If the active excavation of the imperial tomb had not been stopped in time, how many precious cultural relics would have been destroyed? How many secrets will disappear forever?
In 1955, Wu Han, a historian known for his research on Ming history, wrote an examination to his superiors, requesting the excavation of the largest Tomb of the Ming Tombs (the mausoleum of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di). Wu Han's request had to be said to have a certain selfishness -- because he wanted to find the entire "Yongle Canon" and other cultural relics from Changling.
His superiors agreed to his request, and the Changling Excavation Committee, which sharpened his knife, was soon established, with members including Guo Moruo, Shen Yanbing, Xia Nai, Zheng Zhenduo and other famous historians.
In the spring of the following year, the excavation committee organized manpower and material resources and began to run to Changling in a mighty way.
As a result, Changling was really "powerful", and the committee searched for a month, but it was stunned that it did not find the entrance to Changling. In view of the difficulty coefficient of excavation of Changling, the committee had to retreat to the second place and target Dingling, the mausoleum of the Wanli Emperor.
Wu Han and others believe that through the excavation of Dingling, it can provide experience for the excavation of Changling.
The so-called "difficulty coefficient" is relatively small, and the excavation committee also spent a year to find its entrance, that is, the King Kong Wall of Dingling.
When the Diamond Wall is found, it means that the gate of the mausoleum has been found. The next two months will be a time of "joy" for all the archaeologists present. After all, this is the first time since the founding of New China that a well-preserved imperial tomb has been excavated, and it is also the only time.
What were found in Dingling?
First, there are the bones of the Wanli Emperor and the two empresses, and secondly, there are boxes of funerary items.
During the medical examination of the bones of the Wanli Emperor, it was surprising to find that the body of the Wanli Emperor was not facing upwards, but was buried in the "Big Dipper Seven Stars" style lying on the side, which no one knew before. Moreover, the Wanli Emperor had obvious long and short legs, which is probably the reason why he did not go to the court for 28 years, right?
The most noteworthy funerary items in Dingling are the large number of brocade materials, which are the ming dynasty brocade heritage of the essence of Chinese textile technology.
After the excavation of Dingling, Shen Congwen, who specializes in ancient costumes, came to Dingling and wanted to visit the Ming Dynasty tapestries unearthed from Dingling to do research. However, after carefully observing these tapestries, Shen Congwen asked doubtfully:
"How come some of the finished framing products reveal the reverse side of the fabric?"
It turned out that after the opening of the Dingling Tomb, the excavation committee was busy dealing with the precious cultural relics in the mausoleum, and for these tapestries, they were only framed like ancient paintings; what is more, in the process of mounting, a large number of preservatives were added to the paste used for mounting...
Due to the rush of time, many precious tapestries have been reversed.
Therefore, Shen Congwen would only ask this question after looking at these framed tapestries. The staff in charge of mounting listened to Shen Congwen's question and replied:
"Isn't studying the structure of a fabric a negative?"
As an expert in the study of ancient costumes, Shen Congwen listened to the explanations of the staff and was furious! However, good cultivation told him not to be angry. So he endured the grief and asked in a low voice again:
"To study ancient tapestries, we must look at the opposite, but also look at the front!" To show the reverse structure, leave one centimeter on the line, and up to five centimeters is enough! The whole cloth is framed on the reverse side, and I think it is a mistake in mounting! ”
After saying that, Shen Congwen stopped studying these tapestries and turned away.
When the news of the destruction of precious silk fabrics reached Beijing, some core members of the Dingling Excavation Committee, such as Zheng Zhenduo, Xia Nai, and others, were taken aback; at the same time, the excavation of Dingling also gave a "bad" demonstration to other regions, and all parts of the country were preparing to take up shovels to excavate the imperial tombs.
Wu Han, Guo Moruo, and others once again wrote a report to their superiors, requesting the excavation of Changling.
At this point, the imperial tombs of various dynasties and generations distributed throughout the country are facing the disaster of extinction under the guidance of more advanced and professional "excavation tools". If it is not stopped in time, it will be the biggest catastrophe in the tomb of the gods in Chinese history.
Faced with this situation, Zheng Zhenduo and Xia Nai immediately wrote to their superiors to request that this abnormal archaeological excavation be stopped.
In October 1959, the superiors agreed with them and instructed: "For a hundred years, no imperial tombs should be excavated on their own initiative." This directive has also become the norm in the archaeological community.
However, the Dingling Tomb, which has been excavated, has not escaped the doom.
Later, in a catastrophe, the bones of the Wanli Emperor and the two empresses were crushed to ashes, many precious excavation reports and portraits of the empress were burned, and the empress's zi palace (coffin) was thrown into the back mountain by chopping wood.
The initiative to excavate the Dingling Tomb has also become the biggest tragedy in the history of human archaeology.
It is difficult to imagine that if the excavation of the imperial tombs was not stopped in time, the five thousand years of Chinese civilization and the tombs of countless emperors and generals should be destroyed.
Sadly, future generations have mourned and have not learned from it, and in recent years, there have been a lot of construction in various places, and I don't know how many Ming and Qing dynasty houses have been destroyed.