Headless Stone Man,Solve the mystery in front of Wu Zetian's tomb a few years ago.
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In the course of the development of Chinese civilization for 5,000 years, there are countless cultural treasures to be discovered. With the advancement of modern science and technology, many "unsolved mysteries" that were once shrouded in mystery have gradually been revealed and presented to the world.
The Tang Dynasty, the bright star of Chinese civilization, from the rule of Zhenguan to the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, in the past hundred years, the land of China has become the most prosperous and powerful region in the world.
This history has left us with many precious monuments.
Qianling, the only mausoleum of husband and wife emperors in China's feudal society, is located in Liangshan, north of Qianxian County, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, where the only empress in Chinese history "Wu Zetian" and her husband "Tang Gaozong" Li Zhi are buried.
In front of the mausoleum, 61 headless stone figures are neatly arranged, and they quietly guard this unique underground imperial tomb. The identity of these stone figures and the whereabouts of their heads have been a mystery throughout history.
It wasn't until 1971, when two farmers stumbled upon it, that archaeologists revealed a mystery that had plagued them for millennia.
In the scorching heat of 1971, at the foot of Liangshan Mountain on the Loess Plateau, two hard-working farmers were working in the fields. They are shirtless, wielding their hoes vigorously, leaving no stone unturned for this year's bumper harvest.
Sweat soaked their towels and trouser legs, but there was a satisfied smile on their faces. The sun also seemed to be moved by their diligence, and briefly restrained its scorching heat.
They look forward to the coolness of the evening so that they can finish their day's work and go home to rest.
In Liangshan, Shaanxi, the sky is getting dark, and the two farmers put down their hoes and prepare to go home. One of the young peasants heard a sound as the last hoe fell"Peng"The sound seemed to hit something hard.
Curiosity drove them to look closer, and they thought it was just an ordinary stone, but upon closer inspection, they found that the shape of the stone had a unique pattern, as if it had been carved by man.
The two developed a strong curiosity under the 61 headless stone statue, and they worked together to excavate this mysterious monolith. When the stone was lifted to the ground, they were surprised to find a human face carved into the stone.
The discovery frightened both of them, and although they had heard of some strange things, it was the first time they had seen such a beautiful stone carved head. They immediately called someone to come over and help, and together they carried the stone statue to the Cultural Management Committee, hoping that the ** staff there could explain what it was.
When the staff of the Cultural Management Commission learned of this, they came to watch. Generally speaking, stone carved heads are imitations of historical celebrity emperors, but this "human face" is confusing.
Despite careful research, it was not possible to determine his identity. However, the facial features of this avatar are very resolute, with a wild beard and wide eyes, which do not seem to be the characteristics of the ancient Han people, but more like the facial features of the northern nomads.
Some speculate that this headless stone statue may be related to the 61 headless stone statues in Qianling. The headless stone statue has only a skull part, probably from the group of stone statues on the mountain. The Cultural Affairs Commission reported the matter to the county's Cultural Relics Bureau, and experts from the Cultural Relics Bureau immediately sent personnel to investigate the matter.
Qianling is located in one of the "Eighteen Tombs of the Tang Dynasty" in the Guanzhong area of Shaanxi, and is a model of the mausoleum of feudal emperors in ancient China. It was built in the first year of Tang Guangzhai (684), and was stamped in the second year of Shenlong (706), and adopted a unique way of building "because of the mountain as a mausoleum", and the whole mausoleum area was modeled after the Chang'an City of Beijing.
In addition, the Qianling Tomb also set up 17 small and delicate burial tombs for the burial of royal family members and meritorious heroes.
Wu Zetian is a legend through the ages, and the story behind the site selection of the Qianling Tomb is fascinating. Legend has it that in order to obtain a unique feng shui treasure, Wu Zetian sent the imperial court to select two highly prestigious monks across the country - astrologer Yuan Tiangang and Taishi Ling Li Chunfeng.
