The ancient tomb culture is a majestic mountain carrying historical memory, and the shape and tree planting in it are a complex and delicate art. Let's dig deeper to understand the subtle differences between graves, mounds, tombs, and mausoleums, and the unique role of the five types of trees, pine, cypress, acacia, willow, and luan, in funeral rituals.
In ancient societies, people lacked a deep understanding of life and death, and the way to dispose of the corpses of loved ones was relatively simple. Mencius said: "In ancient times, there were those who did not bury their relatives, and when their relatives died, they were entrusted to the beggars." It was not until the late Paleolithic that humans gradually developed the concept of "chamber burial", using caves as burial places for the dead.
The earliest funeral form is "tomb", which means that the soil cannot be seen. This type of cemetery does not have any mounds of earth on the ground and is called a "tomb". In matrilineal clan societies, each clan has its own collective cemetery, but it is not marked. The advent of cemeteries changed the concept of funerary activities, and the lack of enclosure made the cemetery look flat and without any buildings.
The ancient character of "tomb" is "墳", and the left soil and the right "Ben" mean that the sealed soil of the tomb is uplifted. This is the second form of the cemetery, which is sealed with a thick layer of cooked soil and makes it rise like a hill, thus forming a "tomb". At the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the popular trend of sealing the soil as a tomb in the southeast was introduced to the Central Plains, and the buildings on the tomb began to appear, which were loved by the society.
During the Warring States period, there was a clear difference between the word "grave". In the eyes of people, "tomb" only refers to the sealed soil on the "tomb" that is higher than the ground, and the part buried underground can only be called "tomb". With the rise of mound tombs, cemeteries began to have a stricter hierarchy, divided into three types: tombs, tombs, and mausoleums.
The prevalence of mounds and tombs is inseparable from the development of society. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, wars were frequent, and people migrated in all directions, so in order to facilitate the search for the cemetery of relatives, it became a trend to adopt the easy-to-identify burial system of "sealing the soil for the grave". The form of a mound tomb shows the identity and status of the deceased in its unique way, becoming a sign of social hierarchy.
With the rise of the mound tomb, the name of the tomb also changed. Before the Spring and Autumn Period, historical sources called tombs "tombs", but in the Warring States period, "tombs" began to be called "tombs", "mound tombs" or "mound tombs". The tombs of kings were called "mausoleums", which were originally intended to represent the height and majesty of their tombs and to become a symbol of social hierarchy.
There is also a strict hierarchy of trees planted in funeral homes. According to the different identities of the tomb owner, the Son of Heaven planted pine, the princes planted cypress, the doctor planted Luan, the scholar planted Huai, and the commoners planted willow. These five types of trees not only add greenery to the cemetery, but also reflect the social status and identity of the tomb owner.
The ancient rule was that death was the case, while man was alive, especially for emperors and generals. Sometimes, the rules may be broken, but not out of modesty or frugality, but in response to specific situations. For example, Cao Cao emphasized that "because of the height as the foundation, do not seal the tree", in order to prevent tomb robbery. His successors also followed this rule and kept the cemetery simple.
Genghis Khan's burial ground is a typical anti-theft strategy. It is said that after he was buried, not only did he not seal the soil and trees, but also let ten thousand horses step on the burial site, and it was strictly forbidden for those in the know to disclose it. To this day, Genghis Khan's burial place remains a mystery.
In ancient tomb culture, burial mounds carry a wealth of historical information and are witnesses of human civilization. The different levels of cemeteries reflect the differences in social hierarchies, and the planting of trees gives the cemetery a deeper symbolic meaning. By gaining a deeper understanding of this ancient and mysterious culture, we may be able to better understand how human beings think about life and death and how they pay homage to the deceased.