Empress Dowager Cixi was very luxurious during her lifetime, and she was very fond of agate, pearls, gemstones, jade and other treasures. After Empress Dowager Cixi's death, the treasures in her mausoleum were innumerable, and the value of these funerary items was as high as 100 million taels of silver.
Such a luxurious Qing Emperor's mausoleum naturally attracted many tomb robbers, and now countless treasures do not know where they are.
The Qing Dongling Tombs were looted seven times by tomb robbers, the most famous of which was Sun Dianying's theft of the Tanglin Tombs, digging up the tomb of Cixi Lafayette, Sun Dianying led his army, plundered the treasures of the Qing Dongling Tombs, looted the famous calligraphy and paintings, and the treasures, and also split the coffins and raised the corpses, so that the Manchu Royal Family suffered great shame, Sun Dianying's banditry behavior, so that a large number of treasures in the Qing Dongling were destroyed, and only one piece of the Dravidian Sutra with faded pearls was preserved to this day. So how luxurious was the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi back then?
With the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, some secrets in the palace were gradually revealed. According to empress dowager Cixi's confidant eunuch Li Lianying and his nephew, "Notes on Ai Yuexuan", when Empress Dowager Cixi was buried, she wore a gold silk beaded embroidered robe made of 5920 pearls, and wore a phoenix crown made of pearls on her head, which was also inlaid with a foreign tribute bead, which was as large as a chicken egg and was of great value. Cixi's mouth contains a pearl of night, which can be seen in hair within 100 steps at night. On the head, the emerald lotus leaves made by the artist according to the shape of natural jadeite are placed, which are crystal clear.
Before Empress Dowager Cixi entered the coffin, a layer of gold wire jeweled brocade made of 85 rubies, 12,604 large and small pearls, and 203 pieces of white jade was laid in the coffin, and then on the brocade was a silk mattress, and on the silk mattress was a thin beaded mattress, which was a total of one foot thick.
Empress Dowager Cixi's mausoleum contained so many treasures, how could she not be remembered by the tomb robbers?
It is said that after sun dianying's soldiers opened the coffin of Empress Dowager Cixi, they saw that the corpse of Empress Dowager Cixi was well protected, and Cixi's face was as white as life, and her skin was white and full, and she actually had a bold idea. Unexpectedly, the body shrank instantly due to the sight of the air, so the corpse of Empress Dowager Cixi escaped the disaster. Sun Dianying looted the treasures in Empress Dowager Cixi's mausoleum, and the night pearl in Empress Dowager Cixi's mouth was too precious, and Sun Dianying's soldiers opened the corners of Cixi's mouth with a knife, and then carefully removed it, and Empress Dowager Cixi's body was also dragged out of the coffin and thrown on the coffin lid, and when the Manchu Qing ministers went to collect the body, they opened Cixi's body and looked at it, naked, only a pair of red underwear, full of white hair, and immediately cried bitterly, Puyi was even more torn in the northeast, scolding Sun Dianying Even if he wanted to send someone to assassinate Sun Dianying, no one thought that a generation of empresses would end up with such a tragic situation. In order to exonerate himself, Sun Dianying used a large number of treasures to bribe others. He was eventually acquitted.
Sun Dianying gave the Nine Dragon Sword and a batch of valuable antiques, calligraphy and paintings from Qianlong's tomb to high-ranking Kuomintang officials, and also gave The pearl on the crown of Cixi Phoenix and the night pearl in Cixi's mouth to Song Meiling. Song Ziwen was given an emerald watermelon on Cixi's headrest, and senior officials such as Yan Xishan and Xu Yuanquan also had gifts.
Sun Dianying's layers of bribes have enabled him to be exonerated, and these treasures in the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi have also fallen into the hands of different people, many of which are still unknown or exiled abroad, whenever they talk about this, archaeologists feel very sad, and it is a great pity to miss the opportunity to open these magical treasures with their own hands!