After the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty was forced to get involved in the world trend and began to "open its eyes to the world".
However, the Qing government was decadent and backward, unable to keep pace with the world's development, and its national strength deteriorated.
In 1912, Fu Yi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, announced his abdication, and the Qing Dynasty collapsed.
Up to now, the Qing Dynasty has been in ruin for more than a hundred years, but to this day, there are still many mausoleum keepers who have guarded the imperial tomb for generations.
It stands to reason that the guardians of the imperial mausoleum should have been sent by the Qing government, why are there still people guarding the imperial mausoleum after the fall of the Qing Dynasty?
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, there was no one to "pay them", what did these people rely on to live?
Generally speaking, "mausoleum" is the special name for the tomb of the emperor, and the graves of ordinary people and subjects are simply called "tomb".
The Imperial Mausoleum, which refers to the mausoleum of the emperor, is the place where the monarchs of ancient China sleep for a long time.
Usually not only the emperor is buried in the imperial mausoleum, but also the empress, the harem maiden, the emperor's children, and a few courtiers who have won the emperor's favor will be buried here.
Most of these imperial tombs are very strict in feng shui, and the architectural style is magnificent and exquisite, as if they have become the symbol of generations of emperors, silently demonstrating the supreme dignity of imperial power.
Even the place where they are buried after their deaths, the royal tombs or imperial tombs, is so magnificent.
The construction of each imperial tomb took several years and required the efforts of the whole country.
They have a long history and a huge scale, just as written in "A Fang Gong Fu", they have the majestic momentum of "covering more than 300 miles and isolating the sky".
Coupled with the strange layout and exquisite craftsmanship, some imperial tombs have slowly developed into places of interest that can be visited by future generations.
Whether it is for cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries or tourism in the mainland, the imperial tomb is of great significance.
They can be said to have witnessed the glory and glory of the prosperous era, and also witnessed the wisdom and wisdom of the ancient Chinese working people, and occupy an important position in the history of world civilization, and some are called "world miracles".
The construction of the emperor's mausoleum needs to show the supremacy of the supreme ruler of feudal society, and it has always been an extremely large and complicated important project.
When it was built, large-scale sacrificial ceremonies were held throughout the country, as was the case in all dynasties.
There are more than 200 emperors in China's history, and their imperial tombs are different in style, but all of them are extraordinary.
However, in the dust of history, many imperial tombs have been stolen, and tomb thieves have been excavated and destroyed.
Around the late Western Zhou Dynasty, there were tomb robbers, and the history of tomb robbing probably began in the late Western Zhou Dynasty.
In fact, the imperial tombs of each dynasty will send people to guard them, and they will also be specially set up in the construction process to prevent tomb robbers.
Like the well-known Liu Yu, Yang Zhen Jia, Chen Feng and others, they are all famous for robbing tombs.
With the change of dynasties, the people who guarded the tomb from generation to generation ceased to exist; And now the only surviving guardian of the imperial tomb is the Qing Dongling.
The Qing Dynasty, as the last feudal dynasty in China, is the closest to ours.
As the royal mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty, the Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty is the most complete imperial mausoleum preserved in the mainland at present.
The imperial tombs of the Qing Dynasty are mainly distributed in today's Hebei and Liaoning provinces, including the Qing Dongling, the Qing Xiling and the Guanwai Three Tombs, and their architectural and planning features continue some of the traditions of the Ming Dynasty, while also incorporating Manchu cultural elements.
Among them, the Qing Dongling Tomb is large and well-preserved, and is also listed as a world cultural heritage.
There are a total of 15 cemeteries here, where 5 emperors and 15 empresses are buried, plus concubines, elder brothers and princesses, a total of 161 people.
Located in Zunhua City, Hebei Province, the Qing Dongling Tomb is one of the main mausoleums of the Qing Dynasty after Emperor Shunzhi moved the capital to Beijing, and the first emperor to be buried was Shunzhi.
Later, many emperors such as Shunzhi and Kangxi were also buried here.
The construction of this mausoleum began in 1661 and lasted 247 years, almost throughout the history of the Qing Dynasty.
Such an important mausoleum not only takes a lot of effort to build, but also guards the imperial mausoleum.
The royal authority cannot be offended, and to guard the emperor's mausoleum, it is necessary to arrange enough people - this is the mausoleum keeper who specializes in the royal service
In the eyes of the Qing rulers, only relatives of the emperor who are related by the same blood will truly protect the imperial tomb.
Then as the person who guards the mausoleum, he must be a noble disciple of the Eight Banners.
It also belongs to the three flags of yellow, yellow and blue in the Eight Banners system.
In many film and television dramas we have watched, the "mausoleum guards" are all Wang grandchildren who have made mistakes, and many people think that guarding the mausoleum should be a chore.
But in fact, not everyone is qualified to be a mausoleum keeper.
In ancient times, the system of guarding the tomb was very perfect, and the conditions of those who went to guard the tomb were very demanding, and their treatment was higher than that of many officials.
