In ancient China, after the death of the emperor or a member of the royal family, he would be sent to a special mausoleum for burial. By the time of the Qing Dynasty, the size of the royal cemetery was even larger. In order to ensure the safety of the imperial tomb, it is necessary to have a special person to guard it. Because most of the imperial tombs have a lot of funerary goods, they are easy to be remembered by tomb thieves.
In this way, the position of tomb keeper was born. Of course, when the Qing Dynasty still existed, the salaries of tomb keepers were paid by the Qing court. However, people are puzzled that in the 107 years after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, why were there still tomb keepers in the Qing Emperor's Mausoleum, and who paid their salaries? The following is a brief analysis.
First, the situation of tomb keepers in the early Qing Dynasty.
People familiar with the history of the Qing Dynasty should know that the Qing Dynasty was set by the Emperor Taiji, but when the name of the country was set, the Qing Dynasty had not yet officially entered the customs. Therefore, at that time, after the death of the former leaders or aristocratic members of the Qing Dynasty, they would be buried directly in the mausoleum built outside the Guan.
Because the Qing Dynasty at that time was still in a period of struggle, the rules and regulations in all aspects were not so sound. In this way, even if there are tomb keepers, their treatment is not particularly good. After all, at that time, the Qing Dynasty had to use money for everything, and it was difficult to allocate a large amount of money to pay the salaries of the tomb keepers.
Second, the situation of tomb keepers in the heyday of the Qing Dynasty.
After the Qing army successfully entered the customs, the Qing Dynasty was officially established. Because there was a larger territory that could be used to build the imperial tomb, the Qing court built a new imperial tomb in Guannei. Moreover, the imperial tombs are equipped with special staff responsible for guarding the tombs, and the ranks of these staff members also vary in size.
As big as a pin official, as small as not even an official rank. Later, in the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, that is, after the Kangxi Emperor independently controlled the power of the Qing Dynasty, the situation of the tomb keepers of the Qing Dynasty can be said to have undergone great changes. Because they all not only have a very awe-inspiring identity, but also have a very enviable treatment.
Because the ancient royals themselves attached great importance to funeral matters, they were always worried that if the ancestors' tombs were disturbed by outsiders, they would cause themselves a lot of trouble. After the Kangxi Emperor took power, he made great efforts to guard the imperial tomb. He not only gave the tomb keepers a high status, status and treatment, but also formulated many rules for them to abide by in the process of keeping the tombs. If the tomb keeper can do his job well, he can always enjoy very good treatment. On the contrary, if they violate the rules that they should have obeyed, then their fate will also become very tragic.
Third, the specific work of the tomb keepers of the Qing Dynasty.
Many people may think that when the tomb keeper only needs to clean the cemetery every day, and then check the integrity of the mausoleum, it must be a very easy job. But in fact, being the tomb keeper of the imperial tomb is a very painful thing. Why? First of all, they had to guard the imperial tomb with twelve points of spirit.
Once the imperial tomb is stolen, then their sins will be great. Second, they can't have contact with people from the outside world, and they can't even see their own families from time to time. In addition, they can't make a fire in the cemetery to cook, and what they eat is a substitute tribute.
4. The payment of salaries of tomb keepers in the Qing Dynasty.
As we mentioned earlier, the salaries of the qing dynasty imperial tomb keepers were paid by the Qing court. After Puyi announced his abdication, the salaries of these tomb keepers were changed to the responsibility of the Republic of China government. After that, there was a situation of warlord melee, and the salaries of these tomb keepers were not paid for a long time. It is precisely because of this that many tomb keepers at that time chose not to be tomb keepers anymore.
In order to avoid large-scale tomb robbery of the imperial tomb, the descendants of the Qing Dynasty royal family began to organize the tomb guarding matter spontaneously. After the founding of New China, in view of the high research value and preservation value of these imperial tombs, the state specially allocated funds and set up a group to provide support for the protection of imperial tombs.
However, the salaries of the imperial tomb keepers that exist today are basically no longer responsible for distribution by no one or organization. The reason why the tomb keepers are still willing to stay and guard the tomb should be just a belief that they hold on to in their hearts!
Today, the Qing Dynasty has been dead for more than a hundred years. Logically speaking, if the state does not provide financial support, there should be no tomb keepers in the Qing Emperor's Mausoleum who are willing to stick to their posts. But in fact, some of these people still exist. Of course, they know that there is not much benefit to this, but since they are willing to do so, they should not care whether they can benefit from the job they are doing.
What they cling to has always been a sense of faith that they hold on to in their hearts. Especially for those hereditary tomb keepers who are responsible for guarding the Imperial Tombs belonging to Guanwai in the Qing Dynasty, guarding the Imperial Tombs is simply the only reason they exist in this world. Not to mention that no one pays a salary, even if they are asked to post money backwards, it is estimated that they will not have any complaints.
How do you see this?
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