On the undulating Weibei Plateau on both sides of the Yellow River, the 18 tombs of the Tang Dynasty 19 emperors are fan-shaped. Located at the westernmost end of the Tang 18 Mausoleum, Ganling is the tomb of the third generation emperor in Tang Dynasty and the only female emperor in China history. It is also the only tomb in 18 that has never been stolen by soldiers.
Ganling is located on Liangshan Mountain, 6 kilometers north of Ganxian County, Shaanxi Province, and 80 kilometers away from the ancient capital xi 'an. It occupies the whole Liangshan, and the 3 12 national highway winds north from the foot of the mountain. Since Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty, there has been a custom of replacing fiefs with natural mountains and rivers. However, as a system, the imperial edict was transmitted from Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, and Zhaoling was the first mausoleum in Tang Dynasty because of mountains.
After the death of the emperor in 683 AD, Wu Zetian ordered Wei Wei, the minister of the official department, to be the ambassador of the mountain mausoleum, responsible for the camp protection and the mausoleum project. According to the burial system of "taking the mountain as the tomb", Ganling is the natural mountain of Liangshan. Taking the mountain as the tomb and digging holes on the mountainside to build Gong Xuan is an arduous project. By the time of burial in August 684, the main project had been completed. After Emperor Gaozong was buried, he continued to build Ganling, and the middle emperor Li Xian succeeded to the throne. In May 706, the Gong Xuan Tunnel in Ganling was restarted, and mother Wu Zetian, Princess Li Xianhui of Yongtai, Prince Li Zhongrun of Yide, Prince Li Xian of Zhang Huai, Prince Li of Xuwang, Prince Li of Wangze and Princess Yiyang were buried with Ganling. It took 28 years for Ganling to be completed after Zhongzong and Wu Zetian.
Built in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, Ganling has strong national strength, grand scale and magnificent architecture, and is the crown of emperors' tombs in previous dynasties. The ground building of Ganling Cemetery is modeled after Chang 'an City in Tang Dynasty. The cemetery is divided into Imperial City, Miyagi City and Waikuo City. Outside the four gates of the Imperial City, the stone lions symbolizing the supremacy of imperial power are guarded, and large stone carvings such as huabiao, stone man and stone horse are erected on Sima Road outside Zhuquemen, symbolizing the ceremonial and escort of the mausoleum and the emperor. Large-scale tombs and tombs were built under the mausoleum, and the dead were placed in huge sarcophagus, with a large number of utensils, property and figurines buried with them.
Thousands of years later, Li Hong's building on the ground of Ganling has disappeared. Only outside Zhuquemen, there are huge stone carving groups arranged along the main peaks on both sides of Sima Road, which are symmetrically arranged from the southern peak of Liangshan to the north. There are a pair of Chinese watches, a pair of winged horses, a pair of ostriches and five pairs of cavalry, 20 stone statues of guards' commanders, a wordless monument on the left, a monument on the right, 6/kloc-0 stone statues of ministers and two stone lions. This 100 large-scale exquisite stone carving represents the highly developed feudal culture and stone carving art in the Tang Dynasty, and has become an open-air museum of stone carving culture in the Tang Dynasty.
There are 17 buried tombs in the southeast corner of Ganling, which are arranged from far to near according to the owner's living status. There are two tombs of princes, three tombs of kings, four tombs of princesses and eight tombs of ministers. From 1960 to 1972, the Shaanxi Cultural Relics and Archaeology Department successively excavated and cleared five tombs, including Princess Yongtai, Prince Zhang Huai and Prince Yide, and unearthed 4,300 precious cultural relics. /kloc-more than 0/00 tomb murals are magnificent underground art galleries in the Tang Dynasty. Murals include Maid-in-waiting, Beating Ma Qiutu, Guest Ambassador, Hunting Journey, Bird Watching and Cicada Catching, etc. It provides valuable information for the study of architecture, costumes, customs, sports activities and court life in the Tang Dynasty.
