The thick earth is buried with countless secrets, and the smoke clouds of past history, under the wash of the long river of time, are gradually forgotten by people, leaving only many specious legends for people to reverie, as was the case in the Tang Dynasty more than 1,300 years ago.
Those who know a little about the history of the Tang Dynasty must have heard the name of the strange woman "Shangguan Wan'er", as well as many legends about her, as well as countless legends that she left behind to future generations, true or false. These legends were intertwined with the legendary life of Shangguan Wan'er, until a chance discovery in archaeology, the tomb of this strange woman emerged, and many truths were slowly unraveled.
How was the grave of this strange woman shangguan wan'er discovered? In her cemetery, what objects exist that have solved the doubts that have plagued future generations for a long time? All this must start from Xi'an in 2013.
The road is now an ancient tomb, and the tomb is unremarkable
The thick loess land of Shaanxi has accumulated countless histories, and the palaces and mausoleums of many dynasties in the past thousand years have been quietly sealed in this loess, and Xi'an, as the ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties, is at the center of these underground treasures.
Therefore, inadvertently digging out a tomb when building a road foundation, or suddenly popping up a piece of historical relics, for every Xi'an person, it is extremely common, strange things, completely can not cause half a point of surprise, as for Xi'an under the jurisdiction of Xianyang, the ancient capital of the Qin Dynasty, this situation is even more common.
One day in 2013, the construction staff of Xi'an Xianyang International Airport in Shaanxi Province found a new large tomb when building a road, although it is normal to dig a grave during construction in Xi'an, but the tomb under the ground belongs to historical sites after all, and this kind of large tomb is relatively rare, referring to which historical celebrity, for the sake of safety, the construction personnel hurriedly found professional archaeologists to explore.
Archaeologists carefully explored the appearance and specifications of the tomb, and found that the tomb had a sloped burial passage, 5 patios and a brick chamber, and according to the appearance of the tomb, archaeologists judged that it was a high-ranking aristocratic tomb belonging to the Tang Dynasty.
After understanding that what they had excavated was a tomb of a high-ranking nobleman of the Tang Dynasty, the archaeologists were not very excited, and some were just helpless and sighing.
These archaeologists originally thought that they could find new archaeological discoveries here, so they took this commission from the unit with a little expectation and ran here to excavate carefully, but they were disappointed - this new tomb is the same shape and specification as the tomb excavated here in the past, belonging to the most common aristocratic tomb, and there is nothing new.
After all, digging up high-grade tombs here in Xianyang International Airport is nothing new, this prosperous land where the international airport is located, in history was once known as Hongduyuan, from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, has always been the burial place of princes and nobles, buried countless dignitaries and nobles, this time excavated an ordinary aristocratic mausoleum, obviously not worthy of praise.
No matter how mediocre the tombs are, archaeological excavations must continue. According to the general burial excavation process, the tomb's passages and patios were first excavated. In the process of excavating the tomb, archaeologists found that the walls on the east and west sides of the tomb were painted with a thin layer of white pulp, which barely served as a mural in the tomb.
The identity of the tomb owner, often can be found in the tomb murals, in the Hongduyuan excavation of other noble tombs, often have exquisite craftsmanship, exquisite decoration of the mural, the more exquisite the mural, it means that the tomb builder is more willing to pay the tomb owner.
Compared with other tombs with exquisite frescoes, this tomb, which can only be decorated with white mortar water, is as eclipsed as fireworks compared to Haoyue, and the thin white pulp clearly reveals a meaning that the tomb builder is very careless about the owner of the tomb.
Excavating the ancient burial chamber, the coffin cannot be found
The mood of the archaeologists, with the display of the tomb mural more and more lost, according to the situation of the tomb mural, the newly discovered tomb when the road was built, obviously can not bring any new archaeological discoveries, the excavation of it, is just a daily work, want to find new, major archaeological discoveries, can only be left for later.
Even if the excavation is no longer interesting, the archaeologists still have to lean down and dig carefully out of their job duties. After digging through the grave, archaeologists found 4 more niches.
Happily, these niches have not been damaged and are still well preserved from more than a thousand years ago to the present. Inside the niches, there are also some funerary objects, ranging from pottery figurines that imitate humans to pottery animals that imitate animals.
The archaeologists were intrigued, patiently counting the burial objects, scrutinizing them, hoping to find new discoveries.
But what is disappointing is that although there are more than 170 pieces of these funerary items, but the size is not large, the types are not many, and the appearance is not painted, no matter how to explore, no matter how to observe, these funerary products are only the most common funerary products of the Tang Dynasty, and the tomb murals outside the niches echo each other, clearly indicating the ordinary identity of the tomb owner.
Just when the archaeologists were not satisfied with these gains, the new discoveries in the excavation site revived their curiosity.
After excavating the tomb passage and patio, archaeologists began excavating the burial chamber and the corridor.
