At the moment of the Wenbo fever, there are two more archaeological news that are on fire.
One is a stone from the Hebei Museum called "Heguang Stone Carving".
Two thousand years ago, two civil servants were bored on duty, so they carved a sentence on stone:
"The prison has the confinement of the ministers, the old generals who guard the hills, and dare to consult the sages."
It means, "I am the prince who oversees the fishing for the king, I am the old general who guards the mausoleum, and the gentleman of later generations, hello!" ”
Unexpectedly, this ordinary greeting spanned more than 2,000 years and touched countless netizens in this world.
Everyone is commenting and lamenting the long and moving history.
Another piece of news is that because the tomb of King Chukaoli was stolen, the official began rescue excavations.
However, the commentary on this news is not as harmonious as above, but full of irony.
"What's the difference between archaeology and tomb robbing?" "Are you robbing the official tomb again?"
In recent years, more and more people have questioned the act of "archaeology", believing it to be just another act of "tomb robbing".
But there is clearly a world of difference between the two.
To put it simply, tomb robbing is only for profit, but archaeology is more academic.
For example, in the tomb of King Chu Huai this time, the way the tomb robbers treated them was to dig up the grave by any means, just to get those cultural relics that could be circulated in the market and profitably.
As for the other objects in the tomb, they will only be discarded.
Archaeologists, however, protected the tomb in situ and only salvaged the tomb after it had been robbed.
And not only will they treat each artifact with care, but they will also carefully study the history behind the artifact.
Another example is the river light carved stone this time, in the eyes of the tomb robbers, it is just a stone with only a few words engraved on it, and it may only be kicked away.
However, for archaeologists, this is one of the earliest stone inscriptions of the era that has been discovered in China, and it has high historical value for the study of Warring States characters.
The story we are going to tell today can better show the difference between the captain and the archaeologist, as well as the significance of cultural relics.
In the winter of 1975, a number of ancient tombs were discovered in the newly dug drainage canal in Sleeping Tiger Land in Yunmeng County.
And when the No. 11 tomb was cleaned up, the moment the coffin lid was removed, everyone in the audience was stunned.
I saw that the pillow of the tomb owner, the right side of his face, the right shoulder of his shoulder, and the right side of his entire body were covered with bunches of bamboo slips.
You must know that bamboo slips are rare, and the burial goods are generally mostly valuables that the tomb owner liked during his lifetime, such as gold, silver and jade, etc., but so many bamboo slips are placed in this coffin, and the preciousness of these bamboo slips is even more visible.
But these bamboo slips have been soaked in water so soft that they can be damaged if you are not careful.
In view of the fact that the Chengguan Town Cultural Center of Yunmeng County is not far from the excavation site of the Qin Tomb in Sleeping Tiger Land, the archaeological team members immediately decided to carry the entire coffin back to the Yunmeng County Cultural Center for sorting out.
At this time, people didn't know that the words in the bamboo slips on the shoulders of their group had never even seen Sima Qian, who wrote the "Historical Records", and behind these words was a dynastic prohibition that disappeared in the depths of history.
More than 2,000 years ago, the Qin State and the six eastern countries in the west went through a long game and competition, and finally spent ten years to sweep away the heroes and unify China.
But because of the lack of historical data, we only know the result, but we don't know why the Qin State was successful.
But Qin Jian, who was excavated in the Sleeping Tiger Land this time, just answered this question.
After the translation of archaeologists, the laws of the Qin Dynasty mainly recorded in the Qin Dynasty in the Qin Diet of the Sleeping Tiger Land, including "Tian Law", "Eighteen Kinds of Qin Law", "Effect Law", "Qin Law Miscellaneous Copy", "Legal Miscellaneous Questions", "Sealed Diagnosis", etc., some of which are even more sound than our current laws.
For example, in the "Law of Fields", the people are taught how to plow the fields.
When sowing, use 2 and 2/3 buckets per mu for rice seeds, one bucket for millet and wheat, 2/3 buckets for adzuki beans, and half a bucket for soybeans. If the land is fertile, the amount of seeds sown per acre can be appropriately reduced.
There are also regulations on the method of raising cattle.
"The number of cattle in each county should be strictly registered, and if more than three cows die in a year, or if six of the ten adult cows do not give birth to calves, the officials in charge of the cattle shall be punished, and the county and county ordinances shall also be punished."
"You can't plough it desperately, you have to make it graze, and if the ox loses an inch after ploughing the land, you have to beat the person who used the ox ten lashes, and that's very strict."
It may be precisely because the law stipulates that all farmers use the most advanced methods to grow crops that the Qin army has enough food to move forward and has no worries on the road to unifying the six countries.
And many of the laws that we are still discussing today were also clearly stipulated in the Qin Dynasty.
For example, righteousness and courage.
According to the law of the Qin Dynasty, if someone within 100 steps of a person is injured in public, then they must hand over two pairs of armor.
In the Qin Dynasty, a pair of armor was equivalent to two taels of gold, and two pieces were four taels, and ordinary people naturally couldn't pay such a high fine, so they were forced to help.
