The Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty, as the royal mausoleum of the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history, carries too much historical memory and cultural connotation.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Qing Dongling Tomb was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and was successfully upgraded to the first batch of 5A-level tourist attractions in the country, attracting a large number of tourists to visit.
Here, you can see many people who speak an authentic old Beijing accent, some of them have lived here since they were children, and when they grow up, they rely on tourist attractions to live; Some are returning to their hometowns to remember their ancestors.
Whether you are a local or a foreigner, you can feel the traces of history and the charm of culture here.
They come from all walks of life, and most of them have never met each other, but they share a special identity - the guardians of the Qing Emperor's Mausoleum. What is even more surprising is that even in modern society, there are still some "mausoleum keepers" who stick to their posts.
The Qing Dynasty has been in ruin for more than 100 years, why are there still people willing to become "mausoleum keepers"? What exactly are their true identities? In the dynasties of ancient China, the royal aristocracy lived in extreme luxury, and they also attached great importance to what was left behind.
In order to pursue the glory and wealth of their lives, the nobles would often bury their gold, silver and jewelry with them in the hope that they would enjoy them after death. In order to prevent these burial goods from falling into the hands of tomb robbers, special personnel are usually arranged to guard the tomb for generations, which is the duty of the tomb keeper.
The Qing Dynasty, as the last dynasty of China's feudal era, inevitably set up a large number of mausoleum guards to guard their imperial tombs. The selection of tomb keepers in the Qing Dynasty was not casual, but had a set of rigorous criteria.
In order to ensure that the guards of the imperial tomb were fully deserved, the Manchus specially formulated a preferential treatment policy for the mausoleum guards, including rich material living conditions and political status, to motivate them to be loyal and dutiful.
In order to protect the royal mausoleum, the Qing Dynasty ** set up official positions for the mausoleum guards, these personnel are usually inlaid with yellow flags, positive yellow flags, and white and blue flags, and they are born with seven products**, and even have the opportunity to be promoted to the position of prince and auxiliary prince.
Even if it is not for these three backgrounds, the mausoleum guards can also receive the benefits and benefits given by the imperial court, and live a worry-free life. In addition, in order to protect the safety of the mausoleum, the Qing Dynasty also built feng shui walls on the southeast, west and west sides of the mausoleum, and planted red, white and blue piles outside the wall to isolate the past of the people.
In the Qing Dynasty, the interior of the Imperial Tomb developed into a small society, and became an unmanaged free paradise. Although the mausoleum guards are collectively referred to as this, they have a detailed division of labor within themselves.
Here, many different professions were derived, such as princely ministers, flour makers, sugar makers, head shavers, and workers who raised horses, birds, cattle and sheep, and so on.
Taking the Qingxi Tomb as an example, each family of the tomb keeper will get a small piece of land, based on three thirds of the land, which is the origin of the saying "one acre and three points of land".
Except for the time of sacrifice, the mausoleum keepers have almost no other work, let alone farming. Therefore, in their leisure time, they will tease the birds and enjoy the flowers, enjoy the life of eating, drinking and merrymaking, and live a very leisurely and comfortable life.
Enjoying abundance and power, the work is easy and stress-free, this is the dream job of the mausoleum keeper. However, they were treated by the Qing court, so their honor and disgrace were closely linked to the Qing court.
During the reign of the Qing Dynasty, there were a total of five imperial tombs, namely Shengjing Fuling, Zhaoling and Yongling outside the Guan, and the Qing Eastern Tomb and the Qing Western Tomb in the Guan.
The Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty is the largest and most complete imperial tomb among all the imperial tombs, which was built in 1661. In its heyday, the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty covered an area of 2,500 square kilometers, of which only 48 square kilometers were in the mausoleum area, while the "Feng Shui Forbidden Land" occupied 2,452 square kilometers.
Here rests 5 emperors, 15 empresses, 136 concubines and 1 elder brother of the Qing Dynasty. The mausoleum keepers work here, and their treatment is enviable.
During the Qianlong period of the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, the moon of the tomb guard reached more than 28,000 taels (dry silver), and the moon rice totaled more than 4,000 stones, which was a very rich wealth for each tomb keeper.
The Qing Dynasty treated his family members well, and the children's school expenses were borne by Yongjiku, and there was a monthly living allowance. If there is a happy event in the family, the court will also give ten taels of silver to congratulate, and if there is a funeral, it will provide a corresponding grade of four months.
However, this treatment was based on the oppression of ordinary people, which eventually led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was corrupt and incompetent, becoming the plaything of the great powers, the treasury was empty, the income of the mausoleum guards was sharply reduced, and the standard of living seriously declined.
After the Qing ** lost the trust of the people, the mausoleum keepers"Honorable"The image fades. This change made some of the Eight Banners disciples and princes and ministers no longer proud of their status as mausoleum keepers, but tried every means to withdraw from this ranks, leaving only the mausoleum keepers who had firm beliefs or could not quit silently guarding there.
