the emperor died, he was reluctant to leave his beloved concubines, and wanted them to accompany him for eternity, so he killed or buried them alive and let them be buried with him. However, many innocent lives have been lost early, and those women who are still in their youth and should enjoy the beauty of the world can only sleep in the cold mausoleum forever.
In fact, from the beginning of the Yin Shang period, a martyrdom system has emerged in China.
Archaeologists have found that in the tombs of monarchs and princes and nobles, there will always be the bodies of young women in the tombs of monarchs and princes and nobles. Upon investigation, it can be learned that these were women who were martyred for monarchs and nobles.
For example, in an ancient tomb in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there was only one male corpse, but there were hundreds of female corpses. Moreover, the movements and costumes of each corpse were different, some sitting, some lying down, some standing, and their clothes were also various, looking like living people. Later, after the efforts of archaeologists, people finally learned who the owner of this tomb was, he was the notorious King You of Zhou in history.
From this point of view, King Zhou Youwang is really very, and when he dies, he does not forget to be merry and happy. It can be said that the transition from slavery to feudalism is the progress of society and the inevitable result of historical development, but during this period, the system of martyrdom that trampled on the lives of others at will was not abolished, but became popular among princes and nobles, and slowly evolved into an ugly custom inherited by successive dynasties.
In that year, after the death of Qin Shi Huang, many concubines and prisoners of war were also martyred. In order not to let the craftsmen who built the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang leak any secrets about the tomb of the Qin Emperor, Qin II killed them all and left them in the mausoleum forever, numbering as many as tens of thousands.
In the Tang and Han dynasties, the burial system was not as popular as in the previous dynasties, because this period was more of a system of funerary burial: the emperor admired and liked the minister or general who could be buried next to the emperor's tomb after death, which was regarded as a special honor. However, if, after many years, the future monarch rejects the claims of a certain minister, then their tomb will be removed from the imperial tomb.
In the middle and late Song Dynasty, the northern nomadic peoples entered the Central Plains to live, because they did not learn Confucian culture, the ruling class more or less retained some more or less barbaric and cruel habits of life, plus they have always had the traditional custom of martyrdom, so in this period, the martyrdom system became popular among them again.
The Yuan Dynasty was a very special dynasty, it was ruled by ethnic minorities, so during this period, the burial system was still relatively popular. For example, after Genghis Khan died, countless young and beautiful women were also martyred with him. In the Ming Dynasty, due to the development of the supervision system and the high concentration of imperial power, the martyrdom system also developed silently.
From the ming taizu to the ming yingzong period, the martyrdom system can be said to have developed into one of the most cruel stages in history. Zhu Yuanzhang even stipulated that after the emperor died, the concubines who had not given birth to children must all be martyred.
So, why did Zhu Yuanzhang make such a stipulation?
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor family in Zhongli, Haozhou, and he lived a very difficult life in the first half of his life, full of the pain of life. Therefore, after becoming emperor, he naturally wanted to feel the taste of enjoying the glory and wealth of the world. However, he was in charge of all the affairs of the country, and he could not realize his dream at all, so he wanted to truly enjoy it in Hades.
It should be noted that being able to share the tomb with Zhu Yuanzhang is a special honor, which is not something that every harem lady can have. According to the research of archaeologists, the only people buried with Zhu Yuanzhang were Empress Ma, Concubine Cheng Mu and Concubine Ning. However, don't think that with three concubines buried together, the other concubines can save their lives. As the mausoleum of a founding emperor, such a situation is absolutely impossible.
Other concubines who had never given birth were forced to commit suicide or were directly killed and buried in a mausoleum next to the Taizu Mausoleum. In addition, there is also a poignant story about the martyrdom system of the Ming Dynasty: there was a talented daughter named Guo Ai, who married Ming Xuanzong more than twenty days later, and Ming Xuanzong died of serious illness. When Guo Ai learned that he was going to be buried with the emperor, he was very sad.
Under the sadness, she wrote a desperate letter modeled on the Chu ci style:
Repair the short number of xi, insufficient more also.
Born like a dream, the dead also feel.
I have returned to my relatives before, and I am ashamed of my loss of filial piety.
The heart is miserable and cannot be healed, but it can be mourned.
The meaning goes something like this: "Born like a dream, only to wake up from a dream when you are dying." I felt deep remorse for returning to heaven before my parents and not being able to fulfill filial piety around them. "What a sympathetic thing it is that my parents are still alive, but I want to be buried for someone who has nothing to do with me!" In this way, Guo Ai's life forever stayed in the most beautiful moment with buds waiting to be released.
The system of martyrdom existed for thousands of years with the development of society, until the Kangxi Emperor came to power and officially abolished it. So why did this system, which ignores the human rights of others and tramples on women's lives at will, exist for so long? If some of the feudal superstitious ideas of the ancients are excluded, the author believes that there are two main reasons for this:
Influenced by people's endless desires, emperors and princes and nobles were fascinated by the beauty of the world, and they felt that what they enjoyed before they were alive was far from enough, so they wanted to continue to enjoy it in Hades.
Second, in ancient times, it was a society in which men were inferior to women, and women had no rights to speak of, and they were even more an appendage of men. Especially the women in the deep palace, from the moment they step into the harem, their lives can only exist around men. Therefore, men hope to show their superiority over women in society by burying women, and women are bound by the Confucian idea of the Three Principles and Five Constants, and they feel that this is also a matter of course.
Resources:
["Human Martyrdom and Human Sacrifice in Chinese Slave Society", "History of Qin Benji", "History of History, Volume IV, Zhou Benji", "Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang"]