For example, the tofu slag project.
If the builder cuts corners, then the officials in charge of the project, down to the contractor and the builder will be punished, and no one from the regulatory department or the black-hearted boss will want to run away.
As well as all kinds of trivial things in life, commodities must be clearly priced, torture must not be used to extract confessions when solving cases, and people must be persuaded by virtue, etc.
But the most surprising thing is that there are also regulations on the protection of the natural environment in the Qin law.
Qin Jian's "Tian Law" clearly recorded, "In spring and February, do not dare to cut down timber wood, mountains and forests and water, do not dare to turn the night grass into ash, take raw lychees, deer eggs, and indulge them in July." ”
This passage means, "In the spring, it is strictly forbidden to cut down mountains and forests and build dikes to block the river." It is forbidden to burn grass as fertilizer, pick newly sprouted plants, beat young animals, take eggs, and harm young birds until summer. ”
From these legal provisions, we can see that the ancient Chinese people paid great attention to environmental protection and ecological balance.
Therefore, what Qin Jian shows is not only some legal provisions, but also reflects the civilization development of industry, agriculture and commerce in the entire society of the Qin Dynasty at that time, involving politics, economy, culture, medicine, art and other aspects.
Through the sleeping tiger land Qin Jian, we also have a more comprehensive, profound and true judgment on the history of the Qin Dynasty.
Now, let's think about what tomb robbers would do with these bamboo slips if they dug up this ancient tomb.
I think I might just pick it up and look for the jewels hidden underneath, and when I find nothing, I'll be so angry that I step on it.
Perhaps this is the difference between tomb robbers and archaeologists, one for profit, and the other for history.
And archaeologists do more than that.
Among the Qin Janes in Vientiane Senluo, the most special one should be the Qin Jane named "Chronicle" by archaeologists.
It was placed on the head of the owner of the tomb, a total of 53 sticks, about 550 characters.
This book chronicles the history of 90 years from the first year of King Zhao of Qin, that is, 306 BC, to the 30th year of Qin Shi Huang, that is, around 217 BC.
But it is not a history book, nor a biography, but a review of the tomb owner's own life.
In addition to the bamboo slips, there are obvious historical records such as "the second year of King Qin Zhao, attacking the Pi clan" and "the fourth year of King Qin Zhao, attacking the tomb".
At the same time, there was also a "King Qin Zhao for five years, attacking the King of Daye." When the rooster crows on the first day of December, it is happy to give birth", "the first year of Qin Wangzheng, Xi Fu", "the twelfth year of Qin Wangzheng, April is ugly, and he likes to govern prison Yan" such sentences with the word "Xi".
After the research of archaeologists, it was determined that the "Xi" in the text is the owner of the tomb.
And this "Chronicle" is that he interspersed his life with the development of the Qin Dynasty.
"Forty-five years to attack the wild king, December first afternoon rooster crow", which means that in the forty-fifth year of King Qin Zhao, the Qin army attacked the wild king of Korea, and when the rooster crowed at dawn on the first day of December, Xi was born.
Counted, Xi is a full two years older than Qin Shi Huang.
"In the first year of the reign of King Qin, Xi Fu", which means that in the first year of King Yingzheng, King of Qin, he became a citizen of the Great Qin Empire with full civil capacity.
"In the twelfth year of the reign of King Qin, in April, he was ugly, and he was happy to govern Prison Yan", which means that King Qin was in power for 12 years, and in April, he was ugly, and he was happy to serve as the governor of Prison Yan.
Therefore, the reason why these Qin Janes are all legal works is because Xi was the local legal secretary at that time.
It is conceivable that more than two or two hundred years ago, an official was in the dim light copying all the legal texts distributed by his superiors and diligently memorizing them.
His name is Xi, and he is an ordinary official in the Qin State, who serves in Anlu County, Nanjun.
He believed that the laws he copied would make the country strong and the people under his rule safe, so he not only copied them during his lifetime, but also took them with him even after his death.
It turns out that when he was 41 years old, Qin Shi Huang, as he thought, swept through the Six Kingdoms and unified Great Qin.
No one knows how he felt at the time, but another sentence in the Chronicle seems to be the answer.
The other records about happiness in the "Chronicle" are all major events such as the birth of a child and the great changes in life such as "production and ear piercing" and "Xi'an Lu History", but there is one sentence that starts again.
This sentence records the events of 219 B.C., "In the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shi Huang, now Anlu."
It is written that in the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor began to tour the old land of the Six Kingdoms, "today" refers to Qin Shi Huang, and "crossing Anlu" means that Qin Shi Huang traveled through Anlu County, where he is located.
Xi deliberately recorded this tour and transit of Qin Shi Huang in his life, and it is conceivable that he should regard this encounter with Qin Shi Huang as the most glorious moment of his life.
At that time, he may have bowed down among a group of officials and people, and in front of him, he was the emperor he admired infinitely in his heart, and under the rule of this emperor, he finally made Daqin the only empire.
Hey, it should be very patriotic.
