What historical mysteries may be revealed by the discovery of the mausoleum of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty
2021-12-16
Recently, the news that the tomb in Yuanjiang village, Bailu, Xi'an is the mausoleum of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty has aroused widespread concern. In fact, the archaeological excavation of Jiangcun tomb has already begun. In 2017, according to the needs of the protection of the Ba Mausoleum of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, archaeologists in Shaanxi province carried out a rescue excavation of the Jiangcun tomb located in the Ba mausoleum area. So, what historical mysteries may be solved by confirming that Jiangcun tomb is the mausoleum of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty this time? It may improve the image of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty Historians praise more than criticize Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, but there are many doubts about the rationality and legitimacy of Emperor Wen's succession to the throne. After the death of emperor Gaozu, Emperor Hui ascended the throne; After the death of emperor Hui, the little emperor ascended the throne. However, after the Shaodi, it was not the son of the Shaodi who ascended the throne, but the uncle of the Shaodi, Liu Heng (i.e. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty), who ascended the throne, which has great mystery. The little emperor is the grandson of empress Lu and the nephew of LV Chan and LV Ze. From a political standpoint, he belongs to the Lu party. After the uprising of zhulv, the meritorious group headed by Zhou Bo and Chen Ping was afraid that the Shaodi would overturn the case for LV when he grew up, so they slandered the Shaodi as not the son of Huidi and denied the legitimacy of his succession to the throne. Even if the Shaodi was to be deposed, according to the principle of succession to the throne of "brother and brother in the end" in ancient China, Liu Jiao, king of Chu Yuan, the close brother of emperor Liu Bang, and Liu Xiang, king of Qi, Liu Xiang, the eldest grandson of Liu Bang, could inherit the throne. In particular, Liu Xiang, king of Qi, made great contributions in calming the "chaos of zhulv" and was most qualified to inherit the great unification. Then why did Liu Heng finally inherit the throne? The important reason is that the acting king is weak and will not become the second "Zhulu". If Dai Wang enters Weiyang palace, the power group headed by Dai Wang will not have the strength to compete for power with the meritorious group. Therefore, Dai Wang will eventually be favored by the meritorious group and become the emperor of the Han Dynasty. In other words, Liu Heng's accession to the throne was the result of the game between various political forces in the Western Han Dynasty. The mystery of whether Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty was buried thinly Frugality is not only the impression of historians on Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, but also their praise. Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty was not only thrifty during his lifetime, but also thrifty after his death. According to the records of history · Xiaowen Benji, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty "used earthen ware to govern the PA mausoleum, not gold, silver, copper and tin. If you don't govern the grave, you want to be a province and don't bother the people." Ba Ling's thin burial has been a good story for thousands of years in the history of funeral. However, the debate over whether baling really adhered to the principle of thin burial, such as whether it was buried only with pottery, has never stopped. During the Han Dynasty, when the red eyebrow army entered Guanzhong, it once excavated the tombs of the Han Emperor and took their treasures. It is said that only Ba Ling and Du Ling were preserved because of their thin burial. However, the book of Jin clearly recorded that in the late Western Jin Dynasty, Ba Ling and Du Ling were looted, and the tomb robbers "gained more treasures". According to the legend that treasures were also unearthed in Baling later, some people suspect that the thin burial in Baling of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty is just a kind of political propaganda. Now, with the discovery of Ba mausoleum and the excavation of funerary objects in the tomb, we may determine whether Emperor Wen was buried thinly through its grade and quantity, so as to understand his politics and people. In addition, the archaeological circles have also debated the shape of the tomb of Ba Ling. One view is that it is a cliff tomb, and the other view is that it is a vertical cave earth (stone) Kuang tomb. These mysteries may also be found in the excavation of Ba Ling. The mystery of the burial of Emperor Wen's mother After Liu Bang's death, empress Lu tortured and killed Mrs. Qi and Liu Bang's beloved concubine. But Bo Ji, the mother of Emperor Wen, survived, and Liu Heng's mother and son were saved. On the one hand, Bo Ji is not favored, but the more important reason is that she knows how to protect herself. After Emperor Wen ascended the throne, Bo was honored as empress dowager. At that time, Liu Bang had been buried in Changling. In ancient times, there was the concept and burial custom of "husband and wife as a whole", "life and death are compassionate, and tombs follow each other". In the Western Han Dynasty, there were also institutional regulations on the burial of concubines in imperial tombs, not to mention that concubines of Liu Bang had been buried in Changling tombs with Mrs. Qi and Mrs. Fu. Therefore, according to common sense, Bo should be buried in Changling. However, empress Lu had previously been buried together with Gaozu as a positive wife. There could not be two queen tombs in Changling. If Bo wanted to bury Changling, he could only be buried as a concubine. In this way, the tomb regulation will be greatly reduced. This not only belittles Bo, who has been respected as empress dowager, but also affects the legitimacy of Emperor Wen's succession to the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wen's Mausoleum left the former Zuling District of Xianyang and chose a new site. On the grounds of "being close to the mausoleum of Emperor Xiaowen", Bo's mother naturally built a mausoleum near the mausoleum with the gift of the Empress Dowager. Therefore, the problem of Bo's funeral etiquette was solved. Compared with fenghuangzui, the location of Jiangcun tomb is very close to Bo's Nanling, which shows the feelings between Emperor Wen and his mother. In a word, with the determination of Ba mausoleum and the publication of unearthed cultural relics, we should have a deeper understanding of the imperial mausoleum system in the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, and a more accurate understanding and recognition of the politics and history in the early Western Han Dynasty. (outlook new era)
Edit：Yuanqi Tang Responsible editor：Xiao Yu
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