During the excavations, archaeologists discovered that the northern half of the tomb had suffered severe damage, and that an irregular pit appeared near the bottom of the five patios inside the tomb, two of which extended straight north, all the way to the Yongdao and the burial chamber, and also destroyed the vaults and walls of the Yongdao.
The damage to the yongdao was severe, but the condition of the burial chamber was even worse, almost completely destroyed. The top of the burial chamber was completely destroyed, and the brick wall that should have stood high around the chamber has now been destroyed beyond recognition and has almost disappeared, leaving only a few piles of foundations, the highest one, only 1.3 meters.
All sides of the burial chamber were completely destroyed, and the central part was naturally more serious. In the Tang Dynasty tombs excavated by archaeologists in the past, many of the burial chambers were paved with floor tiles, and next to the coffin of the owner of the tomb, there were burial items that marked the status of the tomb.
But in the current burial chamber, the floor tiles have been uncovered, and none of the burial items that should have been there can be found, and what is even more bizarre is that the coffin of the owner of the tomb is not found, except for some scattered bones.
Can not find the coffin of the tomb owner, nor can find the burial goods in the tomb, want to rely on these specious bones in the tomb to determine the identity of the tomb owner, to find out the reason for the destruction of the tomb, it is almost impossible, the process of archaeological work once reached an impasse, the mood of the archaeologists, from the original joy, and once again fell to the bottom.
Bluestone carved epitaph, the identity of the owner is obvious
Just when the archaeological work was difficult to make a breakthrough, the discovery of a bluestone made all the archaeologists excited again.
After carefully cleaning the tomb, archaeologists found a bluestone in the Yongdao, which was engraved with nearly a thousand words, the content of the text was elegant and neat, and the carving technique was exquisite, which was the epitaph of this tomb. What is even more exciting is that at the top of the epitaph, there are also 8 characters marked with "Tang Dynasty Zhaorong Shangguan Clan".
For archaeological work, the epitaph is the most important cultural relic in an ancient tomb, and the content recorded in the epitaph can sometimes occupy most of the archaeological information of the entire tomb.
And now, this bluestone epitaph carved up to nearly a thousand words, the preservation of the state is also extremely good, deservedly become the biggest harvest of this archaeological work, before the archaeologists in the excavation process experienced a lot of loss and disappointment, but also after seeing this epitaph swept away, the rest, only surprises.
So far, after experiencing many ups and downs, this tomb with no coffin and unknown identity has finally unveiled its mysterious veil to archaeologists.
With the contents of this nearly a thousand words of epitaph and the title of the owner of the tomb at the top of the epitaph, knowledgeable archaeologists quickly deduced the true identity of the tomb owner. Throughout the history of the Tang Dynasty, the only one named Shangguan Shi, who could also become the emperor's concubine, was Shangguan Wan'er, who was talented in the early Tang Dynasty and handed down countless legends.
The discovery of Shangguan Wan'er's tomb has excited the archaeologists involved in the matter.
Thinking that he was in the graveyard of this ancient legendary woman a thousand years ago, staring at the scattered skeletons, as if they had traveled through time and space to talk to this ancient person, their hearts were surging and the expert Yu Gengzhe was trembling, very excited, he wanted to crouch down, gently touch the remains of the ancients of this thousand years ago with his hands, but in order to protect the cultural relics, he had to forcibly hold back.
But in the midst of this surprise, there is still a small doubt. In this epitaph that attracts countless curiosities, there is no direct record of the name of the tomb owner, but only the name of the tomb owner "JieYu surname Shangguan", although according to the content of the epitaph inscription, it can already be concluded that the tomb owner is Shangguan Wan'er of the Tang Dynasty, but after all, there is no direct name of the tomb owner, so that this inference is less confident.
This question was soon logically solved by archaeologists in combination with Shangguan Wan'er's life. Compared with the "Shangguan Wan'er" circulating in various history books, first-hand historical materials such as epitaphs are obviously more credible. According to the title in the epitaph, archaeologists speculate that "Wan'er" may just be Shangguan Zhaorong's milk name.
Shangguan Zhaorong, a woman who coexists with talent and appearance, has an extremely unfortunate life.
Shortly after she was born, she was implicated in political struggles, her father was killed by Wu Zetian, and she was still in her infancy, she was also unnatured into the palace, and together with her mother Zheng Shi, she was sent to the court and became a royal slave. Slaves have always had no official names and characters, so they only see "Shangguan Zhaorong" and not "Shangguan Wan'er".
While unraveling the doubts, the many historical doubts left by Shangguan Wan'er in the past, as well as the cruel political struggles within the court in the early Tang Dynasty, were also displayed in front of contemporary people one by one with the disclosure and interpretation of this bluestone epitaph.
Weigh the corporal of the world, and kill the sword soldiers
Wu Zetian was the only official female emperor in ancient Chinese history. Wu Zhou, on the other hand, was a new dynasty established by Wu Zetian on the basis of the early Tang Dynasty by changing the state system. After the establishment of the new dynasty, due to the special situation of Wu Zetian as a female emperor, many female court officials emerged in the WuZhou Dynasty.
