The system of human sacrifice appeared at the end of primitive society, prevailed in the era of slavery, declined at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and basically disappeared after the Han Dynasty. The heyday of human martyrdom was the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. According to archaeological excavations, there are martyrs in the tombs of Shang nobles. 1976, in a medium-sized tomb excavated in the northwest suburb of Anyang City, Henan Province, there were more than 1400 human sacrifice pits around the tomb. Most of the martyrs were underage children, some were beheaded, their hands and feet were sawed, and many martyrs also carried instruments of torture.
The decline of human sacrifice system should be after the Han Dynasty. Although the system of human martyrdom still exists, the number of martyrdom is gradually decreasing, and there will hardly be thousands of large-scale martyrdom in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. In addition, the compulsory force of martyrdom is reduced, and the ruling class is influenced by Confucianism, so it will hardly be forced to die, and the probability of martyrdom is greatly reduced. But martyrdom still exists. During the Three Kingdoms period, Chen Wu, a famous Soochow player, died in the Battle of Hefei. Sun quan? Ordered the burial of his beloved concubine. ?
By the Tang Dynasty, human martyrdom had rarely happened, but it still existed. Song inherited the tradition of the Tang Dynasty, and not many people died. Two geniuses died in Zhao Gou, Song Gaozong. After the Han Dynasty, there were records of martyrdom from the imperial court down to the people, but after all, it happened sporadically, and the institutional martyrdom was no longer visible. However, the tragic system of human sacrifice revived in the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, not only the emperor died, but also the emperor's children and grandchildren, that is, the princes died. Human martyrdom is also popular after the death of the minister.
Zhu Yuanzhang opened the first example of martyrdom in Ming Dynasty. 1395 After the death of Qin, the second son of Zhu Yuanzhang, two princesses were martyred successively, which was the first case of martyrdom of concubines and maids in the Ming Dynasty. This barbaric system was inherited by Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants and became a system again, which caused many human tragedies.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, all 46 concubines of Zhu Yuanzhang were martyred. The ladies-in-waiting were buried with Zhu Yuanzhang in Xiaoling Mausoleum, and 38 of them were ordered to die during mourning. Ming Yingzong, who was captured in Fenghua, Ming Dynasty, abolished the system of martyrdom before his death. Since then, the Ming royal family has eliminated the system of human sacrifice.
In the Qing dynasty, there were still living people buried in the early Qing dynasty. After Nurhachi and Huang Taiji died, people died. In the twelfth year of Kangxi, the emperor ordered that the Eight Banners should not put coats on domestic slaves and lead them to be buried with them. ? Emperor Kangxi abolished the system of martyrdom by imperial decree, and then explicitly abolished the system of human martyrdom.