Has the tomb of Cixi been unearthed?

the treasures in the tomb of empress dowager cixi gathered together to destroy coffins and throw bodies

Zhang Jian

one year after the death of empress dowager cixi, she was buried in the underground palace on November 15th, the first year of Xuantong. Only 2 years later, it was looted by Sun Dianying. In February 1979, the Qing Dongling Management Office was officially opened, and the underground palace was opened again. Pushing open two stone gates, I saw a complete inner coffin from the sarcophagus bed, and the broken outer coffin was thrown in the northwest corner. This was after the tomb was stolen in 1928 that Puyi sent Zaize and others to clean up the grave in a hurry. In January 1984, the inner coffin was opened by experts, and it was confirmed that this complete skeleton with yellow silk wrapped on the upper body, embroidered with the word "Shou" on the trousers on the lower body, white silk socks on the right foot and naked left foot was Cixi.

Now, the inner coffin we saw has entered the renovated outer coffin. The nanmu coffin is gorgeous and recognizable, but Cixi, who hates humiliation in the coffin, will never be able to "lie down". It is she who should be so arrogant about her burial after death, which led to the "great shame and great difficulty" that the whole Qing Dongling (except Shunzhi Xiaoling) was repeatedly dug up.

1. Being overbearing, changing the mausoleum system

After five years of tongzhi, Dingling of Emperor Xianfeng was completed. According to the Qing dynasty, the tombs of his two empresses, Ci 'an and Cixi, can only be located near Dingling, and only one emporium can be built. At that time, it was decided to build a mausoleum for the two queens, and the coffins were side by side. Cixi was very angry when she saw the memorial: "In which mausoleum are two Empresses buried? Even the concubines who sleep in the imperial palace have their own vouchers. Isn't this clearly bullying our sisters? " The ministers had to propose that Baocheng, Baoding and Underground Palace should be built side by side in the backyard of the mausoleum, following the style of the double princess's garden.

unexpectedly, cixi forced her to ask, "are we two toffs? Who says we don't deserve to build a mausoleum alone? " This is to break the mausoleum system again, but who dares not to listen? So, on the ninth day of March in the 12th year of Tongzhi, Tomb-Sweeping Day, 18-year-old Tongzhi went to Dingling, and after paying a ceremony for Emperor Xianfeng, he came to Pingdingshan and Putuo Mountain nearby to see the geomantic omen. On the 15th, Pingdingshan was renamed "Puxiangyu", which is the eternal auspicious place of Ci 'an; Bodhisattva Mountain was changed to "Bodhisattva Valley", which is the eternal auspicious place of Cixi. Shuangling started construction at the same time in August of that year, and was completed at the same time in June of Guangxu's fifth year, which took six years and cost more than five million taels of silver.

The second and third halls were almost demolished and rebuilt, and "super luxury" overwhelmed the Forbidden City.

The organizational system of Shuangling was the same, but after Ci 'an's death, Cixi had the opportunity to overwhelm Ci 'an. In August of the 21st year of Guangxu, the guardian minister of Dongling, in order to please Cixi, reported to the court that Cixi Mausoleum was in urgent need of repair because of years of rain. Cixi appointed the trusted Prince Qing and Rong Lu, the minister of the Ministry of War, as the contractors. As a result, all the buildings in the mausoleum were repaired, and the main hall and the East-West Annex Hall were changed from the original tile-uncovering maintenance to the demolition and reconstruction! This overhaul project is huge. By the 25th year of Guangxu, 1.5 million taels had been allocated, and the money in the future is a bottomless mystery. In the middle, Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China stopped the project. After Cixi returned to Beijing, she came to the construction site again to personally check. On October 18, 198, the project was finally completed after 13 years of reconstruction (coincidentally, Cixi died four days later). Only the Zijin Ye used in the Three Halls is 4592 Liang! The Danbi stone in the mausoleum is carved by the technique of high relief and penetration, and the pattern is "Dragon in the bottom, Phoenix in the top". Around the Long 'en Temple, 69 white marble slabs are carved into "Phoenix attracts dragons to chase" everywhere, and 74 watchheads break the format of one dragon and one phoenix in history, all of which are "one phoenix presses two dragons", suggesting that she hangs the curtain twice.

3. The treasure in Cixi's coffin is worth 5 million taels of silver, which is the best in the world.

How many treasures were buried with Cixi? Li Lianying, his confidant eunuch, personally attended the ceremony of burying treasure in Cixi's coffin. According to "Notes on Love Moon Xuan" written by him and his nephew, before Cixi's body was put into the coffin, three layers of golden beaded brocade mattress and a layer of pearls were laid at the bottom of the coffin, with a thickness of one foot. The head is a green lotus leaf; Pink tourmaline lotus under your feet. Wearing a pearl rockhopper, the largest pearl on the crown is as big as a chicken egg, worth 12 million silver. There are 27 Buddha statues carved with gold, precious stones, jade and jade beside him. Jade watermelons, melons, cabbages, and more than 2 peaches, plums, apricots and dates made of precious stones are placed on both sides of the foot. Put a jade lotus on the left and a jade coral tree on the right. In addition, there are 8 jade steeds and 18 arhats, totaling more than 7 pieces. After the burial, four liters of pearls and 22 pieces of precious stones were poured into the coffin.

a coffin full of rare treasures is naturally a great disaster. It's only been 2 years since she closed her eyes, and another robber, who is just like her, has reached out to her and destroyed her coffin and dumped her body.

(Some readers ask about the route to the Qing Dongling Mausoleum. To visit the Qing Dongling Mausoleum, you can take Jingshun Road to Jinhai Lake in Pinggu District. Go east to Wangzhuangzi, Xiaying and Sungezhuang in Jixian County, Tianjin, and cross zunhua city Xinli Village to reach the Qing Dongling).