(1) Ancient feudal superstition. (2) The influence of ancient women's values.

(3) prevent the harem from interfering in politics. (4) The influence of Yuan Dynasty.

Human martyrdom is simply to bury the living and the dead together. The civilization of ancient society was limited, so human martyrdom appeared. Usually some clan leaders and slave owners die, and their wives, children, slaves and attendants who are closely related to these people will also be buried with them.

Especially in the late Shang Dynasty, human martyrdom was very common. A large number of martyrs appeared in the tombs of Shang nobles, ranging from one or two to hundreds. Of course, these people didn't die voluntarily for the owner of the grave. It can be seen from archaeological discoveries that many slaves were killed or buried alive.

After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, human martyrdom was widely promoted. After the death of Qin Shihuang, Qin Ershi Hu Hai buried all the concubines who had no children in the harem with Qin Shihuang, so the number of martyrs was very large. The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor has not been excavated so far, and it is unknown how many martyrs there are. One thing is certain, that is, the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was built for more than 30 years, and hundreds of thousands of people were recruited, among which more than 10,000 craftsmen died in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.

After the demise of the Qin Dynasty, human sacrifice was actually abolished. The laws of the Han Dynasty explicitly prohibit human martyrdom. One of the most important reasons is that in the early days of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, the population was very small, so fertility was encouraged and human sacrifice was abolished. For example, Liu Yuan, the king of Zhao Miao, made his handmaiden die for him, resulting in sixteen people being forced to commit suicide. Xuan Di, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, punished Liu Yuan and cancelled the vassal status of the Liu Yuan family.

In the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms and later the Song Dynasty, human sacrifices were rare. As a cruel system, the abolition of human sacrifice is also a historical progress. Unexpectedly, however, after Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, human martyrdom became the ancestral system, which actually revived.

The whole story of martyrdom in the court of Ming Dynasty.

Martyrs in Ming Dynasty are mainly court martyrs, which can also be called palace martyrs. Concubines and maids are often killed. "Ming history? After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, many imperial secretaries were buried with him. However, there is no specific record of how many people died in the Ming Dynasty. It is recorded in Wanli Yebian that forty concubines died together for Zhu Yuanzhang.

The system of palace martyrdom in Ming Dynasty continued the five dynasties of Hongwu, Yongle, Hongxi, Xuande and Jingtai. When Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen died, he left a will on his deathbed, demanding the abolition of the court martyrdom system in the Ming Dynasty. Since then, the system of palace martyrdom in the Ming Dynasty has been abolished.

Why did Yingzong in Ming Dynasty abolish the martyrdom system? The reason for this is the following：

(1) Human sacrifice is unpopular. As can be seen from the number of martyrs of Ming Chengzu, it is basically decreasing. So, when Ming Yingzong's testamentary edict was sent to the cabinet, the cabinet ministers were all excited after reading it. It can be seen from the minister's reaction that the martyrdom system in the Ming Dynasty was unpopular.

(2) Ming Yingzong's personal special circumstances. Ming Yingzong has a bad reputation in history, but his own experience is very bumpy. Especially after the change of the civil fort, the money queen never left him, bitter and * * *. However, Queen Qian has no children, so her position in the harem is unstable. After Ming Yingzong's death, according to the martyrdom system of the imperial court at that time, Queen Qian might be forced to be martyred, which Ming Yingzong did not want to see.

(3) The influence of playing Shu. Zhu Youdun, the king of Zhou Xian, wanted everything to be simple after his death, so Ming Yingzong deliberately decreed that Zhu Youdun's princess and six wives did not have to be martyred. Unexpectedly, when the imperial edict came down, the princess and six ladies had committed suicide.

Why did Zhu Yuanzhang restore the system of human sacrifice?

Judging from the historical development trend, the martyrdom system violated the Confucian benevolent policy, was criticized by people, and was abolished long ago. A very puzzling question is why Zhu Yuanzhang restored the cruel system of court martyrdom. The main reasons are as follows:

(1) Ancient feudal superstition. People used to think that people would go to the underworld after death. In order to live well in the afterlife, they need martyrs. Therefore, in order to continue to enjoy themselves in the underworld, the feudal emperors took their wives and handmaiden to the grave.

(2) The influence of ancient women's values. Since modern times, women's liberation has been advocated, and a very important reason is that the feudal dynasty oppressed women too much. Under the indoctrination and education of various feudal ethics at that time, women formed a unique concept of chastity. The concept of chastity makes many women willing to be martyred, and even martyrdom has become the goal pursued by many women.

(3) prevent the harem from interfering in politics. I have to say that Zhu Yuanzhang is a very thoughtful emperor. Although he has never been to school, he has been studying. Considering the harm of harem's interference in politics in history, Zhu Yuanzhang thought of many ways, such as formulating a strict management system for concubines and choosing concubines from the people, focusing only on personality and ignoring family status.

Martyrdom in the palace is also one of Zhu Yuanzhang's important measures to prevent the harem from interfering in politics. After the death of Zhu Biao, Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the system of intrauterine martyrdom on a large scale to prevent the harem from interfering in politics.

(4) The influence of Yuan Dynasty. We know a word called. Han inherited Qin system? This means that many systems in the Han dynasty continued the system in the Qin dynasty. It can be seen that the former dynasty had a great influence on the later dynasty. There is a simple reason. After all, most of the founders of the new dynasty grew up in the previous dynasty, and their exposure to the sun naturally had a great influence on them.

Many people will think that the Yuan Dynasty didn't have that great influence. For example, the provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty, which has been used all the time, has a great influence on the present. In Shen Shi Daily List, it is believed that the burial of concubines in Ming Dynasty came from Yuan Dynasty:

It is vulgar to be buried in the palace. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was still a legacy of Hu Yuan, and it was not until the English Temple that writing was banned. So what have Song Lian, Founder, Golden Retriever and other officials polished! ?

He believed that the martyrdom of concubines in Ming Dynasty was influenced by foreign customs, because Zhu Yuanzhang was also from Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty ruled for 97 years and experienced several generations. It is very normal for the social atmosphere in the early Ming Dynasty to be influenced by it.

During the Song Dynasty, many regimes rose in the north, and both Liao and Jin countries had the custom of burying the living dead. This is not surprising, because these regimes even have slaves.

Although there is no record of the martyrdom of concubines in the official history of the Yuan Dynasty, other data can show that the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty had the custom of being buried with the living.

1. "History of Conquering the World" and "Collection of Historical Records" recorded that after Genghis Khan's death, forty Mongolian girls were buried, and Genghis Khan's last words also included the content of being buried with him;

2. After Badou's death, slaves and wives were buried;

After Xu Liewu's death, a young beauty was buried.

Before entering the customs, there were always tombs of martyrs in the Qing Dynasty. The most famous one was that Dourgen's mother was martyred for Nurhachi. However, their martyrdom system was resisted by Han Chinese, and was later cancelled by Kangxi.

As for the specific way of death of the concubines buried with the Ming Dynasty, there is no detailed record in the history books. What are the ways to die mentioned? Suicide? Or? Die of hunger strike? . The more specific process is Ming Chengzu, as follows:

Judy, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, died, with more than 30 people dead. On the day of martyrdom, they all ate in a yard. After dinner, I went to another room to commit suicide. To be exact, there is a small wooden bed in the room. The martyr stood on Xiao Mu's bed, hung his head on the rope, and then removed the small wooden bed. It is said that these martyrs cried their eyes out, and the situation was very tragic.