In the more than 2,000 years of feudal history, there have been hundreds of emperors before and after, who built luxurious palaces during their lifetimes and spared no effort in manpower and material resourcesAfang Palace, Weiyang Palace, Forbidden City, etc. are all treasures of world cultural heritage.
They are the lords of the world, rich in life and glorious in death. Each of them left behind a luxurious underground palace with countless treasures, hoping to continue the life of Zhong Ming Ding Shi during his lifetime.
However, the dynasty is not eternal, and the nearest Qing Dynasty has been extinct for more than 100 yearsThere are still people guarding the tomb in the Qing Emperor's Mausoleum, who are these people? And who pays them?
The tomb keeper, simply put, is the person who guards the tomb, so that the people who sleep here are not disturbed by the world and have a peaceful and peaceful environment.
The Chinese have a tradition of treating death as life, and pay great attention to the environment of the cemetery, especially the emperor's mausoleum.
In addition to being responsible for the safety and health of the imperial tomb, the tomb keepers in ancient times also had to ensure that the everlasting lights of the emperor's mausoleum were not extinguished, just like the palace they lived in.
Ancient China pursued a clan system, which was not only reflected in the living, but also in the family cemetery for the dead.
The family cemetery is not only the embodiment of traditional Chinese loyalty and filial piety and the clan system, but also convenient for future generations to worship in rituals.
The profession that came into being for the family cemetery is the grave keeper, most of them are lonely and widowed old people who have some blood relationship with the family, and have dedicated most of the rest of their lives to the cemetery.
They are at peace of mind, keeping good thoughts, and doing the sacred work of their hearts day after day, ensuring that the souls of the dead who sleep underground can rest in peace.
The imperial mausoleum is different from the ordinary family cemetery, where the kings of that era are buried, the royal bloodline, and the princes and generals.
The grade specifications are far from being comparable to ordinary cemeteries, and there are countless funeral items, all of which are rare and valuable.
In order to show the royal majesty, protect the safety of treasures, and protect the peace of ancestors, the tomb keeper is very important.
In terms of the choice of grave keepers, the royal cemetery is much the same as the ordinary family cemetery. Datong is chosen from the clan, that is, the first condition is that they have the surname "Aixin Jueluo".
Xiaoyi is the tomb keeper of the imperial mausoleum, and they are all excellent "superior people".Only the children of the upper three banners (i.e., the positive yellow flag, the inlaid yellow flag, and the positive blue flag) of the Eight Banners can apply for this positionAfter that, after an extremely strict martial arts assessment, they were selected for excellence.
These children of the clan guarding the imperial tomb are specially transferred from Beijing or outside their hometown, and they are innocent, they are absolutely their own people, no matter how greedy they are, they will not damage their ancestral tombs, and their loyalty is extremely high.
Pay will be rewardedThe Qing court was well aware of thisIf you want a horse to run fast, you need to eat more grass.
It is impossible for the emperor to eat and drink spicy food, and ask the tomb keeper to use love to generate electricity, not to mention that the emperor is not short of money, and a large amount of funds are allocated to the imperial tomb.
The position of grave keeper is not only decent and profitable, but also can shelter children and grandchildren, which is a veritable golden job bowl.
The imperial court gave the tomb keeper a higher statusThe person who holds this position is a close branch clan whose ability is recognized
The Imperial Mausoleum can be regarded as the hall of honor of the royal family, and the people who led the family to the highest position are buried here, and they are famous for eternity.
Working here, with the honor of guarding the imperial mausoleum, can first be satisfied on a spiritual level.
After talking about feelings, talk about material,The welfare of the grave keeper is quite good
This is a formal job with an establishment, and the official rank ranges from the third rank to the ninth rank.
He received a good salary and various materials on a monthly basis, and rice, flour, grain, oil, clothing, cloth and other living necessities were all provided by the imperial court.
In addition, each grave keeper can be allocated a small villa with a total area of one acre and three points of land.
You don't have to pay taxes, you don't have to do labor, and the state pays for your children to go to school. The imperial court also allowed tomb keepers to pass on the word from generation to generation, children can legally ** the work of their parents.
Therefore, tomb keepers often inherit their father's business and protect the imperial tomb from generation to generation.
Compared to the generous treatment, the work of the grave keeper is quite leisurely.
Tomb keepers are mainly responsible for guarding against tomb robbers, cleaning and repairing cemeteries, and organizing royal rituals.
There are many staff in the imperial mausoleum, and the internal affairs office also sends people to help from time to time, and the imperial court allocates money every three or five timesThe typical life is less and more money, Top 1 of the most popular professions.
The tomb keeper was an integral part of the vast institution of the Qing Dynasty and was closely attached to the imperial court.
With the gradual weakening of the Qing Dynasty, the fate of the tomb keeper is also swaying in the wind and rainThe number of employees is gradually decreasing, and wages are getting lower and lower.
Later, the Qing Dynasty collapsed, and the golden rice bowl became precarious.
Most people left because it was difficult for them to survive, but there were also some Manchu descendants and former Qing descendants who were once protected by the Qing Dynasty took the initiative to guard the Qing Emperor's Mausoleum.
So where do these people's wages come from?
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, when Emperor Puyi abdicated, the people signed an agreement with the former Qing Dynasty royal family on the "Eight Preferential Treatment of the Imperial Family", the fourth paragraph of which stipulated: After the resignation of the Qing Emperor, his ancestral temple mausoleum will be enshrined forever.
With this agreement, the grave keeper's salary was finally settled, and although it was far less than in the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, it was barely able to make ends meet.
By the time of the warlord scuffle, the families were in a mess, unable to care about the survival of the grave keepers, and even the meager wages had nowhere to go.
Not only did they have an extremely difficult life, but they also had to face rampant banditry, and their lives were not guaranteed, and they survived the most difficult days.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, everywhere paid attention to the new atmosphere and resolutely abandoned the idea of feudal dross, so the tomb keepers would not be paid.
Later, with the country's emphasis on historical sites, the royal mausoleum has received extensive attention and protection.
The last dynasty, the Qing Emperor's Mausoleum, buried nine emperors except for the last emperor Puyi after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, and was divided into two parts: the Qing Eastern Tomb and the Qing Western Tomb, which basically followed the Ming Dynasty in terms of regulation.
The Qing Emperor's Mausoleum is a national key cultural relics protection unit, in order to protect the history and culture, the state will hire some staff to take care of the cemetery, and will also give certain economic subsidies to those who volunteer to keep the tomb.
But the amount is not very large, and most grave keepers have other means of earning a living.
Today's tomb keepers are no longer the guardians of the feudal dynasty, but the guardians of Chinese culture.
From the building itself to the funerary items, the royal mausoleum is a wealth that cannot be measured in material terms.
It is the inheritance of Chinese civilization, carrying a brilliant history and culture, which can help future generations to explore the wisdom of their ancestors.
The Qing Emperor's Mausoleum is the last swan song of the Chinese Imperial Mausoleum, embodying the highest funeral system in China's feudal society.
Among them, the Qing Dongling Tomb has been praised by the United Nations heritage experts as "a masterpiece of human creativity and genius", with extremely high historical, artistic and scientific value, and is the wealth of all mankind.
The Mausoleum of the Qing Emperor is a cultural treasure to be dug deep by mankind, the long river of history is rolling forward, and the Chinese civilization is endless, with a long history, which needs a new generation of "tomb keepers" to guard.