These groups of female officials actively participated in political decision-making, assisted Wu Zetian in governing the country, and made Wu Zhou's government enlighten the yuan, rule Hongzhenguan, and become a generation of rulers praised by posterity, and Shangguan Wan'er was the most outstanding of these female officials.
Shangguan Wan'er, also known as Shangguan Zhaorong, has multiple identities and a legendary lineage. Shangguan Wan'er was both a famous female official in the early Tang Dynasty and a talented female poet.
Her family was killed by Wu Zetian, and she should have had a feud with Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian should have been more wary of her, but the young Shangguan Wan'er used her intelligence to win Wu Zetian's favor.
Shangguan Wan'er, who had won Wu Zetian's favor, was extremely fortunate to be promoted by Wu Zetian as a talented person at the age of thirteen, so she got rid of the slave status that had accompanied her since birth, became the secretary beside Wu Zetian, and with the rise of Wu Zetian's power, became a hot figure in the court in the early Tang Dynasty, judging the talent and future of the world's scholars.
Wu Zetian's favor was not only Shangguan Wan'er's intelligence and beauty, but also her own talent and poetry of no less than a man. In the Tang Dynasty, Shangguan Wan'er influenced a generation of literary styles as a female streamer, and the Shangguan style she founded gradually became the mainstream of poetry creation in high society at this time.
In addition to her poetic talent, Shangguan Wan'er's political performance is also quite dazzling. After Wu Zetian became the Tang Dynasty of the Zhou Dynasty, Shangguan Wan'er, who was Wu Zetian's secretary, began to deal with courtiers at wu Zetian's will and participate in the military state strategy.
With her vast power and able government skills, Shangguan Wan'er even became a powerful court chancellor inside and outside the cross- and powerful. After the restoration of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Shangguan Wan'er continued to gain the trust of the new emperor and was worshipped as Zhaorong, who was specifically responsible for drafting the emperor's edicts.
Just when Shangguan Wan'er was at the peak of her career, a sudden coup d'état made this strange woman's soul scatter. In 710, Li Longji launched a coup d'état and the army entered the imperial palace, when the rulers of the imperial government, Empress Wei and Princess Anle, were executed.
At the time of the coup, Shangguan Wan'er led the palace people to greet Li Longji. At the same time, she also submitted the posthumous photos she and Princess Taiping had drawn up together with Li Longji to prove that she was on Li Longji's side.
But the political struggle is relentless, and some decisions are made not to look at right or wrong, but only at profit. Shangguan Wan'er and Wu Zetian accompanied her for nearly thirty years, and naturally had a close relationship with Wu Zetian's most beloved daughter.
At the time of the coup, Li Longji had already decided to eliminate Princess Taiping in the future, and Shangguan Wan'er, who had a lot of connections with Princess Taiping, naturally could not escape this disaster. Therefore, Li Longji knew that she was on his side, and still killed her in the coup d'état.
The destruction of Shangguan Wan'er's tomb is also related to her political stance. After Li Longji removed Princess Taiping, Princess Taiping's political enemies in the past also regarded Shangguan Wan'er as their enemy, and after her death, she sent a coffin to dig up the tomb and destroy her tomb.
The skeleton that archaeologists were excited to touch before, after identification, was found to be only a yellow cow bone, and the remains of Shangguan Wan'er were really destroyed and lost in the long river of history.
A generation of talented women, because they are too deeply involved in the political whirlpool, and the soul is scattered under the knife, even the bones can not be preserved, leaving only countless stories, waiting for future generations to reminisce.
epilogue
The traces of history are always inadvertently revealed and left for posterity to reminisce.
The unbreakable grudges and feuds in the court, the thrilling moment at the turning point of the dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty, which was bold and majestic, creating the rule of Zhenguan and the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, were buried under the vast land, leaving only many bizarre and mysterious legends, dotted with history that has not yet been known, until one day, the soil is dug up again, and the dusty history of the past meets with modern people one by one, and leaves some enlightenment for contemporary people.
From birth to death, Shangguan Wan'er's life was intertwined with political strife. In the cruel and changeable political struggle, although Shangguan Wan'er seized temporary power, she was also crushed by the political whirlpool because of her blessings and misfortunes, and became the unjust soul under the sword soldiers.
Power and interests, while tempting, are also a cup of poison, both in history and in the present. For us today, staying away from the temptation of those interests, away from those senseless disputes, and living our lives in peace and stability is the luckiest choice.
bibliography
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Qiu Luming. Epigraphic And Historical Biography: The Life and Image of Shangguan Wan'er[J].Academic Monthly,2014,46(05):157-168.
[3] Proceedings of the Symposium on "Tombstone of Shangguan Of Tang Zhaorong and Its Related Issues"[J].Archaeology and Cultural Relics, 2014(01):116-120.