There is no tomb of any dynasty in history that is more embarrassing than Song Ling. Nearly a thousand years after the shame of Jingkang, this place is inaccessible and gradually becomes a lonely grave in the wilderness. At the northern foot of Songshan Mountain and about 150 square kilometers south of Luohe River, there are seven emperors and nearly a thousand nobles and heroes, forming a huge Songling Park.
From the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty in 960 to the demise of 1 127, there were nine emperors in * *, among whom Emperor Hui Zong and Emperor Qinzong were invited by the Jin people to "hunt" in the north and eventually died. The other seven emperors were buried in Song Ling after their deaths. In addition, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's father was awarded the title of Xuan Di, and his tomb specifications followed the imperial system, so he was called "Seven Emperors and Eight Mausoleums".
The Northern Song Dynasty was the richest country in the world at that time. The imperial tomb is not only large in scale, but also rich in tombs. After the Jin army occupied the capital of Song Dynasty (Kaifeng), it plundered the treasures of imperial tombs and even the graves of ordinary people. It seems that the puppet regime supported by the Jin people has a deep hatred for Dasong, openly destroying the imperial tomb and stealing treasures. As a result, the ground buildings disappeared and the buried objects in the underground palace were looted. In addition, the tomb was hollowed out and almost became an empty shell. Since the end of the Ming dynasty, even grave robbers have been too lazy to patronize.
1982, the imperial tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty were identified as the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Among the Seven Emperors and Eight Mausoleums, Yongzheng Mausoleum is located in gongyi city, which is well preserved. Therefore, in 1995, the state restored the ground buildings of Yongzheng Mausoleum, reappearing the scale and solemnity of the imperial mausoleum in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Zhao, the owner of Zhaoling, is really the protagonist in the folklore "Civet cats for princes". He ruled for 42 years. During his reign, he carried out benevolent policies, made the country prosperous and the people safe, which made the Song Dynasty reach its peak. Bi Sheng's movable type printing was born in this period, and the world's first paper money was issued during his administration, more than 700 years before Europe and America. Under his benevolent policy, many famous civil servants emerged, including Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu, Fu Bi, Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Bao Zheng, Liu Yong and Di Qing. In history, it is rare for so many talents to be concentrated under the rule of the same emperor. Historians call this period "the rule of Ren Zongsheng". He was the first emperor in the history of China to take "benevolence" as the temple name, and "benevolence" was the highest evaluation of the monarch in feudal society.
China pays attention to sitting facing south in architecture, so does the imperial tomb. We entered the mausoleum area from the southernmost tip and walked about 100 meters. There are two magpie tables and three exits. Going out is the highest etiquette of the royal family, and ordinary people should never use it. There are such buildings in palaces throughout the ages. The walls of the imperial palace are called palace walls, but in the imperial tombs, these titles all begin with the word "God", the road leading to the mausoleum is called Shinto, the red wall of Miyagi is called the holy wall, and the gate of the holy wall is called the holy gate.
Crossing the magpie platform is Shinto. The length of Shendao is1.25m, and the stone statues and beasts placed on both sides are called "stone statues" in archaeology. These stone statues were originally symbols of royal majesty, but in addition, the stone statues of other emperors' tombs have become the watchmen of crops.
Putting the stone man and beast in front of the tomb of the Emperor as a ritual of imperial power began in Qin and Han Dynasties. Since then, emperors and important officials have used it for a long time, but there are strict regulations on the number and taking pictures. Even if it is noble etiquette, you can't use more than one. If it exceeds the prescribed amount, it will be a disaster. The number and types of stone statue students in Song Ling are the same, and the difference is only in carving techniques and forms of expression.
The first stone carving was called "Watchtower". The "stone statues" in front of the tomb are all placed in pairs, with a watchtower on the left and an identical watchtower on the right, and the positions must be on the same horizontal line. The watchtower in front of the mausoleum is actually the "Hua Biao" in front of the palace. A pair of white marble and China watches standing in front of and behind Tiananmen Square were dubbed "sentry posts". The watchtower is a totem symbol of ancient tribal times in China. It stands in front of palaces, tombs and other large buildings, symbolizing the endless spiritual inheritance of the Chinese nation. Most of the sentry posts of the Middle Imperial Mausoleum in Song Ling are located on the lotus throne with a square base, with a hexagonal or octagonal prism and a lotus with closed petals at the top of the column. The pillar is engraved with the dragon pattern of peony bound branches, which is almost exactly the same as the watchtower in front of the queen's tomb, but the pattern is different, which is auspicious. However, thousands of years of running water washed away the lines on it, and now it looks like an ordinary stone pillar.
