The royal tombs in ancient China were stolen because after the emperor died, it was accompanied by a large amount of gold, silver and treasures. Except for The Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, , from Han Dynasty to the Qingdong tombs may have been stolen by official or folk masters.
But strangely, only the Thirteen Tombs in Changping, Beijing are rarely stolen. Could it be that there are still thirteen tombs hidden among the Thirteen tombs that are even higher than the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum?
Thirteen tombs refer to the thirteen emperor tombs built over 230 years from Ming Taizu Ming Taizu Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing to Ming Dynasty The last emperor Chongzhen was buried in the four tombs and built over 230 years.
The Thirteen Tombs were rarely stolen in the Ming Dynasty, mainly because of the special protection of ancestors by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
During the Ming Dynasty, every time an imperial tomb was built, a team of soldiers would be sent to guard the tomb. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the tombs were set up in Changping Town. Tens of thousands of troops were stationed in Changping Town, which not only played a role in protecting the capital, but also strengthened the troops to guard the imperial tomb.
At that time, the general , guarding Changping, also set up internal and external officials such as ancestral supervisors and ancestral halls outside the imperial tombs. As managers of the tombs, they were stationed under the tombs and managed them. Therefore, under the Ming Dynasty, the tombs of emperors of all dynasties could not be excavated. When the Ming Dynasty was destroyed, Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant uprising army, was eager to attack the Beijing city, overthrow the Ming Dynasty, and attacked Changping City, only some buildings on Dinglingling were burned down. The tomb (the tomb of Zhu Yijun, the Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty), did not carry out large-scale destruction of the Thirteen Tombs.
After the Qing army entered the pass, the Qing government not only did not destroy the thirteen Ming imperial tombs, but also took strict protective measures to cover the Han people in the Central Plains.
From The first emperor after the Qing Dynasty Shunzhi , that is, from the first year of Shunzhi (1644) to Qianlong 22nd year (1757), each tomb was equipped with eunuchs (also known as eunuchs). Within four items).
In the second year of Yongzheng (1724), the Qing Dynasty established Zhu Yuanzhang's thirteenth son, descendant of King Jian of Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Zhilian, the governor of Zhengding, as the minister, and allowed him to take charge of the government. Sacrifice and manage the Thirteen Tombs for generations.
As a minority outside the pass that entered the Central Plains, the Qing Dynasty was very serious about protecting the imperial tombs of the previous dynasty during its nearly 300 years of rule over the Central Plains. Ming Thirteen Tombs can fully protect it to the present.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the government of the Republic of China listed the Thirteen Tombs as the object of cultural relics protection. In the early days, the Qing Dynasty's management method was adopted, and later the tombs were cut down and the Thirteen Tombs police station was established to protect the Thirteen Tombs.
Since the Ming, Qing and Republic of China all took necessary protection measures for the Thirteen Tombs, except for the Four Tombs (Chongzhen) that were stolen during the Republic of China, none of the other tombs had been stolen.
Another reason why the Ming Dynasty’s Tombs were not stolen is that the structure and anti-theft measures of the Ming Dynasty’s imperial tombs themselves are very in place.
For example, the Qing Dynasty Guangxu Underground Palace, the Qing Dynasty’s Eastern Tomb Qianlong Underground Palace and the Qing Dynasty’s Eastern Tombs Qianlong Underground Palace and Cixi Underground Palace , their underground palace structure is relatively simple. The entrances of the underground palace are uniformly set under the glass screen wall of Baocheng. As long as you dig down, you will definitely find the entrance. The depth of the Qing tomb is burial, so it is easy to enter.
The entrance to the imperial tomb of the Ming Dynasty was not fixed, and it was not as easy to find as the Qing tombs. Judging from the only Dingling excavation at present, under the premise of official background excavation, the highly anticipated archaeological team spent a lot of effort to find the entrance to the underground palace. After finding it, it took more time for more than a year to dig out a prototype.
Moreover, the imperial tombs of the Ming Dynasty were obviously much deeper than those of the Qing Dynasty. For example, the underground palace of Dingling is 27 meters above the ground. Imagine how high is 27 meters? It's as deep as nine floors! Therefore, it is impossible for ordinary tomb robbers to steal the imperial tombs of the Ming Dynasty.
It’s a pity that Dingling was originally preserved very well, but because people had a weak awareness of cultural relics protection at that time, after excavation by archaeologists, the coffins of Emperor Wanli and the two queens were destroyed, and the exquisite fabrics and dragon robe worn by Emperor Wanli instantly lost their original style.
A large number of other silk fabrics unearthed from Dingling were not effectively protected and weathered soon. Therefore, the excavation of Dingling is also considered to be a major tragedy in the history of Chinese archaeology.
