Why did ancient people have to be buried alive at the age of 60?

The tombs of Sixty Fat Jiazi and Sunzi are in Jiaodong. There has always been a legend: There was a custom in Jiaodong in ancient times, saying that old people over sixty years old would be sent to their graves by their children. A small opening is left in the grave for the children to bring meals to the elderly. Generally, the children will give food to the old man for thirty-five days, and if they are filial, they will give food to the old man for at most one hundred days. Then they will stop giving food to the old man, and the old man will starve to death. This kind of legend has always been popular, but experts who study archive history have searched all kinds of information, but can never find the relevant content, so they have always been skeptical about this legend. Chinese people have always had a tradition of respecting their elders. It's too late for children to show respect to their elders. How could such a ridiculous custom come about? Be loyal to the king and be filial to your elders. This has always been a deep-rooted thought in people's minds. How could such a ridiculous behavior occur? However, those who believe in the Sixty-Fat Jiazi have always believed that there is evidence, which is the existence of the Sunzi Tomb in the Jiaodong area.

Two days ago, I accompanied the reporter from the superior TV station to interview this incident. It is said that there were many such graves in Jianggezhuang, Muping District, Yantai City. Wang Benshi, director of the Muping District Chronicle Office, has seen them before, and there are also pictures in the Muping cultural and historical materials. It is said that there were many such graves on the mountains between Xi Nian and Jianggezhuang Village in Jianggezhuang Town, and they were also found in Hongshuitou Village. But why there are such graves has never been determined.

There are coffins under the Sunzi Tomb, and a round building on the ground, which is round and pointed, very much like an ancient warrior helmet. Some people have wondered whether this is a place where old people over sixty years old were placed in ancient times, because this legend has always been popular. However, authorities from the Yantai City Museum and the Muping District County Office expressed doubts, because so far there is no information to prove that this custom ever existed. Some experts believe that this kind of building may be a building used by people in ancient times for rituals. Because in ancient times, tomb areas were generally lush with trees. People burned paper during rituals, which could easily catch fire. Therefore, people built some buildings and burned paper inside to ensure safety. . We once asked experts that the shape of this tomb closely resembles an ancient warrior helmet. Was it influenced by the garrison at that time? Because the Mongolian army stationed a large number of troops in the Jianggezhuang area during the Yuan Dynasty, the strange costumes of these Mongolian soldiers and horses may have influenced the Han people. In addition, the Mongolians like to use round yurts when living, which is similar to the shape of the Sunzi tomb. Maybe their tombs are also similar to this. Experts believe this remains to be verified. I once asked an expert whether this kind of tomb is rectangular underground and round above ground. Is it influenced by the round sky and square place of the Zhouyi? Experts also said no conclusion could be drawn. What is the mystery behind this has yet to be verified by experts. Additional answer: This was called alive burial in ancient times.

In the central Hebei area, ancient tombs with brick arches are common, and there is often a bed inside. The villagers all call it the proof of "living grave".

There is also this legend in the Jiaodong Peninsula, which is said to be the burial system of the Yuan Dynasty.

It is said that in an unknown dynasty, the court made a rule that if an old man reaches the age of sixty, he must leave home and live in a tomb. If his children are filial, they are allowed to send meals for a hundred days. , from now on he will starve to death with the old man in the tomb. Since 60 years is a Jiazi, there is a saying that "sixty-year-old flowers (fat) Jiazi", and the living tomb where the old man stayed is called "Qiuzi Tomb".

According to Xinhuanet’s report on May 10, exposed “Qiuzi tombs” were discovered one after another in Yantai’s Muping District, Development Zone, Penglai and other places.

There is an ancient legend that the local elderly people in Yantai may still remember: It is said that in an unknown dynasty, the court made a rule that all elderly people who reach the age of sixty must live away from home until they die. When entering the tomb, if the children are filial, they can be allowed to bring food for a hundred days, and then they can starve to death with the old man in the tomb. Since 60 years is a Jiazi, there is a saying of "Sixty-year-old Jiazi", and the living tomb where the old man stays is called "Qiuzi Tomb".

The legend of "Qiuzi Tomb" is not groundless. Such exposed "Qiuzi Tombs" have been found in Yantai Muping District, Development Zone, Penglai and other places. People who have seen this tomb can't help but wonder: Whose tomb is so simple? Judging from the shape of the bones, were they alive before being buried? Are the legends that have been passed down to this day true? The Chinese nation has regarded filial piety and brotherhood as the most important thing since ancient times. How could a fine tradition tolerate such an inhumane practice?

With the deepening of archaeological excavation, the secrets behind the "Qiuzi Tomb" were also revealed layer by layer.

Mysterious "Qiuzi Tomb"

In Jiaodong area, you can often see a kind of exposed tomb in the roadside gullies and cliffs. They are mostly built with bricks and stones, and the tomb walls gradually shrink from the bottom upward to form a round dome, which looks a bit like the oil baskets of the old times, so people call them "oil basket tombs". Most of these graves are very small, no more than one meter square, and a person cannot even lie down in them. They look like a chicken coop in a farmyard, so some people call this kind of grave a "chicken coop grave."

Lin Xianting, former deputy director of the Yantai City Museum, told reporters that there is often a small brick bed at the bottom of this kind of tomb. On the bed there is often a pile of human bones, one or two heads, a rice bowl and a water bottle next to it. . The piles of human bones do not look like the way the dead usually lie down, but rather they look like they are squatting or sitting. People thought that this might be the place where the ancients buried their corpses (before official burial), so many places in Jiaodong also called this kind of tomb "Qiuzi Tomb" and "Mozi Tomb".

Before the 1990s, archaeologists sporadically excavated many such tombs called "Qiuzi Tombs". In recent years, large-scale excavations of this type of tombs have been carried out several times in a relatively concentrated manner. In 2002, a number of small tombs were discovered during construction at the north construction site of Gangyu Village in the Development Zone. Archaeologists rushed to the site and found that the tomb area was very large, about more than 10,000 square meters. Most of the exposed tombs were brick chamber tombs with square bottoms and domes. Nearby workers and farmers all said: Isn’t this the Qiuzi tomb of the old generation? Archaeologists felt that this cemetery was a good opportunity to uncover the mystery, so they conducted archaeological excavations on this tomb group three times.*** More than 60 brick chamber tombs and a small number of stone chamber tombs were cleaned.

In 2003, during the construction of the Yantai-Penglai highway project, the Municipal Museum and the Penglai Cultural Relics Bureau excavated the Penglai South Wu family tombs of the same nature as the Gangyu Mu Group. In 2005, such tombs were discovered in the north of Wanggandun Village and in the west of Chenjia Village in Laishan.

“The characteristics of this batch of tombs are very outstanding. Most of them are made of thin gray bricks and buried shallowly underground. They all look like houses on the ground.” Mr. Lin said, because in the The underground must withstand soil pressure and decay, so wooden beams and brackets cannot be used like houses, so they have to be made into domes. Its plane shape is mostly square, but also hexagonal, octagonal, etc. There is a low brick bed in the northern half of the cemetery. There are windows on the straight walls, and there is often a triangular lampstand on the east wall. In higher-end tombs, there are often screens on the east and west walls. "Of course, all these furnishings are not real, but are carved from bricks. They only serve as a symbol - a house in the underworld prepared for the dead!" Mr. Lin said jokingly.