Wu Zetian, the first emperor of the ages, and Wu Zetian, a generation of empresses, these two titles all highlight the extraordinary life of the only orthodox female emperor in Chinese history. However, in front of Wu Zetian's mausoleum, there are 61 headless stone figures, like a thousand-year-old mystery that has attracted countless conjectures from later generations. What is the origin of these headless stone men? Why did they lose their heads? What kind of relationship do they have with Wu Zetian? What kind of answer will the accidental discovery of the two peasants bring to this mystery?
Wu Zetian's legendary life
Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, lived a legendary life. She was not from a prominent background, and her father, Takeshi Tong, was just an ordinary official. However, Wu Zetian relied on his extraordinary talent and wisdom to grow step by step from an unknown palace maid to a generation of female emperors.
When Wu Zetian was 14 years old, he was elected to the harem and became a talented person of Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. After Li Shimin died, according to the rules of the time, Wu Zetian should cut his hair and become a nun and spend the rest of his life in Ganye Temple for the rest of his life. However, fate played a joke on her. Tang Gaozong Li Zhi met her by chance during a worship, was overwhelmed by her beauty and talent, took her back to the palace, and canonized her as Zhaoyi.
Since then, Wu Zetian has gradually become the actual ruler of the harem with his wisdom and skill. In Tang Gaozong's later years, Wu Zetian participated in court politics and became a veritable female emperor. After the death of Tang Gaozong, Wu Zetian first supported his son Li Xian to ascend the throne, and he himself listened to the government. Later, she simply deposed Li Xian, established herself as emperor, changed the name of the country to Zhou, and established the "Wu Zhou" regime.
During his reign, Wu Zetian made great efforts to govern the country and appointed Di Renjie, Yao Chong and other virtuous ministers, making the politics clear and the national strength strong. At the same time, she also vigorously advocated the imperial examination system, broke the monopoly of the gate lord clan, and provided a channel for the common people to rise. In terms of foreign relations, Wu Zetian has also made considerable achievements. She sent envoys to the Western Regions to strengthen ties with the countries of the Western Regions and expand the influence of the Tang Dynasty.
Wu Zetian reigned for 50 years, making him one of the longest-reigning emperors in Chinese history. In her later years, she knew that her time was short, so she took the initiative to give way to her son Li Xian, and she retreated into the background. In 705, Wu Zetian died at the age of 82. According to her last wishes, she was buried with Tang Gaozong in Qianling.
The mystery of Qianling
After Wu Zetian's death, her son Tang Zhongzong Li Xian buried him in Qianling with Tang Gaozong Li Zhi. Qianling is located on Liangshan Mountain, 6 kilometers north of Qianxian County, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, and is the most well-preserved mausoleum in the 18th Tang Dynasty.
The construction of the Qianling Tomb began in 684 AD, when Wu Zetian was still in power. As a generation of female emperors, Wu Zetian attaches great importance to the construction of his mausoleum. She adopted the method of "taking the mountain as a mausoleum", making full use of the topography of Liangshan and imitating the layout of the mausoleum area after the establishment of Chang'an City. The whole Qianling not only has the joint burial tomb of Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong, but also 17 accompanying tombs, including the three tombs of Li Shangjin, King of Xu, Li Sujie, and Li Shouli, King of Bin, Princess Yiyang, Princess Xindu, Princess Anxing, and Princess Yongtai, as well as the tombs of ten ministers, including Wang Jishan, Xue Yuanchao, Yang Zaisi, Liu Xianli, Doulu Qinwang, Liu Renliang, Li Jinxing, Gao Kan, Su Dingfang, and Xue Rengui.
According to historical records, Wu Zetian spared no effort to build the Qianling Tomb and recruited tens of thousands of skilled craftsmen and people from all over the country, and it took several years to complete. After the completion of the Qianling Tomb, Wu Zetian also sent people to inspect it many times, and he was very satisfied with the layout and architecture therein. In 706 AD, Wu Zetian died, and the Qianling Tomb was officially opened.
However, although the Qianling Tomb looks magnificent on the outside, its internal structure has become a mystery for the ages. According to historical records, after the completion of the Qianling Tomb, Wu Zetian ordered all the craftsmen and people involved in the construction to be executed to prevent the secrets inside the Qianling Tomb from being revealed. This cruel move also made the internal structure of Qianling a mystery that no one knows.
