The Qing Dynasty fellyears, the mausoleum keepers still stick to the imperial mausoleum, do they have a salary?
111 years ago, the Qing Dynasty ended its history. But today, we are surprised to find that there are still some people who are committed to protecting the Imperial Tomb. The ruler is long gone, and the dynasty is a thing of the past, so who are these mausoleum keepers?
Why are they still working hard to protect the Imperial Tomb? Do they get paid?
During their reigns, successive emperors attached great importance to the choice of their mausoleums, believing that it was not only related to the quality of life after death, but also related to the rise and fall of the empire and the length of the country's fortunes.
They believe that as the Son of Heaven, he should enjoy the best of the world, including the demeanor and nobility of the emperor after death. Therefore, when the Qing emperor first ascended the throne, he would begin to choose feng shui treasures and invest a lot of financial resources to build a mausoleum.
They often personally supervise, inspect and visit the construction process of the mausoleum to ensure the high quality of the mausoleum. The imperial tombs of the Qing Dynasty are mainly distributed in three places, namely the three tombs of Shengjing before entering the customs and the eastern and western tombs of the Qing Dynasty after entering the customs.
These buildings are magnificent and imposing, demonstrating the noble status of the Qing Dynasty royal family and their unique understanding of life and death.
The three tombs of Shengjing, located in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, are the first imperial tombs of the Qing Dynasty - Fuling, as well as Zhaoling and Yongling. Fuling is the burial place of the Qing Emperor Nurhachi and the Empress Yehenara, Zhaoling is the resting place of Emperor Taiji and the Empress of the Qing Dynasty, and Yongling is the resting place of Nurhachi's ancestors and Fujin.
The Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty, located in Zunhua City, which is under Tangshan City, Hebei Province, is the largest number of people buried in the Qing Dynasty mausoleum. These include the filial piety tombs of Emperor Shunzhi, the Jingling tombs of Emperor Kangxi, the Yuling tombs of Emperor Qianlong, the Dingling tombs of Emperor Xianfeng, the Huiling tombs of Emperor Tongzhi, and the Dingdong tombs of Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an, as well as the mausoleums of other queens, concubines, princesses, princes, etc.
At the foot of Yongning Mountain in Yi County, there is a large-scale mausoleum group - Qingxi Mausoleum. The mausoleum complex includes 14 mausoleums, including the Tailing Tomb in Yongzheng, the Changling Tomb in Jiaqing, the Muling Tomb in Daoguang, the Chongling Tomb in Guangxu, the Huaiwang Tomb, the Princess Tomb, the Age Tomb and the Tomb of the Prince.
The ancients often said: "Settle in the earth for peace", no one wants to be disturbed by others after death, especially for the emperor of the feudal dynasty. And these imperial tombs show the noble status of the people buried here, the higher the status, the stronger the family, the more and more precious the burial goods.
For the ancients, the mausoleum was not only the resting place of the tomb owner, but also a symbol of family feng shui. In order to protect this important family inheritance, the emperor set up the post of mausoleum keeper.
The mausoleum keepers of the Qing Dynasty were not the lower strata of society as we imagined, but rather they were part of a complete system whose duty was to protect, serve, and worship the mausoleum.
The selection of mausoleum keepers is extremely rigorous, they must have the corresponding identity qualifications, and once selected, they cannot be easily replaced, and they are often passed down from generation to generation.
The Qing Dynasty emperor's criteria for selecting the mausoleum guards were very strict, mainly from their own homes and **. can reach the level of the prince and minister of the clan, and even the prince and the prince.
The emperor chose these personnel to guard the tomb both out of trust in his own family and as a kind of derogation of them, who were usually temporary and could be recalled to the capital at any time.
For example, during the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods, several princes such as Yinzhi, Yinyu, Yinyu and Yinqi were sent to guard the tomb.
In order to ensure the safety of the mausoleum, Kangxi and Yongzheng Emperor specially selected the prince of the county and the prince of Feng'en to serve as the minister of the mausoleum. After arriving in Qianlong, the number of guardian ministers was reduced to 2, and the title was changed from Wang Jue to Viscount Bei.
In addition, Emperor Yongzheng also set up a special mausoleum guard team for his mausoleum, and relocated dozens of Manchu families from Shenyang and Beijing to the Lianggezhuang area of Yixian County, Hebei Province.
Among the children of the Eight Banners of the Manchu nationality, only the children of the three banners of Zhenghuang, Huang, and Zhenglan are qualified to become mausoleum guards. For those children of the Eight Banners who have nothing to do and no official to do, guarding the tomb is equivalent to finding a stable job for themselves, although they can't be added to the rank of knight, but at least they can live with peace of mind.
Yongling, one of the three tombs outside the Guanwai, once had a large team of 3,000 people. In addition to the Eight Banners, this team will also be joined by some of the palace maids and eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who are sent to become mausoleum guards and be responsible for the daily maintenance and sacrificial activities of the mausoleum.
After all, guarding the tomb was also part of serving the emperor. There are some people who have served the emperor, princes and nobles for generations, and they can easily become mausoleum keepers, which is also a way for them to express their heartfelt feelings to their masters.
Although the work of guarding the tomb is not as prosperous as that of the capital, it has no harm except that it is somewhat boring. In addition, some people will be selected from the local people as mausoleum households, and their division of labor is very detailed, including sugar makers, flour makers, sauce makers, flour makers, wine makers, netters, cattle and sheep workers, eagle keepers, bird keepers, etc., who may have to work here for a lifetime.
In ancient times, having a job that was passed down from generation to generation was something that many people sought. Although the work of guarding the tomb was hard, the treatment given by the imperial court was very generous. What was the treatment of the tomb keepers in the Qing Dynasty?
