Why did no one dare to dig Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum for two thousand years? What is the inside of the underground palace? Explore the truth of the imperial mausoleum
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor in Chinese history. His mausoleum is Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, located at the northern foot of Mount Li in what is now Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
For thousands of years, the stories surrounding the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang have not only been recorded in historical books, but also widely circulated in folklore.
In the Northern Wei Dynasty, Li Daoyuan said in the "Shui Jing Zhu": "Qin Shi Huang was buried with great honor, and he built a tomb on the mountain of Li Rong, a Lantian, his yin is rich in gold, his sun is rich in jade, Shi Huang is greedy for its good name, So buried."
According to what Li Daoyuan said, because of the beautiful jade produced in Mount Li, Qin Shihuang chose the mausoleum here because of its reputation.
But is it really so? You must know that the construction of the imperial mausoleum is not something that can be decided at a glance, not to mention that Qin Shihuang, as the first emperor in history, whose mausoleum was built extremely luxuriously, must have been carefully considered during the site selection stage.
In fact, from the perspective of etiquette, the site selection of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is in line with the ancient order of seniority and inferiority, and the order of top and bottom. According to the ritual system at that time, the tombs of those with higher rank should be in the west, and their descendants in the east.
The ancestors of Qin Shi Huang, King Zhaoxiang and the Queen Mother Xuan, are buried in the west of Lintong County. Qin Shi Huang, who is a younger generation, should be buried in the east. What's more, the tombs of ancient princes and nobles liked to be built on mountains.
Being backed by mountains can not only set off its supremacy, but also means protecting the homeland after death. In this way, Mount Li, located in the east of Lintong, is the best choice.
Of course, there are also many feng shui practitioners who believe that the imperial mausoleum is backed by Mount Li and faces the Wei River. Combined with the surrounding terrain, it presents a "five-clawed golden dragon" posture, and the location of the mausoleum happens to be where the dragon's head is located, which is not only conducive to the concentration of imperial power and the unity of the world. , which shows Qin Shi Huang's dominance.
The location of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum has been quite mysterious, and its area has been debated by scholars of all dynasties. The mound of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum now looks like a hill full of pomegranate trees, showing a flat-topped, square-conical platform.
According to the "Han Book", Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is "more than fifty feet high", which is 115 meters after conversion according to modern measurement methods. But no matter how experts measure it, the existing mound is far less high.
Over the years, archaeologists have probed the heights with more than a dozen results. In addition to objective reasons such as different measurement locations, soil erosion, etc., many archaeologists believe that the literature records exaggerate.
Some people think that the design height may be recorded in the literature, but due to the continuous war in the late Qin Dynasty, which led to a shortage of labor, the earth sealing project was not actually completed, so the gap between the current measured value and the recorded value is large.
The current recognized result is that it was measured from the horizon on the north side of the enclosure, with a height of about 51.4 meters.
But even if it is only 51.4 meters, the construction of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum is definitely a big project. Not only that, the mystery of the sealing mound lies in the temperature difference.
In the Qinling area, the temperature can drop to about minus 10 degrees in winter, and the pomegranate trees will suffer severe frostbite, but the pomegranate trees on the sealing mound of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum can be safe and sound. After infrared detection, the temperature of the sealing mound was several degrees higher than the surrounding temperature.
As for why the temperature difference occurs, experts can only speculate that in addition to the difference in soil structure and water content, the existence of the underground palace is also one of the factors. There have been many different opinions about where Qin Shi Huang's underground palace was located for more than two thousand years.
In 2002, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and China Geological Survey conducted an exploration of the location of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.
After using modern radioactive methods, nuclear magnetic resonance methods, mercury measurement and other 22 surveys, combined with archaeologists' exploration with Luoyang shovels on the sealing mound, it was finally determined that the underground palace was under the existing sealing mound.
However, technology is limited, and there are still many unsolved mysteries in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Among them, the most widely circulated is probably the "hundred rivers and seas" of mercury.
"Historical Records" once said that in the underground palace of Qin Shihuang, there are rivers, lakes and seas made of mercury, which simulate the shape of China's ground, and run continuously day and night.