Over the ages, countless tomb robbers have tried to open the tomb and explore its mysteries, but in vain. It is said that Huang Chao, the leader of the peasant rebel army at the end of the Tang Dynasty, led an army of 400,000 people to try to excavate the Qianling, but because he could not find the entrance, he had to give up in the end. The Song Dynasty poet Lu You also wrote in "The Record of Entering Shu": "The Qianling Tomb is in Liangshan, the stone is the gate, and the stone statues of the warriors outside the door are all decapitated. It can be seen that even after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the Qianling Tomb was still intact and had not been stolen and excavated.
Why is the Qianling Tomb so strong and difficult to break? This has always been an unsolved mystery. Some people speculate that there may be a trap inside the Qianling, and once someone breaks in, the trap will be triggered, resulting in the death of the intruder. It has also been speculated that the tomb chamber may have been built below the water table, and once the tomb door was opened, the groundwater would rush in and drown the tomb robbers. There is also a theory that the roads of the Qianling tomb are intricate, and once the tomb robbers enter, they will lose their way and never find the location of the tomb.
Although the speculations are well-founded, they lack hard evidence. For thousands of years, the internal structure of the Qianling Tomb has remained a mystery. Modern archaeologists have repeatedly explored and studied the Qianling Tomb, but so far they have not found the exact location of the tomb. What kind of secrets are hidden under the impregnable exterior of the Qianling Tomb? Where is the joint tomb of Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong? I am afraid that these questions can only be answered by opening the door of the Qianling Tomb.
However, as a national key cultural relics protection unit, it is impossible for the Qianling Tomb to be opened. Then, this mysterious imperial mausoleum will forever keep its secrets. Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong will also be buried here in this solid stone tomb, and together with Qianling, they will witness the vicissitudes of history.
The age-old mystery of the Headless Stone Man
In front of Wu Zetian's Qianling Mausoleum, there are 61 stone statues of different shapes and expressions. These stone men are dressed in exotic costumes and have faces that resemble those of the Hu people of the Western Regions, which are obviously different from ordinary Tang Dynasty stone carvings. What's even more peculiar is that these stone men all have no heads, like decapitated generals, silently guarding the Qianling Tomb for thousands of years.
The identity of these 61 headless stone figures has always been an unsolved mystery. According to the remaining inscriptions on the stone figures, some of them are "King Stole of Mujuhan", some are "Tocharian Prince Holding Kadhargand", and some stone figures are engraved with the word "deceased", indicating that the owner has died. These titles show that those who can be molded into stone statues and accompany Wu Zetian to bury them must be people of noble status.
Historians speculate through research that these headless stone men are likely to be the kings and princes of the Western Regions who submitted to the Tang Dynasty when Wu Zetian was alive. During the reign of Wu Zetian, he sent envoys to the Western Regions to make good connections, and 61 countries in the Western Regions were attached to the Tang Dynasty. The monarchs of these countries also made many pilgrimages to express their submission to Wu Zetian.
After Wu Zetian's death, the kings of these vassal states of the Western Regions personally led an envoy to Chang'an to attend Wu Zetian's funeral. In order to show respect and nostalgia for Wu Zetian, they placed their statue in front of the Qianling Tomb as a funeral object. This practice is similar to that of the important ministers of the Central Plains Dynasty after the death of the statues into the Taimiao. It can be said that these 61 stone figures are not only the supreme respect of the monarch of the Western Regions to Wu Zetian, but also the witness of the prestige of the Tang Dynasty.
However, what puzzled future generations was why these stone figures had lost their heads? There are all kinds of speculations and legends circulating among the people. Some people say that these stones were all enemies of Wu Zetian during their lifetime, and they did not want to bury them after death, so they "cut off their heads" in protest. It is also believed that the stone people were decapitated by tomb robbers, as the heads are the easiest to destroy. There is also a theory that the stone people lost their heads in the war at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and they have been passed down from generation to generation and become headless stone people.
There are even more mythical legends, believing that these headless stone people were possessed by gods and turned into Wu Zetian's tomb protectors. Their heads are hollow in order to allow the gods to enter them. It is precisely because of these headless stone men who guard day and night that the Qianling Tomb can be safe and sound under the coveting of tomb robbers in the past generations. Legend has it that there are visions near the stone man from time to time, ghosts crying wolves, terrifying and abnormal, making people shudder.
Although folklore is extensive, there is a lack of reliable historical evidence. For thousands of years, countless literati and artists have written poems for the headless stone people, trying to unravel their mysteries, but to no avail. Even modern archaeologists have difficulty determining the exact time and cause of the loss of the stone man's head. These stone figures seem to be using their headless bodies to leave an eternal puzzle for future generations.