Mysterious mausoleum
What kind of miracle will appear in front of everyone when the secluded palace, which has been silent underground for 1300 years, restarts? The reporter visited Liu Jiaoshou and other related experts who studied the history of the Tang Dynasty in the History Department of Renmin University.
Liu Jiaoshou introduced that people often infer from the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, which was still excavated two or three thousand years ago, that the life of the Tang emperors in the heyday of ancient China will definitely be richer than that of the Qin Dynasty, so the treasures in their tombs will definitely be rarer than those buried in the Qin Mausoleum. Therefore, the world always looks forward to feasting its eyes in its lifetime.
The inference of the world is not groundless. Ganling is a large-scale and magnificent mausoleum. It is a typical representative of the imperial tombs in China, and it is also an important national cultural relic that attracts worldwide attention. It is a national treasure. According to experts, Ganling has three "uniqueness": one is the tomb of Wu Zetian, the only one in the history of China; Second, the only mausoleum in China history where emperors of two different dynasties were buried; 3. The only Unearthed Tomb of Tang Dynasty 18 in Guanzhong. Looking at this mausoleum from a distance, it looks like a huge statue of sleeping beauty, with a strange shape. In fact, it is the crown of emperors' tombs.
Liu Jiaoshou said that there have been legends and mysteries around this mausoleum since ancient times. The reason why the "tablet without words" is located at the end of the tomb has become a mystery to the world. If some experts infer that there is an inscription of "no word tablet" buried in the tomb, some also infer that Wu Zetian left her merits and demerits to future generations to comment and so on.
Why hasn't the crown of such a towering mausoleum been stolen? Folklore is even more fascinating. It is said that from the historical records of grave robbery in Wen Tao to Ganling's "stormy weather, I didn't feel it", it is speculated that there is a "god" guardian, and it is not that no one has robbed the tomb. However, according to the expert's exploratory investigation, it is proved that the tomb has not been stolen, which has a lot to do with the complexity and rigor of the tomb structure. If there is a stone strip on the upper part of the middle edge of the tunnel, pull it up and down with iron thin waist bolt plate and iron bolt rod, and fill the gap with tin iron. In addition, the mausoleum is carved on the limestone mountain, and the tunnel mouth is well preserved, so it is difficult to dig another hole from other places.
Ganling not only contains historical treasures, but also hangs over the "mysterious aura" that is difficult for the world to understand.
According to the newspaper, at 4: 30 on July 26th,197/kloc-0, the American Apollo was successfully launched, and the spacecraft reached the second cosmic speed and entered the moon-running orbit. Astronaut Edning, while looking down at the land of China from the spaceship, suddenly found nine small black spots south of the Great Wall of China, namely 34 north latitude and 107 1 1' east longitude, of which the westernmost black spot is the most prominent. He decided that this was the installation point of new weapons, immediately took photos and reported to the Pentagon and President Nixon.
198 1 year, China and the United States established diplomatic relations, and Edning became the first American tourists to China. He proposed to have a look at the locations of nine black spots, and the China government agreed to his request and sent him to the locations of nine black spots in Weibei. There are no secret weapons at all, only more than 20 tombs of Han and Tang emperors are lined up, and the westernmost black spot is Ganling. This episode adds a bit of mystery to Gan Lin.
There must be karst phenomenon in the dry tomb.
As Xu Guangyuan, director of the research office of Tang Dongling in Changshan County, Shaanxi Province, who has been engaged in the protection and management of tombs, said: "The state stipulates that no group or individual may excavate the imperial tombs without the approval of the state; Even if the tomb has been robbed before, if the archaeological unit concerned wants to clean up the ancient tomb, it must be approved by the state. "
Then why does Ganling, as a tomb that has never been stolen, cause a debate about whether to dig it? This is related to the geographical environment of Ganling itself. In recent years, the local authorities have proposed "rescue excavation of Ganling" to prevent the possible harm caused by geological, hydrological and seismic conditions in Ganling area. Therefore, the ancient tomb of Ganling has become a new focus of public and national media attention, and rumors and reports about it are also constant. It has been included in the "agenda" and the object of public concern.
