Introduction: In the feudal society of "seeing death as life, and dying as survival", every emperor hopes to continue to enjoy the luxurious life of his life underground after death, so he will bring a large number of gold and jade treasures into the mausoleum.
In the eyes of some greedy people, these tombs are like treasure houses buried in the ground, in order to get the gold and jade treasures inside, they will not hesitate to take risks, do the work of digging graves and digging graves, and over time, they have formed an industry - tomb robbery.
The origin of tomb robbery can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which flourished in the Han Dynasty. In order to raise military expenses, Cao Cao, a generation of tyrants at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, even set up a lieutenant in the army to dig up ancient tombs, and since then, the trend of tomb robbery has prevailed.
In order to prevent the tomb from being stolen, successive dynasties will set up a special management agency in the imperial tomb and send people to guard it for generations, these people are called - tomb keepers.
In 1661 AD, the Shunzhi Emperor aimed to build a tomb under the Changrui Mountain in Malanyu, Zunhua, Hebei, and in the following 200 years, Kangxi, Qianlong, Xianfeng and Tongzhi were buried here, forming an imperial mausoleum complex made of 15 cemeteries and 217 palaces - Qing Dongling!
As the largest royal mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Tombs set up tomb keepers very early. In the eyes of the Manchus, it is a very honorable thing to be able to guard the tomb for the emperor, and the keepers have hereditary positions and rich salaries, so many people hope to go to the imperial tomb to serve as tomb keepers.
According to historical records, the Qing Dynasty was very strict about the selection conditions for the tomb keepers, first of all, it must be from the eight flags of the "yellow flag, yellow flag, white flag", that is, the so-called "three flags", in the eyes of the emperor, only the most trusted eight flags disciples are trustworthy and can protect the safety of the mausoleum.
Secondly, the tomb keepers must also be complete with both culture and martial arts, and Wen must be familiar with various rituals and rituals and be in charge of daily sacrifices; Wu must be bold and able to protect the safety of the mausoleum. Only those who meet the above requirements are eligible to serve as the guardians of the imperial tomb.
However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the increasing decay of the Manchu Eight Banners, the imperial court had to select some Mongolian Eight Banners and the Eight Banners of the Han Army as tomb keepers, and it was at this time that huang Zhenzhi, the last tomb keeper of the Qing Dynasty, was sent to the Qing Tombs as tomb keepers.
The last tomb keeper - Huang Zhenzhi
Huang Zhenzhi's ancestral home is Zunhua, Hebei, the ancestors were originally Han Chinese, after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, he joined the Qing army and was incorporated into the Yellow Banner of the Han Army. During the Tongzhi period, the Huang family was raised by exception for meritorious service, changed from the Yellow Banner of the Han Army to the Yellow Banner of Manchuria, jumped into the Three Banners, and entered the Qing Tombs as a tomb keeper.
In the Qing Dynasty, the tomb keepers were hereditary, and if a person became a tomb keeper, then his descendants were all tomb keepers.
In the ninth year of Guangxu (1883), Huang Zhenzhi was born in Yuda Village, Dongling, Qing Dynasty, and because of his ancestral connections, he was sent to the Qing Dongling Tombs at a very young age to study at a private school for the training of tomb keepers. Unlike other Eight Banners children who did not learn and did not learn any skills, Huang Zhenzhi lost his father at an early age, his family was poor, from a very young age he knew how to help his mother share the housework, after entering the private school, he was humble, studied hard, and was deeply loved by his teachers.
In the following ten years, Huang Zhenzhi gradually grew into a young talent who could write and fight, stood out among the tomb keepers of the Qing Dynasty Tombs, and at the age of 20, he was transferred to the Yuling Tomb in Qianlong as a penman, in charge of the writing of sacrifices during the tomb sacrifices.
After entering the yuling work, Huang Zhenzhi's literary talent has been fully exerted. The original sacrifice texts written during the sacrifice are some superficial articles that sing praises and praises, and the previous pen and post style is basically excerpted and borrowed, and the articles written are the same.
But after Huang Zhen took office, he changed the perfunctory style of his predecessor, and each sacrifice text was written with heart, distinguishing between different festivals and different occasions, and when the sacrifice was read, his articles always made the listener have a sense of solemnity and solemnity, so it was appreciated by the higher officials.
In the second year of Xuan reunification (1910), Huang Zhenzhi ushered in an important turning point in his life. At that time, the Xianfeng Emperor's Dingling Tomb lacked a master and was being recruited among the guardians of the entire Qing Tombs.
According to the Qing Dynasty system, each mausoleum would set up a Langzhong, who was the highest official, a yuanwailang, who was an aide-de-camp, and the chief was the third in command, who assisted Langzhong and Yuanwailang in his work. At that time, the position of the head of an emperor's mausoleum was still relatively powerful, so many people spent money to go through the back door, hoping to get this position.
A friend persuaded Huang Zhenzhi to send money, but he sternly refused, saying that he would never bribe his superiors for his own selfish interests and promote unhealthy trends. However, when the results were announced, unexpectedly, Huang Zhenzhi was appointed as the chief of the Xianfeng Dingling Mausoleum. Later, according to insiders, the reason why the superior chose Huang Zhenzhi was precisely because of his integrity.
