Some people have counted that there are 485 emperors in the feudal dynasty of more than 2,000 years in ancient China, and most of the emperors who can be remembered are the emperors of the Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and other prosperous dynasties, but there is an emperor who is absolutely ignored, from the perspective of actual merits and contributions to the development of the entire Chinese nation, some people think that he should be listed as one of the "one emperors of the ancient world" in Chinese history, he is the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty - Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian. However, when I came to the Tailing Tomb of Emperor Wen of Sui, I was a little surprised to see the scene, the tomb of a founding emperor was so simple and desolate, only a huge dirt bag remained. However, the Tailing Tomb has not been stolen for thousands of years, and the reason may be related to a Wang village next to the tomb, which is said to be the mysterious tomb keepers who have not appeared for thousands of years.
Photographed in September 2020 in Yangling Demonstration Zone, Shaanxi Province.
Yang Jian, a native of Huayin,Hongnong Commandery (present-day Huayin, Shaanxi), was born in 541 AD of the Hongnong Yang clan, whose father Yang Zhong was a general of the Western Wei Dynasty. When Yang Jian was less than thirty years old, he inherited his father's title as Duke of Suiguo, and after Emperor Wu of Zhou destroyed Northern Qi, he paid homage to the great general of the State of Zhu and the Grand Sima of the State. In the first year of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (581 AD), Yang Jian forced the Jing Emperor Yuwen to take the throne, founded the Sui Dynasty, changed the Yuan Kai Emperor, and was known as Emperor Wen of Sui.
After Emperor Wen of Sui ascended the throne, after destroying Southern Chen, ending the more than 270 years of division since the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty also became another dynasty after the Qin, Han and Jin Dynasties, which ended the long-term division and chaotic wars. In terms of political and economic reforms, a series of far-reaching measures were implemented, and even affected the development of the entire Chinese nation, laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of later dynasties.
Emperor Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty abolished the "Nine-Pin Zhongzheng System" and opened the imperial examination system, giving capable people the opportunity to display their talents and serve the country, and the imperial examination system was abolished in the thirty-first year of the Qing Dynasty, a full 1300 years. Yang Jian also widely collected books to continue the traditional Chinese culture, and this generosity alone was enough to make many emperors ashamed. Vigorously restore social production, develop the economy, and excavate the world-famous Grand Canal project, which we still use today. After the efforts of Emperor Wen of Sui, he created the "rule of the emperor".
Emperor Wen of Sui not only unified the whole country and expanded the territory at the same time, but also developed the economy and implemented many measures, and some people believe that his merits far exceeded that of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, and he was definitely worthy of the title of "Emperor of The Ages". However, his exploits are so bleak in history, which is related to his later actions. In Chinese history, many emperors were very faint in their later years, and Emperor Wen of Sui was not excluded, but his luck was relatively poor. Deposed Crown Prince Yang Yong and made Yang Guang the Prince of Jin crown prince, laying the foundation for the subjugation of the country. In the fourth year of Renshou (604 AD), Emperor Wen of Sui died of a strange illness at Renshou Palace at the age of sixty-four.
After his son Yang Guang ascended the throne, he frequently launched wars, abused the people's power, and was extremely poor and extravagant, causing great chaos in the world and leading to the collapse and collapse of the Sui Dynasty. In order to maintain its own orthodoxy, the Li Tang Dynasty instead downplayed and erased the merits of Emperor Wen of Sui, influencing the views of future generations on him, and even the history books of later generations continued to scold him. After Emperor Wen of Sui died, he was buried with the Dugu Empress in Tailing in October of the same year.
The tomb of Emperor Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty is located in Wangshang Village, Wuquan Town, 5 kilometers west of the Yangling Demonstration Zone in Shaanxi Province. When I first saw this imperial tomb, this dilapidated and simple mausoleum looked a little rudimentary compared to its great historical achievements. A not-so-long cemetery, with no stone carvings on either side, only kiwi trees planted by local farmers, perhaps because it is a cloudy day, adding a bit of the coldness and desolation of the Tailing. Fortunately, this tomb has not been stolen for thousands of years, is it because it is in ruins? Or is it for some other reason?
The floor plan of the cemetery is close to square, with an east-west length of 592.7 meters, a north-south width of 628.9 meters, and an area of 372,700 square meters. The entire Tailing tomb is only left with this huge earthen bag, which is in the shape of a bucket and rammed. And a Qing Dynasty stone stele on the south side of the tomb, the main text of the stele is written with five large characters of "Sui Wen Emperor Tai Ling". According to the relevant local departments, today's Tailing is a national cultural security unit and no buildings can be built, so the entire cemetery has remained the same as it was decades ago.
There is a bungalow on the left side of the tomb, and there are several willow trees planted in front of the house, which look at some years and originally thought it was the temple of Emperor Wen. After approaching, I found that the temple was locked, and from the pane of the wooden fence, I looked inside, and it was dedicated to Taoist immortals, which was obviously a Taoist temple, and it was unknown why it was built on the edge of the Tailing.
On the right side of the entire cemetery, there is a village called Wang Shang Village, which is close to the cemetery. To be able to build a village on the edge of the imperial tomb, I think there must be something different, replaced by ordinary people,It is estimated that no one is willing to build a house on the side of the tomb, nor is it qualified to build a house here. There is a local legend in Yangling that this village is the mysterious tomb keeper of Tailing.
After entering the village, I found that most of the houses here have been renovated, and only some old houses still exist in some corners. There were not many people in the village, and when they asked about the tomb keepers, most of them did not answer positively, basically they did not know. However, from a historical point of view, the Tang Dynasty has always smeared the Sui Dynasty, presumably these mysterious tomb keepers will certainly not reveal their identities in order to ensure their own safety, which may have become a secret that they cannot reveal.
Judging from the current situation that qinling is so dilapidated and has not been stolen, someone should be guarding it, otherwise it will have been remembered for thousands of years. As for why no one went to repair it, it is estimated that it is to prevent the mausoleum from being too ostentatious. There is a wooden plaque in front of each household in the village, on which are engraved different four-character warning words, this family is "husband sings with women, respect the old and love children", which seems to say that It is about Yang Jian and his empress. Whether Wang Shangcun is a legendary tomb keeper is still unknown, what do you think about this?