Tomb No.1 of Qin Gong

Tomb No.1 of Qin Gong

Qin Gong No.1 tomb is located in the South commanding village of Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province. It is the largest ancient tomb excavated in China so far. There are 186 martyrs in the tomb, including 166 martyrs in the outer chamber on the third floor platform and 20 sacrificial animals buried in the earth. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, most tombs have been found in China for sacrificing people; the cypress "huangchangticuo" coffin in the outer chamber is the highest level of burial utensils excavated in the Zhou and Qin Dynasties; the wooden steles outside the two walls of the outer chamber are the earliest objects in the history of Chinese tombs. In particular, the stone chime unearthed from the tomb is the earliest one with inscriptions found in China. The most precious is the inscriptions on the stone chime, with more than 180 characters. The characters on the stone chime are in the form of Zhen script, which is similar to the "stone drum script". According to the inscriptions on the stone chime, it can be inferred that the owner of the tomb is Qin Jinggong.

A brief introduction to the tomb

Qin Gong's tomb

The Yongcheng site of Qindu is located on the flat land on the North Bank of Yongshui River in the south of Fengxiang county. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit.

During the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the state of Qin established its capital here for 293 years. The adult coronation of the first emperor of Qin was also held in the Dazheng palace in Yongcheng. It has been proved that there are two new and old cities connected in the site, two kilometers long from north to South and one to two kilometers long from east to west. Archaeologists have done a lot of work here and excavated many precious cultural relics. There are 43 large-scale tombs in the cemetery of Duke Qin in the South command Town, which is south of Yongcheng site. The tomb of Duke Qin is the largest Tukuang tomb excavated in China.

Qin Gong's tomb is the first and only one of the largest tombs discovered in the whole Qin Gong cemetery, so it is called Qin Gong's No.1 tomb. It is located in the west of Guanzhong Plain, in Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province, and in Sanyuan, west of Yongshui river.

The tomb, with a total length of 300 meters and an area of 5334 square meters, is in the shape of "Zhong". There are eastern and Western passages and chambers. The excavated tomb No.1 of Qin Gong occupies the top five in the history of Chinese Archaeology: it is the largest pre Qin tomb excavated in China so far; 186 martyrs in the tomb are the most martyred tombs found in China since the Western Zhou Dynasty; the cypress "Huang Chang Ti CuO" in the outer chamber is the highest level of burial utensils excavated in the Zhou and Qin Dynasties; the wooden steles outside the two walls of the outer chamber are the most important in the history of Chinese tombs It's an early tombstone. In particular, the stone chime unearthed from the tomb is the earliest one with inscriptions found in China. The most precious is the inscriptions on the stone chime, with more than 180 characters. The characters on the stone chime are in the form of Zhen script, which is similar to the "stone drum script". According to the inscriptions on the stone chime, it can be inferred that the owner of the tomb is Qin Jinggong.

Today, beside the tomb site, there is the Museum of Qin Gong tomb site, which is the first museum founded by farmers in China.

Qin Jun's outer chamber

There is a set of cypress coffins in the coffin room (the cypress "Huang Chang Ti CuO" coffin in the coffin room is the highest level burial utensils excavated in the Zhou and Qin Dynasties in China so far). It is also divided into main and auxiliary parts. It is a rectangular wooden house built with cypress Fang (square columnar wood), and there are doors between them. There is also a 60 cm square "waist pit" in the middle of the main chamber, which contains small animal bones. This is a common burial custom in the tombs of Zhou and Qin Dynasties. The main coffin, which is 14.4 meters long and 5.6 meters wide and 5.6 meters high, is the place where Qin Gong's remains are placed. The four walls and the bottom of the coffin are made of double-layer cypress wood. The cover of the coffin is three stories. There is a single-layer wood partition in the middle, which divides the main coffin into two rooms. This layout should be modeled on the style of "front court and back bedroom" of the tomb owner's residence. This is a small palace! Just look at the materials used for the whole set of coffins. It's amazing: these regular fangs are made of cypress wood core. The cross section of each one is a square with a side length of 21 cm, and there are tenons with a length of 21 cm at the center of both ends, weighing more than 300 kg. The length is divided into 5.6 meters and 7.3 meters. In order to prevent groundwater from seeping into the wood nodules and causing decay, the original nodules of the coffin wood were dug out, and then poured and sealed with lead, tin and white iron alloy. In the process of metal pouring, the wood was not burnt and the pouring was smooth, which indicated that the technology of controlling the alloy ratio and pouring temperature was very mature at that time. Charcoal is filled around and above the outer chamber, and green plaster mud is filled around the outer chamber. These protective layers can prevent moisture and oxygen from entering to protect the outer chamber, and the wood of the outer chamber is still well preserved, which can be called a miracle.

