The emperor pays great attention to his own affairs. Don't choose a feng shui treasure house for the mausoleum. At the very least, we should choose a highland with pillow mountain and foot river to avoid being flooded. What's more, Mangshan Mountain in the north of Luoyang has been the first choice for tombs since ancient times. The so-called "born in Suzhou and Hangzhou and buried in Beimang" is this. Then, why didn't Liu Xiu, whose capital is Luoyang, bury himself on Mangshan Mountain? On the contrary, we should bury ourselves on the banks of the moody Yellow River, with our heads in the Yellow River and our feet in Mangshan. This must start from the background of Liu Xiu's time.
folklore
Speaking of why Liu Xiu chose his mausoleum beside the Yellow River, there is a beautiful legend in western Henan.
It is said that although Liu Xiu is a good emperor who loves his people like a son, his son is very rude. You told him to go east, but he insisted on going west; If you let him hit the dog, he will drive the chicken away. Everything must go against Liu Xiu, who can't do anything about this stubborn son.
Slowly, Liu Xiu grew up and began to think about her own affairs. He also wanted to bury himself at the top of Mangshan Mountain, but Liu Xiu was depressed at the thought of his son's stubborn head. However, Liu Xiu deserves to be the emperor, and his brow wrinkled. One day, Liu Xiu called her son to bed and said, "I'm going to die." . After I die, you must bury me in the lowest place.
Liu Xiu said this to his son because, in his opinion, this stubborn son who contradicts him will definitely do the opposite and bury him at the top of Mangshan Mountain. What Liu Xiu didn't expect was that after his death, his son's conscience found that I would never listen to my father. Dad died, so I'll listen to it once! Liu Xiu was buried on the low-lying Yellow River beach.
Legend is not only a beautiful story, but also reflects the later generations' incomprehension about why Liu Xiu was buried by the Yellow River. In fact, the incomprehension of later generations is precisely the genius of Liu Xiu. And his brilliance comes from his understanding of the cruelty of society.
Lessons from Lv Hou
As the queen of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, Lv Zhi was also a great figure. Especially after Liu Bang's death, he monopolized the power and turned Liu's world into Lu's. Although there was a coup in the court after the death of this strong woman, the people of Lu were killed, but as the queen of Liu Bang, no one dared to get even with her, so it is natural to pay attention to it. But it was this heavy burial that made her suffer physical humiliation more than 200 years after her death.
Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty and there was chaos in the world, and various forces made waves. In a war, someone has to eat, drink and spend money. But at that time, natural and man-made disasters continued, which made people miserable. Where did you get so much money? All forces have come up with the idea of digging the graves of the dead. Which tomb has the most money and treasures is naturally the emperor's tomb! According to historical records, "It was the moon, and the red eyebrows burned the palace of Xijing, dug gardens, and bandits plundered Guanzhong". In other words, in 26 AD1February, the Red Eyebrow Army burned down the palace in Chang 'an, Xijing, excavated the imperial garden and plundered it in Guanzhong.
How on earth did you "dig the garden tomb"? The details recorded in the historical records are even more shocking-the Red Eyebrow Army "went to Yangcheng and Xu Fan, met with heavy snow, and many people were frozen to death, but they were recovered and dug for treasures, thus humiliating Lv Hou's body. Wherever the thief sends it, the person who gets the jade box is as good as life, so he is jealous. "
That is to say, the Red Eyebrow Army, in a desperate situation, not only dug up Liu Bang's mausoleum to steal money, but also saw that Lv Hou, who was dressed in gold and jade clothes, was still vivid more than 200 years after his death, and moved evil thoughts, not only robbing money, but also raping corpses.
Of course, Lv Hou was not the only one who was raped. Judging from the record that "every death is born of a thief in a jade box, so the red eyebrows are obscene", there must be many concubines in the Han Dynasty, because they were buried in a jade box like Lv Hou, and their bodies were not rotted and they were all humiliated.
As a descendant of Liu Bang, Liu Xiu is not necessarily related to these women, but in any case, these women are also his elders, and his heart can't help but feel sad for them. He can't help but reflect on the harm caused by reburial.
Perhaps it was Lv Hou's unfortunate experience that not only made Liu Xiu think of a thin burial after his death, but also made him think about how to prevent his grave from being stolen.
Enlightenment from Emperor Wen
When the world was in chaos, not all Han tombs were robbed, and the Baling of Wendi survived.
To tell you the truth, Liu Xiu is still very concerned about the excavation of ancestral graves by the Red Eyebrow Army. I don't want to grab the land with my head, at least I have gnashed my teeth.
After defeating the Red Eyebrow Army, Liu Xiu immediately sent someone to inspect the damage of all the tombs and began to repair them. During the investigation, it was found that the Baling of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty survived, that is, "all ancestral temples and gardens have been dug up, leaving only Baling and Ling Du".
Why can Baling be preserved? As a cultural person studying in Chang 'an University, Liu Xiu naturally understands the history of the early Han Dynasty, and he understands that Baling was preserved because of the thin burial of Emperor Wen.