According to Director Liu of the Science and Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, this is because Ganling was built on a limestone mountain. Because of the heavy rain, there must be karst in it, so there must be water in the tomb. As for how much, how much impact it has on cultural relics is still unknown. Now, relevant experts are doing a series of complex experiments such as the impact of earthquakes on mountains.
The Special Report on Geology, Hydrology and Earthquake in Ganling Region, which was jointly completed by authoritative figures from various disciplines in Shaanxi Province, has also been sent to the superior. And this report is only the most preliminary work in the whole archaeological work. From this report, it is impossible to infer the exact environment in which the underground cultural relics are currently located, so it has no decisive role in the excavation of Ganling. Director Liu said: In our local area, the archaeological excavation of Ganling is still in the stage of scientific research, that is to say, it is only an investigation of historical sites, and it is far from the stage of excavation. It can be seen that the news that the outside world is so-called "about to be excavated" or "being excavated" is purely false.
Wang, the research office of China Academy of Engineering, told the reporter that in the second half of 2000, entrusted by National Cultural Heritage Administration, China Academy of Engineering organized academicians and experts to conduct special research and discussion on related issues in Ganling twice, and put forward the advice that "the hydrogeology and earthquake situation in Ganling area will not endanger Tangganling".
According to the consultation, the hydrogeological conditions in Ganling area will not pose a threat to Ganling; There is insufficient reason to carry out rescue excavation in Ganling to prevent earthquake disaster; At present, there is no effective technology to preserve large-scale unearthed cultural relics in China, and there is no similar advanced protection technology abroad for reference. Therefore, it is neither urgent nor necessary to excavate the Tang Ganling at present. In order to protect precious historical relics, it is suggested not to excavate the Tang Ganling in the near future.
There may be many original works of famous people in the tomb of Tang Dynasty.
Director Liu of the Science and Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau told us that archaeology is a responsibility, and everything should be based on the protection of cultural relics. She said: "The archaeological excavation work belonging to the cultural relics department belongs to the category of natural science. The excavation of the ancient tomb is not based on personal will, nor is it a treasure hunt as everyone thinks. If you find a treasure, you will be eager to dig it out. Archaeology is a science, but also a responsibility. It is based on the protection of cultural relics, with the purpose of first rescue and the working principle of' no active excavation'. " At present, whether our existing scientific and technological level can reach the level needed for effective protection of cultural relics is another important factor that determines whether and when to carry out excavation work. Taking Ganling as an example, what are the thorny issues of cultural relics protection in Ganling?
According to director Liu of Ganling Museum and related persons, the main problem is the protection of organic matter. Because the tomb is in a vacuum environment, if the temperature and humidity are relatively stable, it is more conducive to the preservation of organic matter; And if excavated, organic matter is the most easily oxidized. According to historians' inference, there are many precious ancient celebrity calligraphy and paintings and silk books in the tombs of the Tang Dynasty, especially a considerable number of paper celebrity calligraphy and paintings in the dry tombs. It is likely that there are many original works of celebrities that have not been made public so far, as well as documents that interpret many mysteries in this history, showing the real silk products at that time and the remains of a generation of empress Wu Zetian. If these cultural relics are not guaranteed to be intact and preserved for a long time when they are excavated, once they are damaged, they will become irreparable mistakes. Therefore, the protection of organic matter is the biggest headache for experts. However, Director Liu also revealed to reporters the possibility of deciding to excavate, that is, starting from the purpose of rescuing cultural relics, once experts find that various underground environments have caused serious damage to cultural relics through investigation, existing cultural relics will be excavated immediately. According to the current situation, it is speculated that the decision whether to dig will be made in the next three to five years.
At present, the level of archaeological science in China is not very advanced. Even if we look around the world, human beings are still limited by many protection and excavation techniques, and people have to be alert to those ancient temptations at all times ... Perhaps one day in the future, excavation is the best way to properly protect these precious ancient heritages, and all mankind is looking forward to the arrival of such a high-tech archaeological era!