According to the laboratory of the tomb owner, researchers learned that the age of the tomb owner was about 45 years old, and the last year recorded in the "Chronicle" was the thirtieth year of Qin Shi Huang, indicating that Xi's age may be 46 years old.
In his long and turbulent life, he went to the battlefield three times, but did not make any military achievements, held three positions, and did not encounter any major cases, but he still complied with the requirements of the state to join the army to kill the enemy, and was conscientious and responsible in his work.
Archaeologists unearthed copper sharpening knives and brushes in the No. 11 tomb of Sleeping Tiger Land, and the unearthed brushes have been differentiated, and there are traces of use of sharpening knives, indicating that the tomb owner spent a lot of energy on writing in his life.
Researchers also found that he suffered from a very serious cervical spondylosis, which may be an occupational disease caused by his long-term desk work.
These are all evidence that he served the country and the people.
When Xi died in 217 B.C., he asked his family to deposit all the legal documents he had copied during his lifetime in his coffin, especially the bundle of bamboo slips that recorded the events of his life.
The wheels of history are rolling by, and in the smoke and dust, most people can only see the BMW carved cars of princes and generals, but the figures, shouts, and traces of those low-level people have always been silent.
But by chance, after the excavation of archaeologists, we saw the life of a low-level official of the Qin Dynasty more than 2,200 years ago, his perseverance and love.
In fact, archaeologists have unearthed many stories of ordinary people like "Xi".
Not far from Xi's tomb, there is another tomb that has caught the attention of archaeologists.
Although it is small and shabby compared to Xi's tomb, the two pieces of wood filled with words inside are the earliest family letters in China.
Experts know through the words on the wooden strips that the tomb owner's name is Xinxin, an ordinary Qin person in the late Warring States period.
The wooden slabs on these two sides are letters sent back from the battlefield by his two brothers, Heifu and Shock.
The beginning date of the letter is "February Xinsi", and according to the analysis of historians, "February Xinsi" is February 19, the 24th year of the reign of King Qin.
In this year, the King of Qin appointed the veteran general Wang Jian as the commander-in-chief, commanding an army of 600,000 and launching a final annihilating attack on the Chu State.
Therefore, it was this battle of annihilation that Heifu and the Shocking Congjun Army were.
The purpose of Heifu's letter was to hope that the family would receive money and clothing, "May my mother be fortunate enough to send five or six hundred dollars, and those who are prudent and kind will not be less than two feet and five feet."
I hope that my mother can send five or six hundred dollars, and the cloth should be carefully selected to be of good quality, at least two feet and five feet, and if the cloth is expensive at home, he will send more money, and he will buy the cloth himself to make the underwear.
Judging from Heifu and Jing's request for money and clothes from home, it is likely that the soldiers of the Qin State did not have military salaries.
In addition, in the letter, Jing also hoped that her family would take care of her sister, saying that she should not be allowed to go too far to cut firewood, let alone go to Xindi, because there are many thieves there, and the word "urgent" was used in a row.
In just two pieces of wood, we not only see the daily life of the soldiers of the Qin army two thousand years ago, the economic outlook of society, but also the strong family affection of an ordinary family.
Although their lives are full of fire, their feelings are simple and moving, and their attachment, nostalgia, and intimacy with each other are the same as we are today.
We don't know if Heifu and Surprise finally received the clothes and money from An Lu's hometown.
But for the final outcome of the war in which they participated, there is a clear record in the "Historical Records". "Break the Jing Army, Changping Jun died, and Xiang Yan committed suicide."
Perhaps Heifu and Shocking made a war exploit and finally returned to their hometown and reunited with their relatives; Or maybe they died in the battle in the process of killing the enemy, so they put their family letters in the tomb.
History may be thousands of years, but as long as it is the history of people, it is nothing more than the birth, old age, sickness and death of a person, and the joys and sorrows of a group of people.
A small family letter, the big aspect allows us to see the process of national reunification, and the small aspect we see is a family group portrait.
In addition to the joy and sincerity, archaeologists also found a letter written by a young official named Xuan in the Western Han Dynasty to his good friends and his young grandson in Jiuquan City, Gansu Province, and saw a letter written by a female relative who accompanied the Dunhuang envoys to Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty to his family in the far northwest.
Therefore, unlike tomb robbers who only get those valuable gold, silver, jewelry, calligraphy and painting utensils, archaeology is more for "ancient".
The "ancient" here refers to the ancient social outlook and lifestyle, so in addition to the princes and generals, talented and beautiful women, there are also ordinary people who are dissipated in the dust of history.
Their stories should also be worth knowing.
Just like Xi, the trend of big history is the establishment of the Qin Dynasty and the demise of the Six Kingdoms, but these grand narratives and the times are just footnotes to his life.
In his "Chronicle", "happy production" and "production and ear piercing" are as important things as "the first year of King Shao" and "forty-five years".
During his lifetime, his work blessed the people, and after his death, his love allowed future generations to see the dynasty at that time.
And the eyes that will give us a glimpse in future generations are archaeologists.
*Some of the pictures and materials are from the Internet