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文|Channing
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introduction
As an emperor, from birth to death, for a dynasty, it is a great thing. In the ancient books of the mainland, there are many records about the emperor's burial after his death, but there are few specific records of the emperor's burial location, after all, tomb robbers have been extremely rampant since ancient times, even if the emperor was powerful during his lifetime, he was afraid that the tomb robbers would open his coffin lid after death.
(Literary master Guo Moruo)
However, archaeology is a major undertaking of international historical inquiry, and the exploration of ancient tombs has also become an inevitable event in the development process. On the mainland, there is an emperor of the Ming Dynasty who was opened in an archaeological activity, and he is Zhu Yijun of Mingshenzong!
This archaeological operation has played an important role in the study of cultural relics on the mainland, but it has also caused irreparable losses, which is deeply regrettable. Let's turn the time back to 1958 and solve the mystery of the tomb of Zhu Yijun of the Ming God Sect.
(Historian Wu Han)
1. Apply for the excavation of the emperor's tomb
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the first large-scale archaeological activity in the mainland originated from the proposal of Guo Moruo, Wu Han, Shen Yanbing, and Fan Wenlan: to excavate and archaeological work on the Changling Tomb of the Ming Dynasty, and to take the first step in the archaeological imperial tombs of the mainland since the founding of the People's Republic of China!
At that time, the leaders of the mainland looked at the problem from the perspective of development, and everything must always take the first step, so in the 50s of the last century, the central government approved this project. However, during the design phase of the excavation operation, a key problem arose.
Due to the fact that the location of the Changling Tomb is not easy to control, and the problems of capital and equipment cannot be solved, the final goal is to aim at the Dingling Tomb, which has already been excavated, that is, the mausoleum of Zhu Yijun of Mingshenzong.
(Myojin Sect Zhu Xiangxuan Image)
The excavation process was indeed full of hardships, but in the end, the archaeologists still found the location of this imperial mausoleum, broke open the white marble gate to enter the mausoleum, broke the "King Kong Wall" dedicated to the mausoleum, and safely entered the mausoleum.
The Dingling underground palace is composed of five parts, with the main hall in the middle as the base point, and there is a hall on the left and right sides of the front and back, which are connected to each other and have a tight structure. The coffin of Zhu Yijun of Mingshenzong is in the apse. There are three coffins made of golden silk nan wood on the coffin bed, although after the baptism of time, there has been corrosion, accompanied by cracks, but you can still feel the noble atmosphere of the emperor's coffin.
Mingshenzong Zhu Yijun's coffin is in the middle, next to it is the coffin of Empress Xiaoduan and Empress Xiaojing, after opening the coffin in the middle, it was found that the muscle part of Mingshenzong Zhu Yijun has long been rotten, and there is only a skeleton left, and under the skeleton is a brocade quilt.
(Real shooting scene of Dingling Underground Palace)
Second, the strange posture, the huge loss
To the puzzlement of archaeologists, the skeleton of the Mingshen Sect shows the head facing west, the feet facing east, the body lying on its back, the face looking obliquely to the right, the right arm is bent upward, the left arm is drooping, slightly turned inward. One hand is placed on the right side of the head, and the other hand is covered by the abdomen. There is a string of thoughts in the hand, the right leg is bent, the left leg is straight, and the feet are outward, and the posture is extremely strange!
In the case, whether it is an emperor or a commoner, in order to look more peaceful and comfortable in the coffin, they should all use a flat lying position, how did it become extraordinarily guilty when it came to the emperor Zhu Yijun of Mingshenzong?
(Photo of Zhu Yijun's bones)
There are two theories about this point, the more mainstream saying is that the posture of Zhu Yijun of Mingshenzong adopts the posture of the Big Dipper, and the crape myrtle star is the symbol of the emperor, and the Big Dipper revolves around the crape myrtle star all year round.
The second statement is recorded in "Ming Dynasty Records Taichang": It is rumored that after Zhu Yijun died, his coffin was going to set off from the palace and be sent to the mountains after a long journey. As the emperor Zhu Yijun, the battle of his funeral can be seen, and the weight of the coffin is also a problem.
During the funeral, the size of the procession alone was 8,600 people, but the accident still happened. In the process, a support stick broke in the coffin, which directly caused the right corner of the coffin to fall to the ground, so Zhu Yijun's corpse posture may have changed at this time.
(Onlookers from archaeological leaders)
The author thinks it is unlikely, after all, the muscles will stiffen after death, and the possibility of falling into such a strange position is really very small. So such a burial posture is very likely to be placed in advance, but there is one thing to say, this posture, it is really uncomfortable.
The results of this archaeological excavation work are remarkable, and more than 3,000 pieces of cultural relics have been revealed, which makes many archaeological team members happy in their hearts. But from a security point of view, this is a very failed archaeological effort.
Many calligraphy and paintings need to be preserved in an oxygen-free state on the spot, and the mainland lacked experience in this area at that time, so the personnel in charge of archaeological work took out calligraphy and paintings, put them outdoors, and just opened them, and before they had time to take a look, the calligraphy and paintings became "fly ashes".
(Ancient Tomb)
There are also many brocade clothes, which have also been damaged to various degrees due to the "violent operation" of the archaeological staff. Because of the huge amount of archaeological work at that time, many local villagers were invited to participate in the archaeological work, but because of the quality of the personnel and the inconsistency of the operation methods, even the golden silk nanmu that stored the bones of the Mingshenzong was lost as rotten wood.
Including the preservation work after that, the corpses of Mingshenzong and the two empresses were also burned a few years later, which is a pity, this is the bones of a generation of emperors! That is, because the loss is too serious, the center of the continent has also summed up the experience.
According to the scientific and technological means at that time, there were no specific procedures and technical capabilities for archaeological work, so the central government ordered that from now on, no more imperial tombs should be excavated! Let these emperors, who represent the history of China, sleep in the ground, and what we have to do is to try our best to protect their long sleep and not be disturbed.
(Photos of the excavation process)
3. Reflections on Ancient Tombs
Because of the application for the excavation of the imperial tomb, the archaeological work suffered huge losses, and several people who were applicants, especially Guo Moruo, who was the most famous, must have suffered some impact.
But from today's point of view, it is clear that this "catastrophe" in the archaeological world is inevitable. At that time, the mainland was in a stage of rapid development, and it was still in a very "ignorant" stage for the study of archaeological technology, the concept of cultural relics protection and related theoretical knowledge.
(Photo of the excavation site of Dingling)
After the end of this archaeological operation, the relevant departments also experienced a long period of reflection. Although the losses are huge, we will never be able to improve our capabilities in this area without taking this step.
The lesson is painful, but a soldier who has not touched a gun will never hit the target, a captain who has never been at the helm, and will never be able to overcome the wind and waves. China's achievements in the examination are based on this lesson, which is inevitable and necessary!
After this incident, the mainland has become more and more rigorous in its attitude, actions and processes in archaeological excavation activities. The current ban on the excavation of imperial tombs on the mainland also shows our attitude: the best destination for cultural relics is to bury them deep in the ground and accompany their owners.
(Photo of the bones of the Myojin sect)
Resources
Wenshi Chunqiu, 2003, 000(012):47-53.
Fang Jingcheng.Wu Han excavates the letter examination of the Ming Tomb[J].Beijing Observation, 2002(12):4.