On his deathbed, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty issued a special edict, demanding that "Baling should be governed by earthenware, not decorated with gold, silver, copper and tin, and the grave could not be governed, so as to save the people without disturbing them". Translated into contemporary vernacular, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty said that after my death, gold, silver and jewels are not allowed to be buried in the underground palace. If you must have a funeral, use pottery instead! In addition, there should be no mounds and graves above the mausoleum, and there should be no luxurious decoration inside the underground palace. Everything should be handled according to the principle of saving energy.
Not only Liu Xiu knew about the thin burial of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, but even the Red Eyebrow Army, who was looking for treasure everywhere, knew that it took a lot of effort to open Baling, but all they got were nine Niu Yi hairs, all of which were tattered pottery. The Red Eyebrow Army marching to fight will quit! As a result, Baling was saved from extinction because of the thin burial of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty.
After Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, he went to Chang 'an several times to pay homage to the Mausoleum of the Western Han Dynasty. Every time he pays homage, he will definitely think of the destruction of these cemeteries, and how to bury himself a hundred years later and how to prevent his grave from being stolen. Among them, learning Wendi is what he must think of.
Choice of wisdom
Liu Xiu thinks so, and she does the same when arranging her own affairs. The history of Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty is recorded like this-
Build a mausoleum first. The great craftsman Dou Rong said that the garden is vast and carefree. The emperor said, "The burial of ancient emperors was made of pottery and porcelain, with wooden chariots and horses. Later generations don't know where it is. Emperor Taizong knows the meaning of the end, and Emperor Jingdi can describe filial piety all over the world, and Baling is completely blessed. Isn't it beautiful? Today, the land is only two or three hectares, and there are no mountains and ponds. "
At that time, the person in charge of building a cemetery for Liu Xiu was named Dou Rong. He didn't know how big the cemetery was to be built or how much it would cost, so he went to ask Liu Xiu for instructions. Liu Xiu told him that when the ancient emperors were buried, they all used pottery figurines, pottery, wooden carts and grass horses, so that later generations did not know the burial place of the mausoleum, thus avoiding the destruction of the lawless people in later generations.
For this, Emperor Taizong (that is, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty) understood the true meaning and asked himself to deal with it according to the ancient system after his death, while Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty could follow filial piety and realize his father's last wish. Therefore, in fact, in troubled times, only Baling can be intact and enjoy the benefits brought by thin burial. Isn't this cleverness worth learning? My cemetery area should not exceed two or three hectares. Don't pile up mountains of soil. As long as it doesn't rain.
Although the history books do not directly tell us where Liu Xiu will be buried in a hundred years, we can deeply feel Liu Xiu's concern about the theft of the mausoleum behind him. In his view, the so-called land of Feng Shui lies not in its size and location, but in whether it can prevent grave robbers. In this way, the Yellow River Beach, which is not favored by people, has become Liu Xiu's first choice because of its natural function of preventing grave robbery.
Perhaps he was afraid that his son could not carry out his own ideas like Emperor Jing, and made a will before he died to reiterate his wish: "I am useless to the people, just like the system of Emperor Xiaowen, and everything is from the province." I didn't do anything useful for the people before my death, so I don't want to spend money to increase the burden on the people after my death. Everything should be simple according to the rules when Emperor Xiaowen was buried, remember! Remember!
Of course, Liu Xiu's saying that "I am useless to the people" is just his modest words. I don't know how much manpower is saved just by not overhauling the cemetery! He asked for a thin burial from the heart, and his son was not a stubborn man in the legend. He honestly fulfilled his father's last wish and buried Liu Xiu beside the Yellow River.
Then, when Liu Xiu arranged his own affairs, did he play a role in preventing grave robbery? Let's take a look at the natural anti-tomb function of the Yellow River Beach. The groundwater in the Yellow River Beach is shallow, so it is necessary to dig three or four feet down to see water. In addition, stolen caves are easily buried by quicksand of the Yellow River, and it is difficult to dig deep. Maybe even grave robbers will be buried alive by quicksand and become Liu Xiu's martyrs. Therefore, although countless grave robbers have coveted Liu Xiu's grave for thousands of years, they have never succeeded.
Let's look at the benefits of thin burial. The reason why grave robbers want to go to Liu Xiu's grave is because although everyone knows that Liu Xiu was buried very thin, they don't believe that there is not even a good thing in the grave, and they are lucky enough to get some gold and silver jewelry from Liu Xiu's grave.
However, in the face of the natural function of preventing grave robbery in the Yellow River beach, the only fantasy of these grave robbers was also doused by this natural difficulty-taking a few lives may not get much from this thin grave, but they still gave up, so stop here! This ensures that Liu Xiu can lie quietly underground for thousands of years without being disturbed.
Liu Xiu was buried by the Yellow River, which not only shows that he is a saint, but also shows that he is a wise man.