If you have any understanding of archaeology, you must know that in the 1950s archaeologists excavated the mausoleum of the Wanli Emperor, which was excavated by the official, and more than 3,000 precious cultural relics were unearthed, providing the first physical materials for the study of Ming history. However, the cost of excavation of Dingling tombs was heavy, and since then the archaeological community has formed an iron law, and the imperial tombs cannot be easily excavated.
Dingling is a substitute, when archaeologists prepared to excavate Zhu Di Changling, due to the failure of the trial excavation, finally chose Dingling. The excavation of Dingling has "three tragic moments", the first "sad": the silk fabric can only watch the oxidation helpless due to limited protection technology; the second "sadness": the precious golden silk nan wood coffins were discarded, and as a result, they were snatched up by nearby villagers, and some were also beaten into furniture; the third "sadness": the remains of Zhu Yijun and the two empresses were burned.
Archaeologists know that cultural relics are not easy to protect, so why excavate? This is also the result of various factors, and it is not the archaeologists who are specifically responsible for the excavation that propose the excavation, but Wu Han, Guo Moruo, Shen Yanbing, Deng Tuo, Fan Wenlan and others. Although Xia Nai presided over the excavation, he was opposed to the excavation.
Xia Nai pointed out in a very euphemistic way in the article "Comrade Wu Han, the Historian I Know", "Comrade Zheng Zhenduo opposed this matter, thinking that the archaeological work was very busy at that time, and these things that were not urgent could be postponed. I also acted as a lobbyist for Comrade Zheng, knowing that Comrade Wu Han was the initiator of this move, and personally persuaded him not to rush into this excavation work. ”
To interject here, Zheng Zhenduo was then the director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the director of the Institute of Archaeology, and Xia Nai presided over the actual archaeological work in the name of the deputy director. When archaeologists entered the apse and found a large number of Ming Dynasty silk fabrics, due to lack of experience, the result was to add a softener to the "polymethyl methacrylate" and apply it to the silk fabric at will, causing the silk fabric to quickly become black, hard and brittle.
When the news came out that a large number of silk fabrics had been oxidized and destroyed, Xia Nai was extremely distressed. Not only that, there was no constant temperature environment in the warehouse at that time, and the result was secondary damage, which was irreversible destruction. When the excavations were over, three beautifully made coffins were discarded. Worse still lies ahead, when a group of young people stormed the dungeon during the special period of 1966 and clamored to smash the old nest of the centuries-old feudal dynasty.
At that time, a museum had been set up in Dingling, but where did everyone dare to stop it, and the bones of the Wanli Emperor and the two empresses were removed from the box and burned in the square. According to the recollection of those involved in the incident at that time: "The bones were placed on the pile of firewood, and as the wood was ignited, there was a pungent smell in the air. With a thunderclap, heavy rain poured down. The burning bones floated in the rushing water, merged with the overturned earth, and disappeared. ”
In addition, in recent years, there has also been some news that in order to preserve some of the remaining silk fabrics of that year, the Beijing Ming Tombs Special Zone Office has rebuilt a cultural relics warehouse underground, and put silk fabrics such as the Wanli Emperor's dragon robe back into the ground.
References: "Comrade Wu Han, the Historian I Know", "The Tomb of the Wind and Snow"