The cooperation between the two lasted 7749 days, and finally found the ideal location of the mausoleum on a large mountain in Guanzhong that resembled a naked sleeping woman. Although this is only a folk anecdote, there is no clear record in the official history, but after the research of archaeologists, the Qianling Tomb is indeed the only Tang Dynasty mausoleum that has not been disturbed by thieves for thousands of years.
This may be due to its unique topography and complex arrangement of tomb passages, which makes it difficult for tomb robbers to succeed.
Because it has not been robbed, Qianling has become a historic site that still contains many treasures since the founding of China. In order to ensure the safety of these cultural heritages, on March 4, 1961, ** listed them as the "first batch of national key cultural relics protection units".
In addition to its own historical value, the Qianling Tomb also has two unique symbols: one is the wordless tablet, and the other is the headless stone statue. In contrast, the headless stone statue appears more mysterious, while the ** of the wordless tablet is clear.
Wu Zetian, the first female emperor in Chinese history, chose to leave a wordless stele on the occasion of her death, hoping that future generations could fairly evaluate her achievements during her lifetime.
As for the 61 headless figures, it remains a mystery to this day. There are 32 and 29 stone statues on the east and west sides of the Suzaku Gate, which are about the size of a real person.
When the stone carved head of the general of the feudal town was brought to the Qianling Gate, everyone immediately began to compare. After the initial comparison, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the size and shape of the avatar matched well with the existing stone statue "torso", so they began to match.
However, when they tried to compare the 29 stone statues on the east side with the heads, they were disappointed to find that none of them could match. So, they quickly turned their attention to the 32 stone statues on the west side and continued to compare.
After comparing the second in the third row of 61 headless stone statues, a miracle occurred, and the gaps between the two stone statues were successfully matched, piecing together a complete "humanoid carving".
This discovery made the experts of the Cultural Relics Bureau present ecstatic and let out bursts of cheers. You must know that the term "headless stone statue" has been circulated in the local area for several centuries, and a large number of materials have been lost due to modern wars, and there are few records of stone statues.
Today, revealing the true face of the headless stone statues is of great significance in solving the mystery of their origins.
After perfectly fusing the head and body of the stone statue, the experts were pleasantly surprised to find that although the stone statues had hideous expressions, their posture was full of respect, as if they were saluting the Qianling Tomb.
Moreover, the costumes of these stone statues are all characteristics of the first generals of the Tang Dynasty, and they wear "jade bags" that symbolize the status of the five or more grades. Combining these characteristics, we have reason to believe that these statues may have been the "generals of the feudal towns" of the Tang Dynasty.
In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the surrounding countries submitted one after another, and all nations came to the dynasty, and the Han civilization reached unprecedented prosperity. The Tang Dynasty gradually formed a culture of openness, inclusiveness, and advocating force.
As a result, feudal town forces composed of ethnic minority generals arose throughout the country. In order to deter these feudal towns, some stone statues depicting the images of feudal generals were erected in front of the imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty, and at the same time, it was also believed to be a way to ward off evil spirits and protect the imperial tombs.
However, after the Anshi Rebellion, the power of the Tang Dynasty plummeted, the power of the feudal towns was no longer controlled, and they rebelled everywhere, and the authority of the Tang imperial family gradually collapsed. In the end, the Tang Dynasty experienced the tragic ending of "the nine escapes of the Son of Heaven and the six breakings of the national capital".
Therefore, it is speculated that the "headless stone statue" of Qianling may have been pulled out in the late Tang Dynasty when the feudal forces invaded Guanzhong and were unwilling to continue to serve the Tang Dynasty royal family.
There is a theory that the head of the headless stone statue was shaken off during the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty. Another theory says that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, a foreign tourist found that his ancestral statues had been placed in the Qianling Tomb by mistake, and used lies to incite the local people to cut off the heads of the statues and discard them in the wilderness.
However, none of these claims have been confirmed in any way.
Although the authenticity and authenticity of the headless stone statues have yet to be studied, we cannot deny that they are all historical relics that have lasted for thousands of years and contain the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient ancestors.
As the guardians of Chinese culture, we have a responsibility to preserve these precious cultural relics and pass them on.