In the traditional feudal society, people usually believe in ghosts and gods, especially the royal family, and pay special attention to the issue of bloodline.
As the guardian of the imperial tomb, the mausoleum keeper is a sacred profession that defends the dignity of the royal family, so naturally he cannot choose someone to serve as the mausoleum keeper at will.
The tomb keepers of the Qing Dynasty can be roughly divided into three categories;
The first is a special mausoleum keeper appointed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs; The second is the Eight Banners in the Eight Banners system, which belong to the three flags of yellow, inlaid yellow, and blue.
The above two kinds were specially selected from the middle and lower classes of the Eight Banners, and they were from very noble backgrounds, and they were basically related to the royal family, and they were specially transferred from Beijing and Manchuria to guard the royal tombs.
Finally, there were the courtiers sent to the Imperial Tomb, most of whom were also members of the imperial family, although this type often had a punitive connotation.
The treatment of the Qing Dynasty mausoleum keepers was very generous, at that time, ordinary people could not earn a few taels of silver a year, and the mausoleum keepers had the highest position, 1,300 taels of silver a year, more than 500 stone meters.
According to the Qing Dynasty, one tael of silver is equivalent to about 200 yuan, then it is 260,000.
With an annual income of 260,000 yuan, there is still a public house to live in, food, clothing, housing and transportation are all managed, and they also have the privilege of not collecting taxes and exempting themselves from military service.
Such conditions can be said to be very good, basically equivalent to the current "iron rice bowl".
This kind of good treatment is actually an incentive role, the Qing Dongling is located in Zunhua, Hebei, far away from the capital, "to guard the tomb" for those emperors and grandsons, and "exile at the border" is no different.
In order to ensure the dignity of the royal family, it is necessary to let these high-ranking and noble people who are willing to guard the mausoleum and the children of the Eight Banners voluntarily guard the mausoleum, and naturally give them preferential treatment.
The identity of the mausoleum keeper is also passed down from generation to generation, and it is an errand that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Their duty is to protect the Imperial Tomb for generations to come, and to live and die with the Imperial Tomb.
After hundreds of years of development, the mausoleum guards gradually formed villages and clans, as if they were a free and independent "small society".
In today's Hebei Province, there is a place called Ma Lanyu Town, they are the descendants of the "tomb keepers" - the ancestors were originally for the Tongzhi Emperor to guard the tomb, and now the population has been passed down from generation to generation, and there are tens of thousands of people.
Such a large scale of mausoleum guards, all of them need high salaries, which is actually a large expense for the Qing Dynasty.
By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the national strength was declining and the politics were corrupt, the imperial court had more than enough money to make ends meet, and various land reparations had made the treasury empty.
Cixi has repeatedly ordered the reduction of the salaries of the mausoleum keepers, and the lives of the mausoleum keepers have also been greatly affected.
In 1912, the late Qing Emperor Puyi abdicated, the Qing Dynasty collapsed, and the supply of the tomb guards was forced to be interrupted.
When Pu Yi announced his abdication, he promulgated a treaty on the preferential conditions of the Qing Emperor after his resignation.
It specifically mentions matters related to the collection of imperial tombs: "After the resignation of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, his temples and mausoleums will be enshrined forever."
But the plan is not as fast as the change, the domestic situation is changing complicated, and an abdicated emperor can no longer influence the changes in the national situation.
Subsequently, with the warlords separating and fighting, Pu Yi himself was quickly driven out of the Forbidden City, and this treaty naturally lost its effectiveness.
The government of the Republic of China once promised the mausoleum keepers to maintain and repair the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty every year, and their salaries were also paid as usual.
However, the Republic of China is not a peaceful and prosperous era, and the government of the Republic of China has no extra effort to manage Dongling in the case of frequent wars and self-care.
This period of turmoil brought too many changes to China, and the Qing Dongling Tomb suffered unprecedented damage in the midst of it.
The mausoleum guards who do not have any skills have sought a way to survive for themselves.
In the face of such a situation, the mausoleum keepers either sold their property, or stole the funeral goods out and resold them, and completely left the mausoleum management system behind.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government took over the Qing Dongling Tomb and used it as a key cultural relics protection institution on the mainland, paying for repairs and setting up a special management agency.
The few mausoleum guards who survived the difficult time and were unwilling to leave were also properly arranged:
Some of them were educated, and they were hired as administrators of the Qing Dongling Tombs and became the "imperial tomb staff" in the new era, and all their salaries were paid by the state, which can be regarded as "making an iron rice bowl".
In the 80s, the domestic tourism industry developed rapidly, and Qing Dongling became the first batch of 4A-level tourist attractions in the country, and a large number of tourists came to Qing Dongling every year.
The descendants of the mausoleum keepers began to be responsible for receiving visitors and telling them about the history of the Qing Tombs.
Now their job is no longer to guard the peace of the emperor, but also to guard our cultural roots.
The job may not bring them a lot of wealth, and their lives are not as exciting as those of white-collar workers in high-rise buildings in the city, but their lives have another meaning.