They hope that through their loyalty, they will silently endure this difficult time, hoping to restore the glory of the past. However, the wheel of history could not stop it, and the Qing Dynasty eventually came to an end.
After Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty abdicated in 1911, the Manchu aristocracy lost most of their wealth and status, and the mausoleum keepers also lost their former stable lives.
The royal aristocrats, who were accustomed to a luxurious life, fell into the predicament of taking care of themselves after losing the protection behind them. In order to encompass the Manchu widows, ** signed a "Qing preferential conditions" with the Manchu royal family, and the nobles were able to live a more prosperous life again.
However, the newly established *** faced serious internal and external troubles, and soon stopped paying funds to the Manchu nobles as agreed, resulting in a large amount of arrears in royal funds.
At this time, the fate of the mausoleum keepers also began to decline, and due to the loss of income**, they had to let go of their former arrogance.
They began cutting down trees, cultivating fields, and renting the vacant land to Han Chinese for farming. However, there are very few people who can hold on to their faith. After the Imperial Tomb lost its management, people began to covet the wealth buried underground.
It was a chaotic time when the warlords of the country were fighting and the people were struggling to make a living, and Sun Dianying, the commander of the 12th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, was facing the risk of mutiny because he was deducted from his military salary by Chiang Kai-shek.
After the appropriation of the Qing Dongling Guards was stopped, the guardian status of the Qing Dongling Tombs had deteriorated to half, resulting in the destruction of surface buildings. Local tomb robbers even ransacked the tomb of Concubine Hui, threw her body out of the coffin, and transported a large amount of wood from the tomb.
This aroused Sun Dianying's greed and began to set his sights on the Qing Dongling. At the beginning of July 1928, the streets and alleys of Ma Lanyu were suddenly plastered with notices of the 12th Army, claiming that they were going to conduct military exercises in the local area, and that the residents of the "exercise area" would be forcibly evicted.
After Sun Dianying's troops drove away the residents of Ma Lanyu, they began to rob the tomb in a grand manner. In order to find the entrance to the underground palace, Sun Dianying tortured some elderly mausoleum guards and learned that there was a survivor Jiang stonemason who participated in the construction of Cixi's mausoleum.
Under Sun Dianying's threats and **, Jiang Stonemason was forced to take him to the entrance of the tomb. However, in order to prevent theft, the entrance to the tomb was blocked with multiple layers of granite during construction, and the stone gaps were filled with lime mortar.
Sun Dianying's subordinates tried their best, but failed to open the Cixi Mausoleum, and in desperation, Sun Dianying ordered the use of explosives and successfully blew up the entrance to the tomb. The soldiers trekled through the dark and stinking grave passages and finally arrived at Cixi's underground palace.
The jewels in the underground palace are dazzling, and the coffin of Cixi is even more dazzling. Like greedy wolves, the soldiers were frantically snatching jewels, and even Cixi's body was not spared, being pulled out of the coffin during the struggle.
When the Cixi Mausoleum was ransacked, Sun Dianying's greedy eyes were aimed at the rich Qianlong Mausoleum.
Using the experience of the last tomb robbery, Sun Dianying confidently blew up the entrance of the Qianlong Tomb and successfully took away the treasures in the more luxurious Qianlong Tomb. After seven days and seven nights of frantic tomb robbing, Sun Dianying returned with a full load, leaving behind a messy mausoleum.
Under the threat of Sun Dianying's army, some of the mausoleum guards were forced to resist and were killed, and the rest could only watch as their ancestral tombs were insulted. On August 4, the Qingdao Police Department arrested three deserters from the 12th Army and found 36 orbs on one of them, Zhang Qihou.
After an in-depth investigation, Zhang Qihou confessed that he originally had 46 precious beads, all of which were found in the Cixi Mausoleum. A deserter can have so many orbs, so we can imagine the wealth stolen by Sun Dianying and his senior officers in the tomb!
Due to the eagerness of Sun Dianying's subordinates to deal with these treasures, many treasures that were tried to be shipped abroad and on the black market were seized from all over the country, and these were the treasures in the tomb.
As soon as this incident came out, it caused an uproar across the country, and the Manchu widows were even more angry and demanded that the people severely punish the tomb robbers. In the condemnation of the whole people, the people pretended to be fair and honest, claiming to "uphold justice and severely punish **".
The real culprit is undoubtedly him. However, the people chose to remain silent and were unwilling to reveal the identity of the real culprit. The reason is that Sun Dianying used the bribes of the treasures in the tomb to successfully silence the top brass of the Kuomintang.
He gave the Nine Dragons Sword to Chiang Kai-shek, Cixi's Night Pearl to Song Meiling, Cixi's emerald watermelon pillow to Song Ziwen, and the largest vermilion orb on Qianlong's neck to Dai Li, the head of the military command.
