Preface
The ancients firmly believed in their hearts that "death is like life", although life does not bring, but after death must be brought with them, because they firmly believe that the things that accompany them to their burial will continue to play a role in the other world after their death.
Therefore, this led to the practice of thick burials in ancient times, and ordinary people would try their best to bring more burial goods when they were buried, not to mention the emperor's tomb, which was absolutely extremely luxurious.
However, the abundance of burial goods will lead to attracting people's attention, whether it is out of revenge or coveting the value of the burial goods, tomb robbers have never been less since ancient times, and most of the imperial tombs have also been stolen.
But there are three imperial tombs in the mainland that have been preserved intact to this day, and their owners are all well-known figures in Chinese history, but the tomb robbers have given up the excavation, why is this?
1. The imperial mausoleum that dare not dig - the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor in Chinese history, and he deserved the title of "Emperor of the Ages" in terms of historical status and political achievements, and the mausoleum built by Qin Shi Huang for himself was even more magnificent.
In 247 BC, the first emperor of the ages sat on the throne of Qin, but Yingzheng was only 13 years old at that time.
The people who held him back were his mother, the Empress Dowager Zhao, and the political clique of Xiangguo Lü Buwei, who relied on Qin Shi Huang's young autocratic power, and even wanted to pull Yingzheng down from the throne of Qin and usurp the throne.
But all this was finally seen through and eradicated by Qin Shi Huang, so Qin Shi Huang, who was 22 years old at the time, was finally able to govern himself and lead the Qin state to an unparalleled peak.
After that, Qin Shi Huang selected talents and appointed talents, making Qin the leading power among the six kingdoms, and gradually annexed the six kingdoms, establishing the first feudal dynasty in Chinese history, the Qin Dynasty.
As the first emperor, Ying Zheng naturally attaches great importance to his mausoleum, and the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin has actually been built since Ying Zheng succeeded to the throne of Qin Huang, but at the beginning, it was only built with the specifications of the princes and kings.
After becoming emperor, Qin Shi Huang was naturally dissatisfied with the size of his mausoleum, so the construction of the mausoleum began with Qin Shi Huang's succession to the throne and was not completed until the second year after Qin Shi Huang's death.
One can imagine how grand this mausoleum, which was built for decades, even at the beginning of China's feudal dynasty, but there are few imperial tombs that can surpass the scale of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang.
With such a large scale and a history of more than 2,500 years, it is naturally impossible for no one to remember that since the fall of the Qin Dynasty, there have been countless records of theft and excavation of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang in later generations.
Although many of these records claim to have entered the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, in fact, modern technology has found that the main burial chamber of Qin Shi Huang's tomb is still intact.
As for some people who wonder why the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang has not been excavated with such advanced modern technology? In fact, this is because the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang has become a cultural symbol of China for thousands of years, and it is inconvenient to change it easily.
On the other hand, because today's technology is still not advanced enough to protect the Qin Tombs, this will cause irreversible damage to the cultural relics of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum once they are excavated.
For example, the most famous terracotta warriors and horses of Qin Shi Huang were actually colored when they were first unearthed, but because they were not properly protected after being unearthed, the colors quickly disappeared and became the gray statues that people see now.
Therefore, at least in our lifetime, the excavation of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang must be far away.
Second, the imperial mausoleum that cannot be dug - the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum
Time back to ancient times, at this time the Chinese nation has not yet been formally formed, and even the concept of the state has not yet been produced, and the people living in the Central Plains are just large and small tribes, subject to the rule of the chief.
However, the concept that the world must be united for a long time was applicable even in ancient times, and the disunity between the tribes meant that there would inevitably be disputes, so the Yellow Emperor united with Emperor Yan's troops to defeat Chiyou.
After that, under the leadership of the Yellow Emperor, the human beings living in the Central Plains progressed from the barbaric era in ancient times to the era of civilization, and the Chinese nation in later generations was gradually formed.
In order to commemorate the achievements of the Yellow Emperor, people in later generations enshrined the Yellow Emperor as the "ancestor of humanity" of the Chinese nation, and gradually formed a tradition.
"Historical Records" records, after the death of the Yellow Emperor was buried in the mountain, people in order to commemorate the emperor, so the Yellow Emperor Mausoleum and the temple were built here to worship him, and in the Spring and Autumn Period of Qin Linggong officially sacrificed the Yellow Emperor Mausoleum as a national event, later generations because of their identity as the descendants of Yan and Huang, so it was also used.
But even in the Spring and Autumn Period, the people at that time were too far away from the emperor's time, so the location of the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum was basically only handed down in myths and legends, and the authenticity was no longer verifiable.
Therefore, the mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor is basically just a representative place that embodies the sense of identity of the Chinese nation, and it is more like a temple belonging to the Chinese nation than a real mausoleum.
In addition, the Yellow Emperor is the humanistic ancestor of the Chinese nation, and people have an irreplaceable sense of identity with him throughout the ages, thinking that he is their ancestor, will you dig your own ancestral grave? Of course, no one dares to do this lack of virtue.
3. The imperial tomb that cannot be dug up - Qianling
When the time came to the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty could be said to be a fairly eclectic dynasty in Chinese history, and even the imperial tombs were so extraordinary.
In history, many imperial tombs have either not been explored or have been stolen cleanly, and the imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty have been poisoned by tomb robbers except for Qianling, which can be said to be quite a pity.
But Tang Gaozong Li Zhi and Empress Wu Zetian buried together in the Qianling Tomb is one of the very special ones, in thousands of years of history, there are many people covet the treasures in the Qianling, but these tomb robbers do not say what they stole away, they have not even entered the Qianling!
In the Huangchao Rebellion at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Huangchao had ordered a large-scale excavation of the tomb of Emperor Li and Tang, but only the Qianling was intact, and the Huangchao let people dig a ditch with a depth of more than 40 meters.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty were sacked again, and this time only the Qianling Tombs remained intact.
If it is said that in ancient times, the Qianling Tomb could not be excavated because the tomb robbery tools were relatively backward, and the Qianling Tomb was "built according to the mountain" according to the rules of the Tang Dynasty's imperial tombs, which was relatively solid and hidden, and it was difficult for pure manpower to break through the protective layer of the Qianling Tomb, then in modern times, it is quite miraculous that the Qianling Tomb could not be opened with explosives.
During the Republic of China, the Kuomintang general Sun Lianzhong launched a rampant tomb robbery operation under the pretext of protecting the Qianling, and the troops of one of his divisions bombed the Qianling with artillery shells in the Qianling, but still could not open the Qianling, which is quite miraculous, and it can be seen that the anti-theft protection of the Qianling is quite perfect.
Therefore, the Qianling Tomb, which was dug countless times but never broke the defense, was finally given up by the tomb thieves, and after the founding of New China, it became a cultural relics protection unit, and the security of the Qianling Tomb was more perfect.
epilogue
The ancient imperial tombs are of great significance to future generations, and it is possible that an imperial tomb may contain extremely precious cultural and artistic treasures, and may even provide valuable evidence for contemporary research on ancient history.
However, in the case of imperfect technology, it is not possible to excavate ancient tombs casually, because as long as it is opened, it will cause irreversible losses.