Why is the Qing Dongling Tomb robbed by many people, while the Qing Xiling Mausoleum is well preserved?
The Tailing Mausoleum of Yongzheng belongs to the Qing Xiling. The reason why it is well protected is that besides the favorable terrain, grave robbers haven't had time to start. Of all the tombs of the Qing Xiling, only the chongling Underground Palace of Guangxu Emperor was visited by grave robbers, and the rest are well preserved, including the Tailing Mausoleum of Yongzheng.
as for the more specific knowledge about the Qing tombs in the east and west, I will continue to analyze it as follows.
1. The tragic fate of the Qing Tombs
Located 3 kilometers northwest of zunhua city, Tangshan City, Hebei Province, the Qing Tombs is the largest existing imperial mausoleum complex in the Qing Dynasty and even in China. The construction of the Qing Tombs began in 1661 (the eighteenth year of Shunzhi) and lasted for 247 years, with a total of 217 palace archways and 15 cemeteries.
the mausoleum area in the east of Qing dynasty is 12.5km long and 2km wide, and there are 161 people buried in it, including five emperors Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Cixi and other 15 queens, 136 concubines, 3 elder brothers and 2 princesses.
Emperor Qianlong and Empress Dowager Cixi were two particularly extravagant people in the Qing Dynasty. They spent a lot of money before they died, and they also had high requirements for burying their tombs. For example, Empress Dowager Cixi spent tens of millions of silver to build her Dingdong Mausoleum in 2 years before her death. After her death, there were countless gold, silver, jewels and all kinds of priceless treasures, all of which were taken to be buried with her.
It is precisely because of people's understanding of Cixi and Qianlong that they want to rob tombs and make a fortune. The first one is Sun Dianying, a warlord who went to the tomb of the Qing Dynasty in 1928. In the name of raising military expenses, he went to the tomb of the Qing Dynasty and opened the Yuling of Qianlong and the Dingdong Mausoleum of Cixi. The gold and silver in it were almost looted, and Qianlong's coffin was opened and bones were thrown everywhere.
However, this tomb robbery didn't attack the Jingling of Kangxi, because they had already gained a lot from Qianlong and Cixi, and the Jingling of Kangxi couldn't be opened at that time, so Sun Dianying left in a hurry. Of course, this grave robbery made Sun Dianying make a windfall, but it also angered people from all walks of life. Various newspapers and media accused Sun Dianying of his shameful behavior. Under the pressure of public opinion, Sun Dianying did not continue to steal the Jingling and Qingxi Tombs of Kangxi.
Because of the war for a long time afterwards, the tombs of the Eastern Qing Dynasty and the Western Qing Dynasty were neglected. In 1945, Zhang Dezhong and Wang Shaoyi and others visited the Eastern Qing Dynasty again, not only ransacking the Yuling of Qianlong and Dingdong Mausoleum of Cixi again, but also blasting the Jingling of Kangxi with explosives and ransacking it. Finally, they left without closing the door.
In this robbery, except for the Xiaoling Mausoleum in Shunzhi, all the other 13 mausoleums were looted, which can be said to be terrible. After this robbery, it took some years for the state to pay attention to it. In 1952, the Qingdong Mausoleum Cultural Relics Protection Institute was established to protect the Qingdong Mausoleum.
Later, the Yuling in Qianlong was cleared and opened for tourists to watch, but the water in the Yuling was very serious, so it was necessary to carry out special pumping and cleaning every rainy season. Kangxi Jingling, which corresponds to Yuling, has never been cleaned up and opened. Although staff were sent to check it at that time, there was too much water in it, and most of it was yellow liquid, so it could not be cleaned up. In the end, it has never been cleaned up and opened to keep it original.
II. The Qing Xiling Mausoleum
The Qing Xiling Mausoleum is located at the foot of Yongning Mountain, 15 kilometers west of Lianggezhuang, Yixian County, Baoding City, Hebei Province. It was first built in the eighth year of Yongzheng (173) and completed in chongling in Guangxu in the fourth year of the Republic of China (1915). After 186 years, * * * built Yongzheng Tailing Mausoleum, Jiaqing Changling, Daoguang Muling and
The scale of the Qing Xiling Mausoleum is not as big as that of the Qing Dongling Mausoleum. So far, except chongling in Guangxu, everything is well preserved. Why can the Qing Xiling Mausoleum be so well preserved? I think there are three main reasons.
1. The site selection of Yongzheng is good
Let's take a look at why Yongzheng didn't go to the Qing Dongling at that time, but why did he choose his own site to make a Qing Xiling? In the fourth year of Yongzheng (1726), Yongzheng asked his younger brother Yunxiang to help him choose a good place. Originally, Yongzheng was supposed to be buried in the Qing Dongling, but he thought:
Although the scale was large and the shape was not complete, and the soil in the cave was covered with sand and gravel, it was really unusable.
After several years of site selection, Yongning Mountain in Yixian County was finally decided in the eighth year of Yongzheng. At that time, the person who chose the site told Yongzheng:
The area where Gankun gathers and shows, the place where Yin and Yang meet, and the cave is full of sand and water, so no beauty can be harvested. The situation is reasonable, and all the good things are prepared.
Yongzheng was very happy after listening to it, and quickly replied:
The mountain water law is detailed and clear, and it is a land of good luck.
At that time, Yunxiang was successful in site selection, and Yongzheng wanted to give Yunxiang a land of Zhongji about 6 miles away from this address, but Yunxiang dared not accept it, and finally chose a place in a village hundreds of miles away.
From the whole site selection process, we can see the geographical advantages of the Qing Xiling Mausoleum, with its high position and good soil quality. Compared with the low-lying position of the Qing Dongling Mausoleum and the loose soil quality, the Qing Xiling Mausoleum has obvious advantages. One is that it is not easy to collapse due to the loose soil quality, and the other is that it is not easy to enter water and water because of its high terrain.
Yongzheng's choice, according to the later facts, is indeed true. At present, the water in the Qingling Mausoleum is serious. As mentioned earlier, the water in the Yuling Mausoleum in Qianlong and the Jingling Mausoleum in Kangxi is so deep that a lot of money is needed to clean up the water. The water in Jingling Mausoleum is even two or three meters deep that it is impossible to clean it up.
Moreover, the soil quality of the Qing Dongling Mausoleum is so poor that it often collapses, causing a lot of unnecessary losses, but the Qing Xiling Mausoleum does not have these problems, so it is much better to preserve it relatively.
2. Yongzheng is a low-key person
Compared with Qianlong and Cixi, Yongzheng is completely too low-key. Qianlong and Cixi often show off their wealth. Everyone knows that they have money and their tombs must have many treasures, so for grave robbers, such fat is of course the first choice.
We will find that whether Sun Dianying robbed a tomb in 1928 or Zhang Dezhong robbed a tomb in 1945, the Qing Dongling was the first choice. Because everyone knows that the Qing Dongling has money and can get more, few people will attack the Qing Xiling when the Qing Dongling exists.
3. It was too late to start
After two robberies, there was no wealth left in the Qing Tombs, but grave robbers still reached out to the Qing Tombs. For example, chongling in Guangxu was stolen by unknown grave robbers, and the gang wanted to start with Tailing in Yongzheng at that time, but they just stopped after a move. Later, the state paid attention to it, and there were special guards, so grave robbers never had a chance to start with the Qing Tombs again.
Some people may ask why the mausoleum of the Qing Xiling was not cleaned and opened. In fact, the reason is very simple. At present, the technology can't reach that level, so we can only follow the protection principle of not actively developing the emperor's mausoleum and protect it. Isn't it the greatest gentleness not to disturb it?