Although this mysterious legend has not been confirmed, experts do explore
A large amount of mercury was detected in the underground palace of Qinling. This may add some credibility to the historical legend.
In fact, if the underground palace really has flowing mercury rivers, its function may not only be to show its status, but also to prevent theft and anti-corrosion.
Because high concentrations of mercury can cause mental disorders, paralysis and even death. This adds another point to the mystery of the underground palace.
In addition to the Mercury River, the ever-bright lantern is also a legend in the tomb of Qin Shihuang. In fact, the legend of the Everbright Lamp has a long history.
Not only the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, there are stories of ever-bright lanterns found in tombs in ancient and modern times, but we have never seen the ever-bright lantern in real life.
Mainly because the ever-bright lamp is contrary to the concept of energy conservation in our concept. If a lamp can last for thousands of years in the tomb, not to mention the source of oxygen, even how to replenish the fuel is a problem.
If it is really according to the "Historical Records", Qin Shihuang used mermaid to make lamp oil, so that the ever-bright lamp was placed in the mausoleum and never went out. Then, this lamp has been strong in the tomb for thousands of years, which is obviously unrealistic.
What's more, there are slight differences in the records of mermaid cream in ancient Chinese classics. Some people think that the mermaid is a salamander, but in the "Taiping Yulan", it is recorded that the so-called mermaid cream is whale cream. There seems to be some possibility of making an ever-bright lamp out of whale cream.
One whale can extract several tons of oil, and one whale oil can burn candles for more than ten years. In this way, ideally, it is not impossible for a whale's ointment to burn for nearly a hundred years.
However, oxygen is needed for combustion, and the oxygen content in the tomb is limited, so how can the lights not go out for thousands of years? Or is it through the control system that people trigger the mechanism to cause the lights inside the tomb to light up, creating the illusion of everlasting light? Before the mausoleum came into existence, everything was only conjecture.
Then, there are so many conjectures and legends, why not open the tomb of Qin Shihuang for archaeological excavation? In addition to the fact that there is a large amount of mercury in the tomb of Qin Shihuang, and the anti-theft equipment is complete, it is dangerous to rashly explore, and how to properly preserve the excavated items is also a big problem.
At present, the main reason for not excavating the tomb of Qin Shihuang is because we have learned too many lessons.
In 1987, a batch of Tang Dynasty silk was unearthed in Famen Temple. Due to the limited conditions at that time, it could only be sealed and preserved.
Even the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, which have been exposed for a long time after excavation, need to be regularly repaired and protected. It can be seen that it is unrealistic and rational to rashly excavate the tomb of the first emperor in Chinese history without sufficient excavation and research capabilities.
Many people think that if they don't dig now, if there are tomb robbers or they have been stolen, it would not be worth the loss. For example, "Han Shu" and "Shui Jing Zhu" have records that Xiang Yu burned the Qin Palace to seize treasures.
The Book of the Later Han Dynasty also records that the Chimei Army robbed and excavated the tomb of the emperor. The Book of Jin also mentioned the story of Shi Jilong taking the bronze pillar from the Sixteen Kingdoms.
However, according to the existing archaeological findings, it is possible that Xiang Yu burned only the burial pits or surface buildings such as the Terracotta Warriors.
At present, there are only two small thieves holes of about one meter around the underground palace, which are also far away from the underground palace. It can be seen that the underground palace in the center of the imperial mausoleum has not been entered or opened by anyone, and it is very well preserved.
The Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is very wide, equivalent to 78 Forbidden City. If the scope is expanded, in fact, the excavation work has already started. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd pits, stone armor pits, burial pits of bronze chariots and horses, fish pond ruins, pottery kiln ruins, etc., which have been excavated or verified so far, can be counted as part of the excavation project of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum.
Today, the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang has long been included in the World Cultural Heritage List. It is not only a treasure of the Chinese nation, but also an indispensable part of world civilization.
When it comes to major decisions such as the excavation of the Qin Mausoleum, we must rely on the degree of scientific development, rather than listen to authoritative opinions, let alone be swayed by economic development. Although we are not behind in archaeological technology, the protection of cultural relics is a problem that is being explored all over the world.
For the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, we would rather leave it to future generations, and we must not let the things left by our ancestors be damaged in the slightest.