I believe that everyone has seen the film and television works of the theme of tomb robbery, and whenever explorers enter the tomb, they will encounter various organs, and even fierce tomb-keeping monsters. Although these are fictional stories, it is an accepted fact that the ancient elite took anti-theft measures when building cemeteries.
Therefore, later generations will also be jealous of this when excavating some large ancient tombs. The Dingling Tomb of the Wanli Emperor is the only imperial tomb actively excavated by archaeologists. So, how did the archaeologists at that time deal with the anti-theft measures in the dungeon?
At the end of 1955, an excavation and archaeological plan signed by Guo Moruo, Shen Yanbing, Deng Tuo, Fan Wenlan, Wu Han and Zhang Su, initiated by Wu Han, then vice mayor of Beijing Municipality, was submitted to the State Council. Just five days later, the excavation plan was approved, "agreeing in principle to excavate." ”
Thus began an unprecedented archaeological excavation in the spring of 1956. Here to interject, at first the selected imperial tomb was Zhu Di's long tomb, but many attempts failed, and finally a substitute was chosen, the Dingling Tomb of the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun. In May of that year, the excavation work officially began, but the archaeological team did not know where to start for a while.
According to the villagers who participated in the archaeological excavations, when the archaeological team came to Dingling, the first half of the survey found nothing. As a last resort, archaeologists had no choice but to dig a trench from one side of the treasure city. After digging along this trench for three months, everyone accidentally found a stone strip that was built in the wall, only to see that it read "Tunnel Door".
"The underground palace has been found in the palace!" However, it was not until September that archaeologists finally found the real entrance to the underground palace. Outside the Wall of Kongo, everyone found a small stone stele with the inscription: "This stone is sixteen feet in front of the Wall of Kongo, and three feet and five feet deep." ”
As the mud outside was cleared, the Kongo Wall finally revealed its true face. After calculation, the Diamond Wall is 8.8 meters high and 1.6 meters thick, in the shape of a "Gui" character, which is recessed inward due to the side pressure of the tomb road filling for many years. The Diamond Wall was made of bricks, but no mortar was used, which made it easier for archaeologists to remove the Diamond Wall.
The demolition began at the very top of the Kongo Wall, but as the first brick was removed, a thick black mist erupted from the opening. I don't know who shouted, "Beware of toxic gas!" The person in charge of demolishing the bricks did not dare to continue to dismantle, only to see him lying on the ladder with his head bowed and motionless.
At this time, the commander-in-chief Xia Nai spoke, and he told everyone that this was the gas of rotten and moldy substances accumulated in the underground palace for more than 300 years, as long as it was released through the opening of the cave. However, due to the darkness in the dungeon, no one dared to say whether there would be various deadly anti-theft facilities inside, so no one dared to be the first to enter.
What to do? At this moment, some of the nearby villagers hired by the archaeological team suggested that a large rooster should be put in, and if the rooster could still crow after a few days, there was no danger. After a few days, the rooster will still be able to crow normally. In this way, the archaeologists entered the underground palace one after another, and the captain Zhao Qichang was the first to enter.
To be on the safe side, Zhao Qichang wore a thick rope around his waist. Zhao Qichang later recalled the scene of entering the underground palace, "The underground palace is dark and foggy. It was so quiet, so quiet that people's hearts were flustered, hairy, hairy, and hairy. ”
Reference: The whole process of excavation of the tomb of the Wanli Emperor