The second stone carving is an elephant and an elephant tamer. In the traditional culture of China, elephants mean warmth, auspiciousness and peace. Although elephants are huge, they are especially honest and obedient as long as they are domesticated. In the court, there is usually a vase on the elephant's back, which is called "there is an elephant in peace", which means that the grain is abundant, the country is prosperous and the people are safe. Putting it in front of the imperial tomb also means that everything is auspicious. Judging from the clothes, the elephant tamer has curly hair, beaded forehead, big earrings on his ears and bracelets on his ankles, which is obviously from abroad.
The third stone carving is a stone tablet engraved with the relief of "Qin Rui". The so-called Swiss bird is a lucky bird. The Swiss birds carved on the monument are obviously not vulgar, but mythical birds. It has a horse's head, phoenix wings and talons. This wonderful combination is unique in the mausoleum of Hadrian. Although damaged by the erosion of time, we can still perceive the historical temperature from its realistic expression.
The fourth stone carving is "End". Because Ci Hai said that "four" is a variant of the word "jiao" and is pronounced differently, it has been written as "jiao Duan" in many documents. Like Kirin, it is a unicorn in China mythology. In the early Han dynasty, it was only one of the rare birds and animals, and it had no special function. It was only in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Tang and Song Dynasties that he was deified. He had the ability to travel 18,000 miles a day, could speak human words, and was familiar with the language of the four foreigners. This ability is usually not cultivated by ordinary foreign language colleges. What's even more amazing is that it doesn't appear at ordinary times. Only when the monarch is alive will it appear in the world, giving full play to its advantage of running fast and passing books to protect the wise emperor.
The fifth is a group of sculptures, consisting of two horse control officers and a good horse. In ancient times, horses were the most important and advanced means of transportation. As an emperor, a horse is obviously not enough. So the sixth group is also the same horse carving. It's just that the expression of the horse control officer is slightly different. Although there was a saying in ancient times that "the emperor drives six", it has never been confirmed. In the Han dynasty, it once caused scholars' arguments, and as a result, the view that "the son of heaven drives four" prevailed. Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, four horses were regarded as the highest etiquette of the emperor. The stone carvings on both sides of Shinto add up to exactly four horses and eight horse officials. By the way, in the past, "Tian Zi driving six" was indeed a mysterious existence that could not be explained clearly. It was not until 2002 that the excavation of the chariot pit of "Tian Zi Driving Six" in Luoyang found the physical evidence of "Tian Zi Driving Six". If it is a chariot pit discovered before the Northern Song Dynasty, there are undoubtedly six horses in front of the tomb.
The seventh and eighth are tigers, and the ninth and tenth are sheep. Tigers and sheep are at the top and end of the food chain, which seems to be very uncoordinated, but the royal cemetery can't be placed at will, it has a deep meaning. The tiger is mighty and majestic, sitting with its head held high, symbolizing the majestic imperial power, and the smile on its mouth seems to be self-confidence in its ruling ability. Sheep are docile and honest, symbolizing the common people, and kneeling on the ground shows humility and submission. On both sides of Shinto, one * * * is 4 tigers and 4 sheep. It seems that Dasong has a soft spot for the number 4.
The eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth are ambassadors, which, in modern language, are foreign envoys to China. Their faces and costumes are different, and they are different from those of Middle-earth, indicating that they come from different countries. Holding vases, corals, lotus bowls and jade letters symbolizes the submission of the four foreigners. In China ancient sculpture art, height and thinness are often used to express status. Their stature is relatively short, which shows that Da Song thinks that they are from barbarian countries and are still in the process of civilization. Among Shinto statues, there are four other sculptures, with six ambassadors from both sides, which also shows that the prosperity of Dasong attracted Wanbang to come to Korea, and it is also a reflection of Dasong's emphasis on diplomatic work.