This tomb robbery case that shook the whole country was finally put aside because the real culprit could not be revealed. Even the Cixi Mausoleum and the Qianlong Mausoleum were not spared, and the other concubines and queen's mausoleums naturally could not escape their fate.
Tomb robbers have flocked to this pure land, some colluded with the unscrupulous mausoleum keepers inside and outside, some coerced the mausoleum guards to forcibly excavate, and some tried their best to sneak into the tomb to steal.
As a result, the countless treasures in the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty disappeared without a trace. There are even some mausoleum guards who have the idea of guarding and stealing themselves. They believed that "cheap outsiders are not as cheap as themselves", and took advantage of their knowledge of the tomb to flee with the burial goods in the tomb.
Those who are steadfast in their faith do not follow the crowd, they hold on to this land with their meager strength, guarding these relics. Without the "imperial grain", they relied on various occupations to make a living and did their best for the protection of the imperial tomb.
In the period of turmoil in the mountains and rivers and the displacement of the people, it is difficult for an ordinary person to protect himself, let alone the mausoleum keeper who shoulders the heavy responsibility? The actions of the tomb robbers and some mausoleum guards caused many mausoleums to be almost ransacked.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the lives of the mausoleum guards began to improve, and this chaotic situation was brought to an end. In 1952, the state established the Qing Dongling Cultural Relics Management Institute, and then established the Qing Xiling Cultural Relics Management Institute to restore and seal the two cemeteries.
Under the protection of the state, the mausoleum keepers can finally unload the burden on their shoulders and enjoy a peaceful retirement. After hundreds of years of evolution, the Shouling people have developed many villages in the surrounding area, among which the most famous is Malanyu Town.
Most of the residents of Malanyu Town are descendants of the mausoleum keepers, and they still adhere to this mission, which has been relieved of their duties, but is deeply imprinted in their hearts. Their language, their culture, all deeply embody the charm of the Manchus.
However, with the change of the times, farming alone can no longer meet their living needs. However, the state listed the Qing Emperor's Mausoleum as a national key cultural relics protection unit, and provided proper resettlement for these mausoleum keepers, so that their lives were once again guaranteed.
Some mausoleum keepers who have been engaged in the repair of mausoleums, with their rich experience in the repair of ancient buildings, have not only become members of the expert group on the construction of cultural relics of the imperial tombs, but also served as the management personnel of the imperial tombs.
Because the Qing Emperor's Mausoleum is a world cultural heritage, this area enjoys excellent tourism conditions, and the country has made full use of its tourism value to make it a national 5A-level tourist attraction.
The development of tourism has brought many employment opportunities to local residents. Some of them are engaged in small businesses, some become tour guides, and some even open restaurants and inns directly in their own homes.
These jobs may not make them rich, but they can enjoy a plain and happy life in the place where their ancestors have lived for generations, and for these mausoleum keepers, this satisfaction cannot be measured in money.
The originally closed village gradually accepted the fresh blood of the outside world, and also made the place more vibrant. Some of them are starting to look to the outside world and want to go to new places and create their own world.
Today, the economic form of these Manchu villages is basically the same as that of the outside world, and the concept of "mausoleum keepers" has gradually disappeared into the long river of history.
Whether it is young people with lofty aspirations or elders who stick to their homeland, they all have a deep respect and nostalgia for traditions and customs.
Many villages still retain the ritual form of "ancestral plates", which are nine incense plates offered on the side wall of the bedroom.
The order in which these incense plates are placed and the way they are offered are very particular, and the whole family will perform a solemn worship ceremony every New Year.
At this time, the villagers also take out a kind of sacrificial incense called "Dazi Xiang", which is made from a herbaceous plant in the local mountains, which is full of respect for the ancestors and is used to pray for the ancestors.
Whenever it comes to why they insist on this protection, the words of the mausoleum keepers are always surprisingly consistent: this unconscious inheritance has allowed these villages to always maintain their unique folk characteristics and exude incomparable charm.
Although the Qing Dynasty has been washed by the tide of history, we still need to admit that it has given birth to many splendid historical cultures. The existence of these mausoleum keepers has preserved this ancient building full of characteristics of the times to the greatest extent, so that its brilliant culture can shine in the long river of history.
Cultural heritage is an irreproducible treasure, which not only bears witness to the infinite wisdom and strong vitality of the Chinese nation, but also is a treasure of all human civilization.
However, the protection of cultural heritage in China is still facing many challenges, such as the destruction of ancient buildings, ruins, and places of interest by nature and man-made; A large number of precious cultural relics have been lost overseas; Overexploitation leads to the gradual disappearance of traditions and national characteristics, and so on.
Inheriting traditional culture and protecting traditional cultural heritage is not only the responsibility of the state and professionals, but also requires the participation of the whole society. Let us become the guardians of traditional culture together, so that traditional culture can gain a firm foothold in the new era and radiate new vitality.