Revelation of the fall of the Manchu Dynasty - Travel Notes on the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty
All fame and wealth will eventually return to dust, and another story of a river above the dust will always be staged in due course.
A few days ago, at the invitation of a friend, I went to Zunhua, Tangshan to visit the Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty. The three names "Kangxi, Qianlong and Cixi" have appeared in books and various movies and TV dramas since childhood. They have all single-handedly influenced the course of modern Chinese history. Taking into account the social productivity of the Qing court, the Manchu emperor's auspicious place may be the most luxurious among all the descendants of Yan and Huang, except for the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang.
Before leaving, having been to the Ming Tombs, I didn’t have much expectations for the Qing Tombs, so I didn’t do any homework in advance. But it turns out I was completely wrong. The Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty are even worse than the Ming Tombs. Could it be that the Dragon Vein Feng Shui really manifested itself in some mysterious way? The mausoleums of the emperors and empresses had an invisible magic that attracted me, and among the red walls and green tiles, I gradually came closer to seeing through the fascination of that period of history.
I don’t know if it’s because there have been more tomb robbing themes in recent years, but I think the most attractive part of the Imperial Tomb is the underground palace. The above-ground buildings in the mausoleum area are all the same, but each underground palace is different. Four underground palaces were finally opened in the Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty, namely the Yuling Underground Palace of Emperor Qianlong, the Underground Palace of Imperial Concubine Chunhui and Concubine Rong in the garden of Concubine Yuling, and the Underground Palace of Ding Dong Tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi. The obvious difference from the underground palace of Dingling Tomb in Ming Dynasty is that the underground palace of Qing Tomb is generally dug shallower and there are not so many twists and turns. Visitors can see the emperor's coffin at a glance after entering the entrance of the underground palace. It is no wonder that the Dongling Tomb has been stolen all over.
The widely circulated film and television series "The Robbers of Dongling Tomb" made the Cixi Mausoleum in Putuoyu, which Sun Dianying robbed, become the biggest "gimmick" of the Dongling Tomb of the Qing Dynasty. The Hall of En'en is filled with imperial treasures, calligraphy and paintings that were used by Cixi during her lifetime, and only a mottled coffin remains in the underground palace that had been robbed. Cixi was the most powerful person in the late Qing Dynasty for more than 50 years, and was one of the most blessed women in five thousand years of history. Although she failed to win a reputation for herself during and after her life, she enjoyed all the glory and wealth. Many people sneer at figures like Cixi, but many people ignore that she was the "only man" in the late Qing Dynasty. In my opinion, no politician is perfect unless he is in his position. Although the monuments of saintly virtues only sing praises for their virtues, aren't the places where moral deeds have been punished by God's will such as robbing tombs?
The most interesting thing about the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty is the Yuling Underground Palace of Emperor Qianlong. This is also the only underground palace of the imperial mausoleum that is open to the public in the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty. The underground palace consists of nine palaces and four gates, and is buried with Emperor Qianlong, his two queens and three noble concubines. From the stone gate to the main hall, the underground palace is full of religious patterns such as Bodhisattvas, lotuses, magical instruments, and eight treasures. All the carvings are exquisite and lifelike. There are 46 Buddha statues, 8 Bodhisattvas, 4 heavenly kings, 2 pagodas, There are 3 groups of Eight Treasures, 2 groups of Five Desire Offerings, 30111 Chinese characters in Tibetan and Sanskrit, as well as other decorations such as lion statues and orbs. It is worth mentioning that no one can decipher those words so far.
There are countless emperors and generals in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, but only a few can be remembered for centuries. In the entire Qingdong Tomb, a total of 161 people including emperors, empresses, elder brothers, concubines, etc. were buried. However, only Emperor Kangxi was the one who made great contributions and was truly admired by future generations. Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty were also recognized by historian Yan Chongnian as the only two emperors in Chinese history. In the Jin'en Hall in Jingling, there are no exaggerated cultural relics displays like the Cixi Mausoleum and the Qianlong Mausoleum. There are only a portrait of Emperor Kangxi in court clothes in his youth in the main hall, and a portrait on the west wall that symbolizes his outstanding literary and military achievements. The "Guangtu Map of the Qing Dynasty" was completed.
