In 1981, a rural woman in Jiangsu accidentally dug up a gold seal, which caused a sensation in Japan.
Some Japanese experts who are obsessed with academic research have traveled thousands of miles to Jiangsu to see this golden seal at close range, and even sighed that the mystery of more than 200 years has finally been solved.
Why, what does the gold seal that this Jiangsu woman accidentally dug up have to do with Japan?
First, the ancient tombs in Jiangsu were tragically damaged, and archaeologists urgently rescued them
The rural woman, named Tao Xiuhua, dug up two hills where she dug up the golden seal. The people in the village have always felt that these two hills are very ordinary. In fact, under the two hills, there are very luxurious Han Dynasty tombs.
Since the 1970s, tomb robbers have often sneaked in to dig. Because of the unauthorized actions of these tomb robbers, the ancient tombs of the Han Dynasty under the two mountains were seriously damaged.
When the archaeologists discovered this, they were very distressed and immediately contacted the local government to seal off the two mountains, and at the same time submitted an application for protective excavation to the superiors.
After obtaining approval, archaeologists took tools and carried out in-depth conservation excavations of two han dynasty tombs that had been destroyed.
The place where the two hills are facing each other has always been known as Ganquan Mountain by the locals. Therefore, archaeologists named the two Ancient Tombs of the Han Dynasty ganquan no. 1 and Ganquan no. 2 respectively.
After the blockade of the area where the tombs are located, archaeologists have repeatedly carried out protective excavations of the two tombs and found many fragmented historical relics.
Some of these things are natural decay in a long time, and some are deliberately destroyed by tomb robbers, and every time they see these fragments, archaeologists will feel very uncomfortable in their hearts.
They thought more than once that if the two tombs had been discovered earlier and protected, the contents might not have been damaged on a large scale.
Unfortunately, the facts that have already happened cannot be changed at all. No matter how uncomfortable the archaeologists are, they can only silently accept this result.
In addition to these fragments, archaeologists have unearthed some relatively complete treasures. For example, gilded Boshan furnace, bronze cow lamp, etc., these things have special craftsmanship and have high artistic value and collection value.
After the archaeologists unearthed it, they carefully protected it and sent it to the museum, providing valuable physical materials for subsequent research.
Experts judged by the scale of the ancient tombs that the owners of these two ancient tombs must be princes of the Han Dynasty. Because of the lack of clues, the true identity of the tomb owner has never been determined.
Second, women accidentally dug up the golden seal and took the initiative to choose to turn it in
In 1981, the archaeological work of the two tombs was basically completed, only some of the debris needed to be cleaned, and archaeologists hired some villagers to help them deal with the follow-up work due to insufficient manpower.
Tao Xiuhua took the initiative to go to the archaeological site to help because his daily work was not too much. In the process of cleaning up the broken soil, Tao Xiuhua accidentally found a golden sparkling thing, which she thought was very beautiful and casually put it in her pocket.
After returning home, Tao Xiuhua took it out like a treasure and said to her husband, you see what this is, I picked up a big treasure.
Tao Xiuhua's husband has also been to the archaeological site to help before, and has also had close contact with archaeologists. Because of his previous experience, his horizons have broadened a lot.
After seeing the golden seal in Tao Xiuhua's hand, he immediately realized that this thing should be a treasure dug up in the soil, so he painstakingly advised Tao Xiuhua that we can't want this thing, if we really take it with a conscience, what is the difference between us and those tomb robbers?
Tao Xiuhua is not the kind of greedy person, she took the gold seal home, but she just thinks this thing is very good-looking, and wants to share her good luck with her husband.
After being persuaded by her husband, Tao Xiuhua immediately decided to hand over the treasure and send it to the place where it should go. As a result, before Tao Xiuhua could act, their home was blocked by the villagers who flocked to them.
Tao Xiuhua thought that no one noticed that he had picked up the golden seal, in fact, everyone had already noticed it, but it was not directly debunked. Everyone was very curious about what Tao Xiuhua had picked up, and wanted to see what treasure she had picked up.
The villagers' blocking of the door frightened Tao Xiuhua, but fortunately the village cadres appeared in time to help Tao Xiuhua and his wife break the siege.
