Birth, old age, illness and death are the only way for people to go through in life, and death is also regarded as the end of life. In ancient times, when feudal thought was strong, funeral after death was also an important ritual, which was both the end of a person's life and the remembrance of future generations.
The funeral ceremony is also more cumbersome, generally rich and noble families will place a lot of valuable gold and silver treasures in the tomb, as a funeral for the deceased, and even more with the use of living people to bury, but these old customs with the development of history gradually withdrew from our vision.
And this custom has also spawned an industry, that is, tomb robbers.
1. Ancient funeral rites
In ancient times, the ancients attached great importance to funeral rites, and for a long time, the elders of the family needed to keep filial piety for three years after they died.
In Confucian thought, the death of a loved one should be a very heavy matter, so during the period of filial piety, many activities should not be carried out, such as eating food, wearing new clothes, wedding celebrations, entertainment, etc.
Out of respect for the deceased and the grief in their hearts, the filial piety keepers will complete the three years of filial piety with a heavy heart.
This is only the most common form of funeral rites, in China's more than 2,000 years of history, the ritual of filial piety has gradually faded, but what has been passed down to this day is the annual major festival for the ancestors' cemetery sacrifice ceremony.
In today's society, every traditional festival such as the Spring Festival and Qingming, the Chinese people will bring a family size to the cemetery of the ancestors for sacrifice, and at the same time, they will bring many sacrifice items to the tomb to express their remembrance of the ancestors.
In ancient times, the cemetery as the last destination of the ancestors, in addition to the sacrifice of major festivals, usually paid great attention to the image of the cemetery.
Many royal nobles or wealthy merchant families will decorate the appearance of the cemetery, build it magnificently or magnificently, and ordinary people will also build it simply and strictly, whether rich or not, they will try to make this "homecoming place" more decent.
In addition to the decoration of the cemetery in appearance, a large number of funerary items will also be added to the tomb, mostly gold and silver treasures and the favorite objects of the deceased.
In today's society, there are still ways to put in favorite things, such as when Gu Long died, he put in many famous wines that Gu Long loved before he died.
The degree of preciousness of funerary goods has also become a symbol of the deceased's status before death, rich families often put in countless gold and silver treasures, and the imperial family even has living people buried to show the high status, of course, this is only with the ancient imperial tombs.
And these funerary goods, because of their high value, also attracted the attention of some thieves, who stole the funerary goods in the tombs of the rich for a living, often able to obtain huge benefits.
The most famous in modern times is the warlord Sun Dianying, after he stole the Tanglin, the countless gold and silver treasures in it directly made Sun Dianying arm a troop, which showed the high value.
Second, the unspoken rules of tomb robbers
Although most ordinary families do not have so much treasure as funerary goods, no matter how much it is worth, it is difficult to escape the clutches of tomb robbers, because they will also threaten the tombs of their ancestors to extort money.
But there will also be their unspoken rule among tomb robbers, that is, when they see a willow tree next to the tomb, they will consciously leave.
This is not a discovery of professional ethics or conscience, but a method of screening. Tomb robbers do not choose these tombs to start, simply because there are not many valuable funerary items in these tombs.
In order to show honor, in addition to the construction of the tomb, the ancients would also plant a tree next to it in the feng shui angle.
The emperor planted pine trees, the princes planted cypress trees, there was a cypress tree next to the tomb behind the house, and the poor people were not so good, and a decent tomb was satisfied. Even if you plant a tree, you will choose a relatively inexpensive and convenient willow tree, or insert a willow branch to show respect.
In this way, the tomb robber can judge the value of the tomb by the type of tree, and when he sees that it is a willow tree, he knows that it is a poor ordinary family, and there is not much value to squeeze.
Tomb robbery is also risky and costly, if you take the risk of breaking the law to steal a relatively barren tomb, the tomb robbers are also extremely reluctant, so the unspoken rules of a tomb robber have been formed.
At the same time, for tomb robbers, in ancient times, feudal ideas were strong, and often making a living in the cemetery would also make them avoid some feng shui.
After all, for tomb robbers, they just want to make profits, and do not want to be contaminated with ominous bad luck, and willow in the folk as a plant with heavy yin qi will also make tomb robbers taboo, worried that they will be infected with yin qi and bring misfortune, so as to stay away from the tomb where the willow tree is planted.
Third, tomb robbery is not advisable
In fact, tomb robbery is a risky behavior, in ancient times, except for some people who are really desperate, they will choose to take this road, because tomb robbery is actually very dangerous.
Some luxurious tombs in addition to the appearance will be very luxurious, in order to avoid theft of the tomb, often in the tomb will build a lot of organs. Once the tomb robber enters the tomb, the slightest accidental triggering of the mechanism will be in danger of life.
What is more frightening in the tomb is that some viruses and bacteria inside, because the inside is closed for a long time and does not see the sun, so there will be many germs.
The famous Tutankhamun curse is also due to viruses produced in tombs for thousands of years, leaving archaeologists vulnerable to deadly diseases.
Grave robbers also have to face this problem, so many grave robbers will suffer from diseases for a period of time after they come out. The ancients somehow blamed some gods and ghosts.
Finally, because of the strong feudal superstitious ideas in ancient times on the mainland, the tomb is the place where the deceased rests forever, so in the eyes of the ancients, it is also a place with heavy yin, and it is often combined with the theory of ghosts and gods, which is covered with many mysterious colors.
Thieves are also very worried about offending the gods and bringing bad luck to themselves, and often perform some prayer rituals before and after the hand. But it's still a risky job for them.
Tomb robbery is a serious violation of the law, both ancient and modern. The study of history is inseparable from the funerary products in some tombs, if the cultural relics are stolen by tomb thieves.
They will circulate these precious funerary items to the black market, and some cultural relics are likely to be lost overseas and will never return to their homeland.
Putting aside the legal factor, the tomb is more of a nostalgia for the ancestors, and the tomb robbers disturbing the dreams of the ancestors is also a very disgusting behavior, and it is also an act of disrespect for the descendants.
We must resolutely resist such illegal acts, and when we see similar situations, we should actively report them, return us to a harmonious order, and also have a quiet place for our ancestors.