Fourteen and fifteen are two military commanders, and sixteen and seventeen are two civil servants. Together, the two sides are four literate and four martial arts. A military commander stands upright with a sword or an axe in his hand. Although he is tall, his eyes are low and he lacks a little heroic spirit. Although the civil servants are thin, their eyes are bright and full of confidence. In fact, this pattern of civil servants holding swords first and military officers relying on swords behind is also the embodiment of the sequence of restraining military officers in the Northern Song Dynasty.
At the end of Shinto is Miyagi, and a high wall is rammed around Miyagi, which is called the "God Wall". The circumference of the holy wall is nearly 1000 meters, and there is a holy door in the middle of each side. There are 1 pairs of gatekeepers outside the three holy gates in the east, west and north.
Nanshenmen is the main entrance, and there are a pair of running lions and a pair of general Ling Zhen at the door. Running lion, also known as walking lion, is the most successful stone carving in Songling. There are lions in the Ming Tombs in Beijing, but it is a symbol of imperial power. Unlike them, the lions in Song Ling are gatekeepers. They wore manes, curled their tails and held their heads high. They used their tall bodies and the power of Confucius to drive away evil spirits and demons in this area and protect the imperial tombs from infringement. General Ling Zhen is the tallest statue in the mausoleum area. He wears armor and looks brave. Together with the running lions, they faithfully guarded the palace gate.
The prototype of the general is General Ruan of the Qin Dynasty. He is 1.3 feet tall and has infinite strength. During the first emperor's period, he defended Lintao (located in present-day Gansu) and resisted the Huns. After Weng Zhong's death, Qin Shihuang cast a life-size bronze statue according to his appearance, which stood outside Sima Gate in Xianyang Miyagi. When Huns came to Xianyang for business, they saw the bronze statue far away and thought Ruan was still alive, so they did not dare to invade the border rashly. The border was very safe. Later generations carved his image into a stone statue, placed it in front of the tomb, and placed it in pairs. The text is the sword bearer and the martial arts is the sword bearer.
As the main entrance, there is also a magpie platform on the walls on both sides of Nanshenmen, with three exits. The turrets were built at the four corners of the wall of Shenmen, for the soldiers guarding the mausoleum to be on guard. Now, in Miyagi, as in ancient times, the four holy doors are closed all day. Through the crack of the door, you can see that there is a bucket-shaped platform in the middle of Miyagi (also called enclosure, also written as "mausoleum"), and the "underground palace" below the platform is the emperor's mausoleum. There are two eunuchs standing in front of the fence. We can't see them in Yong Zhao Mausoleum because there is a god wall, but in Yong Xi Mausoleum in the wild, we can see their appearance, short stature, slightly fat posture and stiff expression, which embodies the identity of attendants.
The mausoleum of Empress Cao is located not far from the northwest of the mausoleum. Influenced by the mausoleum system of the Western Han Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty implemented the same cave system, that is, the emperor and queen were buried in the same mausoleum, but not in the same underground palace. The layout and architecture of the Empress Mausoleum are similar to those of the Mausoleum, but the scale is smaller and there are fewer stone carvings. In addition, there is the Summer Palace in the north, where the royal family eats. Unfortunately, the ground buildings in the Summer Palace in the north and Hou Ling in the northwest corner have not been restored.
Speaking of Queen Cao, people may be unfamiliar, but she has a very famous younger brother, Cao Guojiu among them. He is a disciple of Lv Dongbin, the only official second generation of the Eight Immortals, and the latest immortal to enter the ranks of the Eight Immortals. Because he is the younger brother of Queen Cao, his status as a prince's maternal uncle is genuine.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, except for the tomb of Yongzheng, nearly a thousand tombs were scattered in farmland. Those tall and mighty stone men and beasts have now become lonely watchmen in the wheat field. After death, everything is empty. What's the use of geomantic omen? The Millennium Songling is now safe, and the remnant garden is broken between the graves and weeds. When I came out of Song Ling, it suddenly occurred to me that emperors, generals and ordinary people don't have to be extravagant when they are alive or after they die. Simply living is a blessing.