Tao Xiuhua was very grateful for the help of the village cadres, and she was afraid that the villagers would come to haunt her again, so she immediately told the village cadres that she wanted to hand over this thing.
Third, the identity of the tomb owner is revealed, revealing a historical past
With the help of village cadres, Tao Xiuhua and her husband came to the Nanjing Museum and handed over the golden seal to the experts in the museum.
After inspecting the gold seal, the experts were pleasantly surprised to find that it was a treasure made of pure gold. More importantly, the inscription on the gold seal directly confirms the true identity of the tomb owner.
The inscription on the golden seal is "Seal of the King of Guangling", and its original owner was Liu Jing, the ninth son of Emperor Guangwu.
The Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu was the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and in the turbulent social environment, he seized the opportunity of the times, led the people around him to win brilliant victories, pacified the whole world, and became the 95th Emperor.
However, his son Liu Jing did not inherit his wisdom, but simply envied his achievements and dreamed of sitting on the dragon chair.
However, Liu Xiu did not pass the throne to Liu Jing, but to his son Liu Zhuang. This result particularly disappointed Liu Jing, and in order to become the real emperor, Liu Jing wrote a letter in the name of Liu Qi's uncle, the king of the East China Sea, to encourage Liu Jiang to lead an army to rebel.
Liu Jiang knew that this was a trap and directly handed over the letter that Liu Jing had written to himself to the imperial court. In the hierarchical feudal period, rebellion was a very big crime, and those suspected of rebellion basically did not have a good end.
However, The Hanming Emperor Liu Zhuang did not directly punish Liu Jing, he was very doting on his brother Liu Jing, and when he knew that Liu Jing was playing a ghost behind his back, he not only did not make a public statement, but took the initiative to conceal the news, pretended to know nothing, and continued to treat Liu Jing preferentially.
As a result, his tolerance, instead of making Liu Jing change his ways, fueled his arrogance. When the Qiang people rebelled, Liu Jing wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to raise an army, but before he could act, Emperor Ming of Han knew the news.
The ministers of the DPRK all felt that Liu Jing's repeated attempts to rebel must be severely punished, and Emperor Hanming still could not bear to kill him. Thinking about it, Emperor Ming of Han made a decision to change liu jing, the king of Shanyang, to the king of Guangling.
At this time, Liu Jing still refused to die. After arriving in Guangling, I secretly asked the Xiangshi around me: I look like the former emperor, the former emperor became the emperor at the age of 30, and I am now 30 years old, can I start an army?
As soon as Xiang Shi heard this, his legs softened, and he came out of Liu Jing's door and immediately reported the matter. Liu Jing knew that he had committed a taboo, and he was afraid that Emperor Hanming would ask for his guilt, so he took the initiative to go to prison.
Emperor Hanming saw that he was so interested that he did not order severe punishment, but only ordered the reduction of his guards. As a result, Liu Jing healed the scar and forgot about the pain, and not long after this incident, he began to toss blindly again.
This time, Liu Jing found a wizard and asked him to curse Emperor Hanming. A few days before his side was happy, Emperor Hanming got a secret report. Since then, Liu Jing has completely realized that he has no ability to rebel at all. In the end, Liu Jing chose to cut himself because he was too desperate.
After Liu Jing's death, Emperor Ming of Han allowed Liu Jing's children to inherit the title, so that Liu Jing's descendants could continue to enjoy glory and wealth.
Liu Jing can be said to have played a good card in this life, if he did not toss blindly, he should be able to have a good ending, he finally fell to this point, completely self-inflicted.
Fourth, Japan unearthed the golden seal of the Han Dynasty, and refused to admit it
Judging from historical data, Liu Jing seems to have little to do with Japan. That being the case, why were Japanese experts so excited after Tao Xiuhua discovered Liu Jing's seal?
This has to start with an incident in 1784, during which a Japanese farmer accidentally dug up a seal with 5 Chinese characters engraved on it: King Han Wunu.
This Japanese peasant had no culture and did not know the text under the golden seal, but he knew that this was a very valuable treasure, and if he hid it without permission, it was likely to lead to the disaster of killing himself.