Ancestor of the first emperor

In 1974, the spring drought in Shaanxi was serious, and many villagers at the foot of Lishan Mountain were forced to dig wells to fight against drought. At the bottom of the well, someone suddenly found a strange clay head. At that time, none of them would have thought that the pottery head led to the huge square array of Qin figurines. The terracotta warriors and horses of Qin Dynasty were discovered by accident. These figurines in different shapes are all dressed up as warriors, who guard the first unified dynasty in Chinese history and the founder of the powerful Qin Empire - Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng. Before that, people's understanding of the first emperor and the Qin Dynasty was mostly limited to historical records. The discovery of terracotta warriors and horses gave people more resources to outline the general outline of the dynasty.

The following questions are puzzling the archaeologists. Where did the Empire come from and where are the remains of their ancestors?

Looking back, I found that

Hard to find

In 1975, an archaeological team from the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of archaeology came to Fengxiang County, Baoji City. In Lingshan area, the team spent all day and night, and almost walked all over the corner of the famous Guanzhong mountains.

What they are looking for is the footprints of the ancestors of that powerful Dynasty, the Qin Empire. However, after months of hard work, the archaeological team got nothing.

At the same time, 30 kilometers southeast of Lingshan, a villager surnamed Jin came across a strange thing in a place called South command village.

I found something

This seemingly trivial matter is a prelude to an unprecedented archaeological excavation. From 1976 to 1986, the excavation lasted 10 years. Through thousands of years, many mysteries emerge in front of people's eyes, and a period of complicated history gradually reveals clearly.

South command village is located 5 kilometers south of Fengxiang County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province. There is a strange wasteland not far from the village. In spring and summer, no matter how much rain, the crops there can't grow well. People living nearby seem to be used to it, and no one wants to go into it.

One day in 1976, a nearby villager surnamed Zhao came here with a small dirt cart. He wanted to dig some soil to repair his courtyard wall.

At the swing of the shovel, there are some strange clods in the loess. Their color and shape are obviously different from the surrounding loess. They are yellow and red, mixed with some gravel, and very hard.

A few days later, the incident mentioned in the villagers' chat was accidentally recorded by the archaeologists of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of archaeology. The professional sensitivity made the archaeologists realize that there must be something strange in it.

A team of archaeologists soon arrived to carry out on-the-spot investigation.

Those strange soil blocks were rammed by hand. The preliminary survey results shocked the archaeologists. They come from a huge underground project. This mysterious Square underground project covers an area marked by the archaeological team, which is the size of two international standard basketball courts!

Giant tombs emerge

What would such a huge project be? No one was able to answer this question at that time, and not long after, there was a strange discovery in the archaeological survey, and there were signs of the project extending outward from the east to the West. The whole project has a strange "Chinese" structure.

A few months later, the archaeological team found out the general shape of the project below the ground. The main part of it is divided into three layers, and there is a circle of two-layer table at more than ten meters. The depth of the project is equivalent to eight stories. In this way, we can basically confirm that it is an ancient tomb. The size of the tomb is rare. The owner of such a huge tomb must be very distinguished!

Official excavation

Excavation site

The official excavation began in 1976. Tian Yaqi was the deputy leader of the archaeological team at that time.

A lot of important information of Baoji Yuguo tomb excavated before was decoded from the unearthed bronze inscriptions. Therefore, Tian Yaqi also hopes that bronze with inscriptions may be unearthed from the tomb, which will bring great convenience to the research work.

But at this time, a message came from the commander in the south. Some strange holes were found at the archaeological site. They were round or oval in shape. In a few days, more than 240 holes were cleared. After careful inspection, Tian Yaqi understands that the tomb has been stolen, and the entrance to the cave is the hole left by the tomb robbers.

Interview with Tian Yaqi: when it comes to the third floor platform, we are very serious about cleaning up all the stolen holes. At this time, the total number of confirmed burrows is 247, a lot.

At the excavation site, what worries the archaeologists most is whether the tomb was stolen. The destruction of tomb robberies has made many historical facts difficult to understand.

Interview with Tian Yaqi: as soon as the grave robbers entered the tomb, they were unscrupulous and expanded infinitely. Just like the field mouse, they expanded infinitely below to search. Therefore, the damage of cave stealing is very serious.

whirling

Precious bronzes are the first choice for grave robbers. Tian Yaqi initially planned to find the relevant inscriptions, but faced with such a serious disturbance. Obviously, the feasibility is greatly reduced. As for the owner of the giant tomb and the mystery of its age, the archaeological team can only hope for further excavation, and may find new clues.

But, yes

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