The tombs of the emperors of all generations are magnificent, but why can't there be any record of the tombs of the 15 emperors of the Yuan Dynasty in the history books?
In fact, so far, none of the tombs of the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty can be found. The fact that the imperial tombs of the Yuan Dynasty are so hidden is actually related to the unique burial customs of the Mongols.
01 Unique burial customs of the Mongols
The Mongols were nomadic people with no place to live, and funerals were particularly simple. So what was the custom of the burial of Mongol emperors?
According to relevant literature, the coffin of the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty is very special, it is split in half with a particularly thick Nan wood, hollowing out the middle according to the size of the body, and then putting the body in it and closing the Nan wood, and brushing the surface of the Nan wood with paint, firmly tightening it with three pieces of gold, so that the unique coffin is ready, from the outside it looks no different from the wood, outsiders can not see it at all.
Next, the Mongols secretly sent the nanmu to the cemetery, and did not engage in a grand funeral, did not pay a grave when buried, dug a deep pit in the cemetery, took the soil in pieces, and placed them together in order, and then buried the nanmu, filled in the soil in turn, and the new soil dug out was transported to a long distance to throw away, and finally the horse stepped flat.
In order to maintain the concealment of the cemetery, the cemetery does not have a tombstone, nor a merit plate, let alone put a lot of sacrifices around it, and no Han Chinese can be present during burial.
After the burial, soldiers were sent to guard the cemetery, and after the tents were dismantled and withdrawn in the spring of the following year, people could only see a vast grassland, and it was completely impossible to see where the cemetery was located.
According to Marco Polo's travelogue, on the way to the cemetery, Nanmu was killed if he met a stranger, which could prevent the leakage of secrets and bury the emperor.
Then some people may ask, without a tomb, without a tombstone, how can the Mongols pay tribute to their ancestors? Where to find it?
According to the "Grass and Wood Zi" of Ye Ziqi at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, in the cemetery, in front of the mother camel, the suckling camel was killed, the blood was poured on the ground, and the royal family led the mother camel to lead the way, as long as they saw it wandering back and forth in one place and mourning, they found the cemetery. What if the female camel dies? Then don't look for it, because they really don't know where to hide.
The Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty did not even know where his descendants were located, so how could others find it? So I don't know how to sacrifice in the cemetery? They felt that their ancestors were underground, so they dug a pit in the ground and sacrificed in the pit.
02 The Secret Of Genghis Khan
This secret burial custom peculiar to the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty has existed since the time of Genghis Khan.
According to historical records, Genghis Khan died of illness on the way to conquer Western Xia, and left his life and death at the time of his death, so as not to let the enemy know.
So the Mongol army wrapped the coffin containing Genghis Khan's body in felt and secretly put it on a cart pulled by 12 calves and transported it to the burial ground. For the sake of secrecy, the places along the hearse were killed, the men, women, children, and livestock encountered, interpreted by the ancient Mongol custom, were slaves who sought martyrdom for the dead.
It was not until the hearse reached the royal camp on the upper reaches of the Krullen River that the news of Genghis Khan's death was announced. According to legend, all the craftsmen and soldiers who knew about building the mausoleum for Genghis Khan were executed. Thus Genghis Khan's mausoleum became a secret.
In addition, Genghis Khan's mausoleum adopted the aforementioned method of secret storage, after burial, hundreds of horses were used to run back and forth in the burial ground, sweep away the traces, and then plant grass and trees on it, and then send heavy troops to guard it, and within a radius of tens of miles, it was forbidden and no one was allowed to come near. When the grass was overgrown the next year, there was no trace of the surface and then dispersed.
These records are found in the Secret History of Mongolia and the Black Tartar Chronicle written by Peng Daya of the Southern Song Dynasty.
In addition, the Persian historian Rusht recorded in the "Historical Collection" that the tomb of Genghis Khan was guarded by a thousand households in the Mongolian Wulianghabu, and in the year of Genghis Khan's burial, countless trees and grasses grew there, and now it is a dense forest, it is impossible to pass, the burial place is completely unrecognizable, and even the old foresters cannot find a way to get there.
Regarding the burial place of the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, historians believe that starting from Genghis Khan, the Great Khan of the Mongols and the Emperors of the Yuan Dynasty were buried in the same place.
According to historical records, after Meng Ge died on the front line of the Sichuan attack on the Song Dynasty, his son transported the coffin to Huerduo, and the Urdor everywhere took turns to mourn for him, and the coffin was moved to another Erduo's seat every day, and the crowd cried bitterly at him. Eventually they buried Möngke at the tombs of Genghis Khan and Torre, known as Khuluhei, next to the mausoleums of Genghis Khan and Torre.
03 The reason why Genghis Khan hid it
Why is Genghis Khan's secret hiding so mysterious and cruel? There are three main reasons.
First, Genghis Khan understood that the graves of countless rulers who could not live before they died were often greatly damaged. Genghis Khan had countless enemies, and in order to avoid bad luck, it was wise to choose a secret burial.
Second, the shamanism of the early Mongols believed that life is a process of life, death, and regeneration, that man is a part of nature, and that it is only natural to return to nature after death.
Third, all things in the world have spirits and souls, and people's souls are hidden in people's blood and bones, and attention should be paid to the preservation of blood and bones. Choosing a secret burial to avoid the interference of future generations with their bones is a respect for the soul of the deceased.
Speaking of sacrifices, according to the customs of the Mongols, they believe that sacrifices are sacrifices to the soul, not to corpse bones. Therefore, the burial ground where the body is buried after death is not the center of the sacrifice of future generations, and there is no need to leave a mark. This custom should be related to the fact that the Mongols were nomadic people who had no place to live.
It is for the above reasons that not only Genghis Khan, but also the later Mongol Great Khans, nobles and Emperors of the Yuan Dynasty never built majestic and spectacular mausoleums, and all practiced secret burials, and the burial places of the emperor's tombs were not marked or recorded. There are many legends about the tomb site in later generations, most of which are hearsay.
In contrast, in addition to the Yuan Dynasty in China's history, almost all the imperial tomb addresses will be circulated in the folk less than 100 years after their death, and they will inevitably be patronized by tomb robbers.
The funeral customs hidden in the Yuan Dynasty played an important role in anti-tomb robbery, and the way of "ten thousand horses stepping on the flat" is the anti-tomb robbery of the Yuan Dynasty Imperial Tomb, which can be called a trick to draw salaries from the bottom of the cauldron. Where to find such a secret method? Archaeologists are also helpless.
Text: Ten Mile Osmanthus (Follow me and tell you more interesting historical stories.) Originality is not easy, unauthorized please do not reprint, violators will be investigated! ）