In order to save his life, the Japanese farmer chose to hand over the seal. The Japanese magnate who received the gold seal was named Kuroda, who knew that the seal was worth a lot, but did not give the farmer much remuneration, but just gave him a little broken silver as a reward.
Later, Kuroda found several knowledgeable experts to identify the golden seal, and found out the history of Japan's tribute to the Han Dynasty.
According to historical records, the Uighur State once sent emissaries to China to worship during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han. Emperor Wu of Han was satisfied, and after accepting the worship, he specially ordered someone to create a golden seal, which was rewarded to the king of Japan and recognized their status as a vassal.
The accidental discovery of the golden seal by Japanese farmers is the best evidence of this history. However, Japanese scholars generally believe that this gold seal is a forgery. To prove their claims, Japanese scholars have raised three doubts.
First, there is no record of a tribute in Japanese literature. Second, when the emperors of the Han Dynasty rewarded seals, they generally used turtle buttons, and the gold seals dug up by Japanese farmers before used snake buttons, which were obviously not the same type. Third, the place where Japanese farmers dug up the golden seal is not a historical site, but a relatively ordinary place, and this treasure should not be found.
The doubts raised by Japanese scholars seem to have a certain truth, but in fact, they are all sophistry, and their biggest goal is to deny the history of chennagong.
This kind of behavior of Japanese scholars is somewhat shameless to say, but when you think about it carefully, there is also a little forgiveness.
After all, it is not an honorable thing to call Chennagong a vassal, and Japan has been thinking of itself as a strong country for so many years, trying to erase the record that is unfavorable to itself.
Because of the long-term self-suggestion, they have become accustomed to opening their eyes and talking nonsense, and it is indeed difficult to make them completely convinced.
Fifth, real gold is not afraid of fire, and history cannot be changed
As the saying goes, the real cannot be false, the false cannot be true, and in the face of ironclad facts, the sophistry of Japanese scholars is of no help at all.
After China entered a new era, because of the emphasis on archaeological excavation, many cultural relics have been excavated, many of which originated from the Han Dynasty.
Among the many Han Dynasty seals, there is a "Seal of the King of Dian" unearthed from Yunnan, and the snake button on it is almost the same as the snake button on the seal of the "King of Han Wunu".
Because of this rather significant discovery, Japan's doubts about the seal of the "Han Wunu King" are much smaller, but there are still some people who are dead and hard-mouthed and refuse to admit the history of the past.
The golden seal of the Guangling King that Tao Xiuhua accidentally dug up was like the last straw that bent a camel, completely crushing the stubbornness of Japanese scholars.
The size and font style of the Golden Seal of the King of Guangling are almost the same as those of the "King of Han Wunu" seal. According to historical records, the casting time of the two seals is only one year.
Many scholars believe that the golden seal of the King of Guangling and the seal of the "King of Han Wunu" may even be the works of the same person.
After the Japanese academic community learned of the news of the excavation of the Golden Seal of king Guangling, there was a long commotion. The Japanese scholars who tried to deny the historical facts were still reluctant to admit that history, but they were not as messed up as before.
Perhaps in order to make their faces look better, the Japanese high-level has arranged for several people who are obsessed with academic research to come to China for academic exchanges.
The more these Japanese scholars who concentrated on their research looked at the Golden Seal of the King of Guangling, the more they felt incredible, and some people even couldn't help but make a request, hoping to take the Golden Seal of the King of Guangling to Japan for an exhibition, so that more people could witness the history of that year.
All in all, the excavation of the Golden Seal of the King of Guangling has provided an opportunity for cultural exchanges between China and Japan, which is the earliest physical evidence of Sino-Japanese exchanges, and has the role of "witnessing history" and "supplementing history".
In addition, the reappearance of this golden seal also provides valuable materials for the study of Han culture in China.
Nowadays, this precious Golden Seal of the King of Guangling has been sent to the Nanjing Museum and has become a special exhibit that has attracted much attention, if you have the opportunity, you may wish to go to the scene to see and appreciate the charm of Chinese culture up close.