In order to resist the Japanese invaders, he resigned his post in anger
Fast forward to 1912, the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China for 268 years, declared its demise, but before emperor Xuantong abdicated, he signed the "Regulations on Preferential Treatment of the Qing Dynasty" with the government of the Republic of China, according to the regulations, Xuantong still enjoyed the title of emperor, and the imperial tombs of the Qing Dynasty should be properly arranged and protected, so although the Qing Dynasty collapsed, the keepers of the Qing Tombs were not actually affected.
Not only that, in 1920, Huang Zhenzhi was also promoted to the rank of Xiao Dongling because of his outstanding performance. (Xiaodong Mausoleum is a cemetery where Shunzhi's concubines are buried))
Although he became a "high-ranking" official of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Zhenzhi did not have the slightest official authority, still lived in harmony with ordinary tomb keepers and ordinary people, and often helped the poor people in the village, for which he was also respected by the people near The Tanglin as "Heavy Lord". (Huang Zhenzhi's Manchurian name is Chongxing)
In 1924, the young emperor Xuantong of Beijing was expelled from the Forbidden City by the warlords, and the guards of the Qing Tombs completely lost their hands, and in order to make a living, many people guarded themselves and began to steal and sell the items in the cemetery.
Huang Zhenzhi was very anxious in his eyes, in order to solve the living problems of the tomb keepers and stop the theft, he took the lead in organizing the tomb keepers to go to the Xinglong Mountain area north of Changrui Mountain to open up the land and cultivate the land, which to a certain extent alleviated the difficult situation of the tomb keepers.
In the most difficult moment for the tomb keepers, Huang Zhenzhi stood up and led everyone to self-reliance, which won the unanimous approval of the villagers, and in 1925, he was elected as the village chief of Yuda Village. During this period, the warlords around the Qing Dynasty were constantly fighting, bandits were rampant, the so-called soldiers and bandits, the people of Yuda Village were harassed, Huang Zhenzhi often went down three or four times, and ran between the warlords and bandits with patience, striving to buy peace for the village.
After the Qing Tombs were stolen and excavated by Sun Dianying, in order to calm the people's anger, the Nanjing government instructed the Hebei Provincial Government to set up the Qing Dongling Custody Committee, and Huang Zhenzhi, as one of the initiators, was appointed as the clerk of the committee, responsible for contacting various institutions and strengthening the protection of the Qing Tombs.
After the September 18 Incident, the Japanese supported Puyi to establish the puppet state of Manchukuo, and then the Japanese army prepared to enter the Qing Tomb under the banner of "protecting the imperial tomb". In the face of the menacing Japanese, Huang Zhenzhi led the guards of the Qing Tombs to stand up, and he righteously refuted the Japanese army: "The Qing Tombs are Chinese, and we can protect ourselves, and we do not need foreigners to intervene." ”
Under the efforts of Huang Zhenzhi and others, the Japanese were unable to enter the Qing Dongling Tombs for a long time, until 1940, the Invading Japanese Army forcibly occupied the Qing Dongling Tombs by force and took over the Qing Dongling Office.
After the founding of New China, the tomb keepers were reborn
In 1949, after the founding of New China, both the Qing Tombs and the Shouling Tombs were reborn. First, the state established the Qing Dongling Cultural Relics Protection Institute, repaired and protected the cemetery, and then carried out land reform in the Qing Dongling area, and the descendants of the tomb keepers were all allocated land and lived a happy life.
As a representative of the Qing Dynasty Dongling region, Huang Zhenzhi was also elected as a deputy to the Zunhua County People's Congress in 1956, and soon after he was elected as a deputy to the Hebei Provincial People's Congress and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The great changes in the Qing Dynasty and the Tomb Keepers made Huang Zhenzhi have mixed feelings and was determined to do his best to contribute to the construction of new China. Regardless of his 70-year-old age, he took the lead in participating in labor, and as long as he had free time, he would go to the Qing Dynasty Ton mausoleum to preach history to tourists and popularize cultural relics knowledge.
October 1957 was the most memorable moment of his life for Huang Zhenzhi. As a representative of ethnic minorities, he was selected for the national ethnic minority visiting group and was elected as the deputy head of the delegation. The leader of the regiment at that time was the younger brother of the Guangxu Emperor, Puyi's uncle Ai Xinjueluo Zaitao.
After the delegation arrived in Beijing, it was successively received by Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, and other leaders, and took photos to commemorate the occasion. On October 1, Huang Zhenzhi, together with the members of the delegation, was invited to climb the Tiananmen Tower and watch the grand military parade marking the 8th anniversary of the founding of New China.
Conclusion:
From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, and then to the New China, Huang Zhenzhi's fate has always been linked to the Qing Dynasty, in the decades of change, he did not forget his original intention, in a small post, successfully completed his mission, set a good example for future generations.
In 1970, Huang Zhenzhi died of illness in his hometown at the age of 87. His death also marked the official withdrawal of the last generation of tomb keepers of the Qing Dynasty from the stage of history.