This is a major reform of the imperial tomb system in China. Since then, the construction of the imperial mausoleum in China has been postponed.
(Portrait of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu)
Liu Xiuzong was emperor for 33 years from the time he proclaimed himself emperor in 25 AD to his death in 57 AD. In February of the second year of the Central Plains (AD 57), Liu Xiu collapsed in the front hall of Nangong at the age of 64. After Liu Xiu's death, posthumous title was named Guangwudi, and the temple names were Shizu and Guangwudi.
One month after his death, Liu Xiu was buried, and his mausoleum was called "the original mausoleum".
Although Liu Xiu's original mausoleum was not built in the second year of the emperor's reign, it was not built before his death. So, when did Liu Xiu think of making arrangements for his descendants and building a mausoleum? According to historical records, he was 55 years old. As the saying goes, "You know your destiny at fifty." Liu Xiu, who had been emperor for 25 years at that time, knew how long he still had, so he decided to do something great in one hundred years.
According to Liu Zhen, a historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty and Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, "In April (in the 26th year of Jianwu, AD 50), Linping Pavilion South was set at the head of the mausoleum." Judging from this record, Liu Xiu chose this place herself. At that time, he said this to Dou Rong, the chief craftsman in charge of the mausoleum project: "Looking at Pingyin in Linping, the river is shining, and the boat is general, good."
From this sentence, we can know that standing in Linping and looking north at Pingyin, we can see the vast Yellow River, and ships are coming and going, which Liu Xiu thinks is a good place.
The location of this mausoleum is called "Yellow River Beach" by local people, and this place is not a typical geomantic treasure. China's traditional geomantic treasure-house pattern emphasizes "left green dragon and right white tiger, south rosefinch and north Xuanwu", which is the "chair shape" as the saying goes, but there are no such four images in the original mausoleum.
For the sake of a thousand years' inheritance, the founding emperor was very careful when choosing the location of the first mausoleum. When it comes to feng shui, "Yellow River Beach" is definitely not a treasure. So, why did Liu Xiu choose here? There is a folklore that says so.
When Liu Xiu held his own funeral, he had planned to choose a highland on the top of Mangshan Mountain to build his own Shouling, but he never told his son. Why didn't you say it? It turns out that my son Liu Zhuang is disobedient and mischievous. You said he didn't go east, you told him to hit the dog, but he turned the chicken away. Liu Xiu thinks it would be terrible if I were buried on the bank of the Yellow River after my death.
So when he was dying, when his son cried and asked how to arrange the funeral, Liu Xiu deliberately said sarcastic words. He said that I was short of water and must be buried in the Yellow River after my death. Ironically, Liu Xiu thought that his son would do the opposite and bury him in Mangshan's treasure trove.
Who knows this last sentence, the son obeyed, and immediately said to Liu Xiu: "The unfilial son never listens to his father's words, which goes against the old saying and bears the kindness of the elderly. I will do as you say after his father's funeral! "
(Original Ling Shinto)
Hearing this, Liu Xiu was frightened to disgrace. He never imagined that his son would be like this and regretted saying something he shouldn't have said. But you're not joking, you can't talk, and you don't keep your word. This anxiety and worry made your illness worse in vain, and he died with a sigh. After Liu Zhuang acceded to the throne, he acted in strict accordance with his father's last words and found a waterlogged depression near the Yellow River to bury Liu Xiu, hence the saying that "Emperor Guangwu was buried in the Yellow River Beach".
Obviously, this legend is unreliable, but it reflects the fact that the location of the original mausoleum is really not a treasure house in the traditional sense.
Then, why is Liu Xiu's tomb buried on the Yellow River beach called the "original tomb"? Historians have never commented on this, and I think it is based on geographical location. The real site of Liuling is not on the Yellow River beach like folklore, but on the northern plain of Mangshan, north of the capital. Because its original name was Yuanling, it was called "Yuanling".
(Shi Xiangsheng beside Shinto in the original mausoleum)
The location of the original mausoleum was not clear as early as the Song Dynasty. What is the concept of the original mausoleum in "Linping Pavilion South" recorded in the East View of Han Dynasty? This problem is more troublesome, because where the original tomb is, contemporary historians and archaeologists are controversial, and there is no conclusion so far.
At present, it is generally believed that the "Han Tomb" located in the southwest of Tiexie Village, Baihe Town, Mengjin County, Henan Province is the original tomb of Liu Xiu, and the locals call it "Liu Xiufen". Although the original mausoleum is not like a treasure trove of geomantic omen, it is legendary. Although the original mausoleum is located on the yellow beach, its position is low, but from ancient times to now, the repeated flooding of the Yellow River has never flooded the original mausoleum. From this perspective, Yuanling is still a treasure trove of geomantic omen.
Why didn't the Yellow River flood the original mausoleum? One explanation is that the Yellow River bed is high in the south and low in the north. If the river breaks its banks, it will only be on the other side (north shore). This statement makes sense, but it is not convincing, because the south bank of the Yellow River has also burst its banks many times.