The "Guangtu Map of the Qing Dynasty" in the Yuling Hall of En'en
What makes me a little disappointed is that all the regulations of the Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty are basically modeled after the Ming Tomb. Shinto, stone archway, Dahongmen, dismounting stele, divine merit stele pavilion, Huabiao, stone statues, arch bridge, Lingxing gate, Qian'en hall, stone five offerings, square city tower, Baocheng Baoding, etc., from regulation to shape They are all very similar, the only obvious difference is the underground palace. This is because the underground palace cannot be imitated underground.
It is said that when Qianlong supervised the construction of Yuling's En Hall, he ordered people to steal the golden nanmu pillars of the Jiajing Emperor's Yongling Tomb. This reminds me of Shunzhi's behavior of directly moving into the Forbidden City with his bags after entering the customs, which is quite ridiculous.
Looking at the entire Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Shunzhi, as the first emperor with preconceptions, naturally had the greatest regulation of Xiaoling Tombs, but his contribution was one of the smallest. In comparison, the Ming Tombs Zhu Di, the owner of Zhongchangling, is exactly the opposite. In addition, Qianlong was very happy with his achievements and Cixi was extravagant, which can be seen from the materials and artifacts used in their respective tombs.
The most important reason why the Qing Dynasty was able to last for 276 years was that Emperor Kangxi made more than half a century of efforts to integrate Manchu and Han Dynasties, which laid the foundation for future generations to rule. However, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was still a dynasty that seriously lacked vision, structure, cultural confidence, and ideological innovation. The Qing Dynasty, which was in the same time and space as the industrial revolution and rapid development of capitalism in Western countries, had always implemented the ostrich policy of "closing the country apart". The diplomacy after Qianlong was even more spineless, and the number of times it wanted to cede territory and seek peace was staggering. ; There are no invention contributions worth mentioning in terms of science and technology. Almost all the great inventions after the two industrial revolutions of the same era were created by Western countries.
When we left the Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty with our exhausted bodies, we faced the dusk and looked at the continuous Changrui Mountain in the distance - the place where several of the most important rulers of the Manchu Dynasty were buried, and we couldn't help but feel Thousands of waves. Emperor Tongzhi, who died at the age of 19, and Emperor Kangxi, who died at the age of 69, had very different contributions during their reign. However, Emperor Tongzhi enjoyed a mausoleum with the same regulations as Emperor Kangxi. If the imperial family is like this, why should we lament the injustice of fate?
The ancients believed that "things die as things live". Dreaming back a hundred years, the spectacular scenes of countless sacrifices and funerals were so beautiful. The emperors must have never imagined that their auspicious place would be bombed and plundered by Sun Dianying, and even their heads would be missing. Countless people bought tickets to the solemn Xin'en Hall every day and trampled the threshold. The underground palace was crowded with tourists. The coffin was stared at by thousands of people. There is no longer a flourish of incense on the stone five offerings, and no lingering smoke can be seen in the silk burning furnace. In contrast, it is easier to find peace after death in the tombs of ordinary people!
"Seeing him build a Zhulou, watching him banquet guests, watching his building collapse." The Chinese state has gone through 24 dynasties, and each dynasty is like the Manchu Dynasty. It will decline and change. All fame and wealth will eventually return to dust, and another story of a river above the dust will always be staged in due course.
In this way, it makes the long Chinese history similar to a series of futile construction projects, just built and then demolished, just demolished and then rebuilt... the construction and demolition of a high-rise building was repeated twenty-four times. In 2132, all the efforts of the Chinese people were actually in vain, and all the blood of the Chinese people was actually wasted and wasted. Although time keeps moving forward, everything is just going back and forth and standing still. Therefore, this way of dividing and uniting, uniting and dividing, actually contains all the secrets of the development of Chinese history. This is where the "beauty" of Chinese history lies, and this is also the "tragedy" of Chinese history. Qianlong (104) underground palace (20) is (117)