Secret: Why is the status of the mausoleum lower than that of Ci 'an after the death of Empress Dowager Cixi?

In the history of China, there was a woman who stood at the top of power for half a century. She didn't become a queen, but she gained power and status that the queen didn't have; She didn't become an emperor, but she controlled several emperors in her palm. In her time, the Great Qing Dynasty completely collapsed, and the Chinese nation completely began to be passively beaten. In her time, society began to change and ideas began to be civilized. She is the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Much like Emperor Wanli, when Cixi was in power, the Great Qing Dynasty was terminally ill, but she did not see the country's demise, and still buried her magnificent mausoleum with rich funerary objects. Strangely, although she never became the queen of the main palace, she has always been the queen mother of the Western Pacific, but she was buried in the east in the cemetery. Is she going to take back her place after death? Or is it for other reasons?

The tombs of emperors in the Qing Dynasty were not as centralized as those in the Ming Dynasty, nor did each emperor have his own mausoleum as in the Han and Tang Dynasties. Instead, several emperors were buried in one mausoleum and divided into four. Among them, in Yongling, Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning Province, the Nuzhen leader before the Qing Taizu Nurhachi was buried; In Fuling, near Shenyang, Liaoning Province today, the Qing Taizu Nuerhachi and the Qing Taizong Huang Taiji were buried. In Dongling, near Zunhua, Hebei Province, Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, Xianfeng, Tongzhi and their empresses were buried. Yongzheng, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Guangxu and their empresses were buried in Xiling, Yixian County, Hebei Province. Among them, the tomb with the largest scale and the most funerary objects is the Qing Dongling.

Empress Dowager Cixi was buried in the Qing Dongling. As the highest authority in the late Qing Dynasty, she did her utmost to build her own mausoleum, which made the Qing Dongling the most luxurious mausoleum in the Qing Dynasty. However, when you arrive at the Qing Dongling, you will find a very strange phenomenon. Emperor Xianfeng's two buried empresses, Empress Ci 'an and Empress Cixi, are the Eastern Empress and the Western Empress respectively. Their tombs in Dongling are identical in shape and specifications, and they are located on the east and west sides of the manger ditch. However, Empress Dowager Cixi was buried in the eastern mausoleum; The Eastern Empress Dowager Ci 'an was buried in the western mausoleum. What's going on here?

The funeral of Empress Dowager Cixi

As we all know, China was smaller than Higashionishi in ancient times, and the east was more expensive. The prince conferred by the emperor became the prince of the East Palace, and the queen of the emperor's main palace lived in the East Palace. Ci 'an is the official queen of Xianfeng Emperor, so she became the Eastern Empress Dowager. Although Cixi has much more power and influence than Ci 'an, she has never been the official queen.

So, after her death, she was buried in the mausoleum in the east. Is it necessary for her to regain the official position she didn't get before after her death? Legend has it that the original arrangement was that the Empress Dowager Cixi was buried in the east and the Empress Dowager Cixi was buried in the west, but Cixi was very unwilling to this arrangement. She was determined to get the tomb in the east, so she made a bet with Empress Ci 'an that the winner could be buried in the tomb in the east. Empress Ci 'an didn't understand her intention and didn't care, so she agreed to her request. Cixi wanted to win the treasure house of Feng Shui in the east in this way. Of course, she made multiple preparations for the chess game, determined to win, and naturally won the chess game.

Ci 'an was originally submissive and trustworthy, so she gave the eastern mausoleum to Cixi, and Cixi finally got what she wanted. There is another saying, that is, Cixi does it regardless of her birthright. After Ci 'an's death, she monopolized the power, and no one could compete with her. She forced Ci 'an to be buried in the west. Although someone remonstrated in the DPRK, it didn't help at all, so she just snatched the mausoleum in the east. No matter whether it is a trick or a robbery, Cixi must get a position of being the only one after her death, and be respected by the east as the Queen Mother.

but in fact, these statements can only be legends. In the ancient society of China, where funeral matters were extremely important, it was impossible to change the burial position on its own. Even if Cixi can be bossy and arbitrary, she can't ignore the statutes left by her ancestors. No matter how powerful she is, she is still the wife of Aisingiorro's family. No one, even the emperor himself, can violate the ancestral teachings on such an important event as funeral tombs. Ci 'an and Cixi are both empresses of Xianfeng. They are buried next to Xianfeng's mausoleum, and their tombs are both in the east of Xianfeng's mausoleum. The Empress Dowager Ci 'an is the official queen of Emperor Xianfeng, and her mausoleum will be closer to Emperor Xianfeng, so it is in the west. Cixi is an imperial concubine, and she can't surpass the position of the queen in any case. She can only be buried in the east of Ci 'an Mausoleum a little far away from Emperor Xianfeng. Therefore, there will be such a thing as the Western Empress Dowager being buried in the east.

Qing Dongling

Cixi was buried in the east, but she had to surrender to the side of Ci 'an, farther away from Emperor Xianfeng. She won the favor of the emperor and controlled China for half a century, but she couldn't decide her position after death, and she still had to go into the mausoleum where she had to enter. Of course, she won't be willing to change her position, but she can change the buildings and funerary objects, so Cixi ordered the reconstruction of her mausoleum before her death, making Cixi Mausoleum the most exquisite and luxurious mausoleum in the Qing Dynasty, and the funerary objects occupied all the treasures of the Great Qing Dynasty. I don't know if she will still have regrets when she is buried, but she certainly won't expect that her luxurious mausoleum will force her to see the light of day without a few years.

Zhuge Wen's book "Decryption of Mysteries in Past Dynasties in China" (with)