From 1972 to 1974, Changsha excavated three Han tombs in Mawangdui, which shocked the world, and unearthed more than 3,000 precious cultural relics and a female corpse that has not decayed for thousands of years, bringing high research value. But did you know? These treasures unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb almost did not have the opportunity to meet us. Because only three robbery holes were found on Tomb No. 1, and the deepest one had almost touched the burial chamber. Why did the tomb robber give up at the last step? What other untold stories are there during the excavation of Mawangdui? The following small editor to reveal the secret for you!
On the morning of January 16, 1972, female docent Chen Li led a group of young people from all walks of life to the destination of mawangdui excavators spontaneously formed. Each of them held a shovel and carried a flat burden carrying a basket on their shoulders, excited and laughing along the way. The excavation of the Mawangdui Han Tomb began in such a cheerful atmosphere, facing a large mound with a height of 20 meters and a diameter of about 60 meters, although there were few excavation tools, everyone was full of passion and high morale. Everyone plowed the soil day and night, basket by basket. The Hunan Provincial Machinery and Chemical Construction Station also sent a bulldozer to quickly level the sealing soil. But what happened next poured cold water on passionate people.
When the bulldozer completed its mission and everyone picked up the shovel and shoveled and shoveled again, Chen Li screamed, "Is this a robbery hole?" "A square cave with a side length of about 20 cm was found in the northwest corner. The crowd gathered around, only to see that the entrance to the cave was very thin, and the inside of the cave was dark and bottomless. An ominous omen hung over the construction site, and the people who were working feverishly were much quieter than before. At this moment, a similar robbery hole was also found on the east side of the tomb. It didn't seem unusual, and then the excavators to the north found a large hole in the circle and nearly half a meter in diameter.
Everyone was suddenly like a deflated leather ball: "Ten tombs and nine empty", how is this good? After spending so much money, if an empty tomb is dug up, how to account to the country and the people? People's fears are justified, because almost all the ancient tombs around them have been stolen, and even if they don't look obvious, they have not escaped the clutches of tomb robbers, how can a large-scale tomb like Mawangdui escape? "Those two square, the opening of the cave is too thin for people to go down, it is the tomb robber who uses the tool to explore, and should not have dug to the bottom." The old mechanic Ren Quansheng said, "But that round one, there was one in ancient times, and I can't be sure to what extent it is dug." What Ren Quansheng said was that the holes dug by mainland tomb robbers had the phenomenon of "ancient circles near the square".
On the mainland, tomb robbery has a long history. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the rise of thick burials triggered some people to enter the tombs of others and commit acts of self-inflicted behavior without asking questions. According to Sima Qian's "Records of History", "Digging a grave, adultery, and Uncle Tian started." "The tomb robbery was started by a man named Uncle Tian. Should I keep digging? It is better to give up now than to save money. Everyone's heart was heavy and helpless. "There is no turning back from the bow, this matter has alarmed the national leadership, even if it is difficult, we must continue to work under pressure!" Archaeology leader Cui Zhigang decisively made a decision! So everyone immediately regained their morale and continued to work hard.
The kung fu paid off, the two square robbery holes disappeared one after another soon after, and when they dug to a depth of 18 meters, the most worrying circular robbery holes also disappeared! For a time, people rejoiced! This means that the Mawangdui Han Tomb has not been stolen and may have great wealth! But Ren Quansheng is not so optimistic: all the tomb robbers have given up, and we have not seen anything so far, will this be a "tomb of doubt"? The so-called tomb of doubt is the way that the ancients thought of preventing tomb robbery: build many tombs to confuse tomb robbers, and these fake tombs are called doubtful tombs. For example, during the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao built seventy-two tombs.
No one saw Ren Quansheng's confusion. While everyone was elated and picked up the shovel to continue working, a major accident occurred. "It's collapsing! Save people! Only a shout was heard, "Old Cui is buried!" Everyone rushed to the scene, crying and shouting to pull out Cui Zhigang, who was already unconscious, for rescue. Lucky! Old Cui was rescued. When excavations continued, soon the burial chamber was touched, and the Mawangdui tomb and countless precious cultural relics were finally unearthed. Ren Quansheng finally let go of his dangling heart. It was also found that the location where the circular robbery hole disappeared was less than a meter away from the burial chamber! The reason why the tomb robber gave up digging down, in addition to suspecting that it was a suspicious tomb, may also worry about the collapse and become a martyr himself. Through the joint efforts of all the comrades involved in the excavation of the Mawangdui Han Tomb and people from all walks of life, this great tomb that shocked the world was finally displayed in front of the world, and a large number of precious cultural relics unearthed in it brought immeasurable value.
[References: "History", "The Soul of the Western Han Dynasty"]