Although the headless stone figures have no facial features, they either sit upright or stand upright, with different postures, giving people a sense of majesty and solemnity. Judging from the exquisite carvings and decorations on the stone figures, they must have been noble and extraordinary during their lifetimes. As a foreign monarch, being accepted by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty and being buried with a statue shows Wu Zetian's bearing and mind, as well as the international influence of the Tang Dynasty.
For thousands of years, the headless stone people have silently guarded the Qianling Tomb, witnessing the changes of the years and the rise and fall of dynasties. In a sense, they have become a symbol of Wu Zetian's life's achievements. Just as Wu Zetian's life is full of controversy, the life history of the headless stone man is also confusing. Perhaps, it is this sense of mystery that makes the headless stone man the most eye-catching landscape in Qianling, attracting generations of tourists to visit and feel the weight of history.
The mystery is solved
For thousands of years, the 61 headless stone figures in front of the Qianling Tomb have been a mystery. Countless literati and writers wrote poems for them, trying to unravel their mysteries, but to no avail. Even modern archaeologists have difficulty determining the exact time and cause of the loss of the stone man's head. This mystery seems destined to be buried forever in the dust of history.
However, on a spring day in 1974, two ordinary farmers inadvertently unravel this age-old mystery. The two peasants, named Zhang Deshan and Li Minggui, are villagers from Qianxian County, Xianyang. That day, they were working in the fields as usual, when suddenly, the hoe touched something hard. They thought it was a stone, so they dug it out with all their might, but they didn't expect it to be a lifelike stone head.
Zhang Deshan and Li Minggui were both authentic farmers with little culture, but they knew that such exquisite stone carvings must be extraordinary. They decided to report the discovery to the local antiquities department. Soon, cultural relics experts arrived at the scene, and they recognized at a glance that these stone heads were the missing heads of 61 headless stone figures in front of the Qianling Tomb.
The news spread quickly and caused a stir in the archaeological community. The experts conducted a detailed study and study of these stone heads, and found that their carving techniques and stone materials were completely consistent with the headless stone people in front of the Qianling Tomb. What's more, inscriptions have also been found on the backs of some stone heads, recording the identities and origins of these stone figures.
It turned out that these 61 stone figures were not from the Central Plains, but envoys and nobles from various countries in the Western Regions. Their clothing and appearance have obvious Hu characteristics. During the reign of Wu Zetian, the Tang Dynasty was strong, and all countries in the Western Regions came to pay tribute to show their submission. After Wu Zetian's death, these nobles from the Western Regions came to Chang'an to attend Wu Zetian's funeral, and asked to make a statue of themselves in front of the Qianling Tomb to show their admiration and nostalgia for this generation of empresses.
The Tang Dynasty court readily agreed, and inscribed the names and nationalities of these stone figures. These 61 stone figures have become a witness to Wu Zetian's prestige and the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. They stood or sat with solemn expressions, as if telling the world about that glorious era.
But why did the heads of the stone people go missing? Experts have made several speculations based on clues. One theory is that when the peasant rebels captured Chang'an in the late Tang Dynasty, the statues of these "Tibetan nobles" were vandalized, and the angry rebels cut off their heads to vent their hatred. There is also a theory that the stone people were destroyed in the wars of later generations. After all, although the Qianling Tomb was not stolen and excavated, it was inevitable that it would be affected by the war.
However, the most likely explanation is a local folk theory. Legend has it that during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a great plague in the Qianxian area, and the local people complained, thinking that it was the stone people in front of the Qianling Tomb who caused trouble, which brought disaster to the people. Angry villagers gathered and smashed the stone man's head in an attempt to avert the disaster.
Regardless of the reason why the heads of the stone people eventually left, the mystery of the identity of these 61 headless stone figures was finally revealed under the accidental discovery of Zhang Deshan and Li Minggui. The solution of this eternal mystery not only allows us to have a better understanding of Qianling and Wu Zetian, but also proves the charm of archaeology again. The truth of history is sometimes buried in the dirt under our feet, waiting for us to discover and explore.
end
Wu Zetian's life is a legend, full of controversy and mysteries. And these 61 headless stone figures are the most mysterious in this legend. They have witnessed the glory of the Tang Dynasty and the prestige of Wu Zetian, but they have also experienced the erosion of time and the baptism of war. Although their heads have been lost, they still stand quietly in front of the Qianling, telling the magnificent era and the immortal legend.