They were mainly responsible for the services of the mausoleum, and all the economic ** was provided by the imperial court, and they did not participate in agricultural production and other activities. The imperial court issued two kinds of salaries of rice and silver, ** distributed three kinds of old rice, white rice and corn, and the soldiers and soldiers only issued corn, and the other half found silver.
The highest-ranking mausoleum keeper can get 1,300 taels of silver and 595 stone taels of rice every year, and the lowest-ranking soldiers also have an annual income of more than ten taels. Every month, I will also give the woman of the ** family one horse of yarn and two pieces of Korean cloth.
It can be said that the treatment of the mausoleum keepers was very generous at that time.
The mausoleum is full of mystery, and there is a small society of integrity and sophistication hidden in it. The Qing Dynasty set up a special management body in each mausoleum, and its rank was tied with the six ministries, and it had a high status.
In order to accommodate the residents, an office and dormitory building called "Tanglin Three Towns, Nine Camps and Eight Circles" was also built. These officers and soldiers and their families often guarded the mausoleum, and the Qing Dynasty would allocate their dormitories according to their rank.
The family unit occupies a courtyard exclusively, and the higher the rank, the larger the yard area, the highest level ** courtyard occupies an area of three acres, while the courtyard of the lowest level of staff only occupies an area of half and a half centimeters.
The Minister of Tomb Protection has an exclusive royal palace, with gorgeous architecture and small gardens.
Here, children can learn courses such as **, dance and riding archery in a bilingual teaching environment in Manchu and Chinese. These children are the descendants of the mausoleum keepers and enjoy generous benefits, including free education and a monthly subsidy for living expenses.
Once their account is registered, they can enjoy the treatment of seven grades, which is equivalent to the level of the department. Except for the sacrificial time, these mausoleum keepers live a leisurely life, do not need to farm, can be accompanied by birds and dogs every day, and spend most of their time enjoying food.
Although a lot of money needs to be invested every year to support these large-scale groups, even in the third year of Qianlong, the monthly income of ** is only more than 28,000 taels and more than 4,000 rice stones.
By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the treasury was empty, and the Empress Dowager Cixi had to order a reduction in their expenses. Although these expenses are less than before, they are still enough for them to live. Surprisingly, however, the Qing Dynasty eventually fell.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the lives of the mausoleum guards were greatly affected. In 1912, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, Sun Yat-sen overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty royal family abdicated peacefully, and signed eight preferential terms with the people.
After the abdication of the Qing Emperor, their temples and mausoleums will forever be protected and sacrificed by the Chinese **. Citizens** pledged to allocate $4 million a year to support their daily lives.
Without the support of the state treasury, it would be very difficult to maintain and restore the imperial tomb by relying only on the private property of the Qing Dynasty royal family and the subsidies of the people. However, Yuan Shikai soon stole the fruits of the revolution and proclaimed himself emperor, and the previous agreement with the Qing dynasty was null and void.
As a result, the mausoleum keepers lost their preferential treatment, and even if they were given the land allocated by the people, they had no experience in farming. ”
Despite the hardships of life, most of the mausoleum keepers chose to stay here and guard the land they loved so much. However, history suffered a catastrophe in 1928.
A group of bandits were entrenched near Tangling, and in the name of suppressing bandits, they blew up the tombs of Qianlong and Cixi, and stole a large number of burial goods. Although this is a painful history, the perseverance and love of the mausoleum keepers have not changed, and they still silently guard the land and its historical sites.
The mausoleum keepers who originally guarded the Qing Dynasty mausoleum have undergone great changes in their lives after the founding of New China. Today, they have formed Tanglin Manren Township, and the local development has been very perfect, and the population has grown to tens of thousands.
Some mausoleum keepers chose to settle in the local area and became ordinary farmers, continuing to guard the land; Some left the cemetery to fend for themselves. Some of the people who stayed in the local area were engaged in farmhouses, while others were engaged in the business of ancient buildings.
Although their careers have changed, their original intentions remain the same, and they still guard this historical relic.
In 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded, it was decided to carry out large-scale cultural relics protection work throughout the country, and the three tombs outside the Guanwai were the first to be included in the jurisdiction of **, which was managed by state workers, while the Qing Dynasty royal family was mainly responsible for the sacrificial things.
Then, the Qing Dongling Tomb located in the Guannai was taken over in 1952, and the Tanglin Cultural Relics Protection Institute was established, and in 1961, it was listed as a national cultural relics protection unit.
Also in 1954, the Xiling Cultural Relics Protection Institute was also established, which took over Xiling, and in 1961 it was also listed as a national cultural relics protection unit. These measures fully reflect the importance and investment of the state in the protection of cultural relics.
Qing Dynasty Imperial Mausoleum"Tomb keepers", is no longer the guardian of the past, but the current staff of the National Administration of Cultural Relics. Some of them, through their professional knowledge and knowledge of the mausoleums, have become experts in the conservation of cultural relics, or docents in charge of receiving tourists, and some have joined the antiquities team of the Cultural Heritage Administration.
Like their ancestors, they enjoy the establishment and salary of the state, which shows that the profession of the mausoleum keeper has not disappeared with the passage of history, but has evolved from generation to generation.
Although the Qing Dynasty has fallen, its profound history and culture still exist and remain an indispensable part of the 5,000-year-old culture of the Chinese nation.
The crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient Chinese nation needs to be guarded and inherited together. The ashes of Pu Yi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, were stored in the Babaoshan Cemetery, but in 1995, after the tireless efforts of the staff of the Qing Xiling Mausoleum, Pu Yi's wife Li Xianshu agreed to move his ashes to the Qingxi Mausoleum, returning to the location of the mausoleum he had chosen when he was young.