Visit Shaanxi 5 ~ Ganling (Wu Zetian has no word tablet)

Traveling in Shaanxi is mostly to see the underground treasures left by our ancestors. Such as Terracotta Warriors, Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, Ganling, etc. I visited Ganling during my business trip in Xi 'an in 2002.

Ganling, located in Liangshan, Ganxian County, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, is the burial tomb of Tang Gaozong Li Zhi and Wu Zetian. The cemetery is large in scale, and the mausoleum covers an area of "eight miles a week". There are double walls inside and outside the cemetery. Ganling was built in the first year of Tang Guangzhai (684) and in the second year of Shenlong (706). Adopting the construction method of "taking the mountain as the mausoleum", the mausoleum area is modeled after the capital Chang 'an. In addition to the main tomb, there are seventeen small tombs buried in Ganling with other royal family members and heroes.

Liangshan is a conical limestone mountain, with three peaks, with the northern peak being the highest, with an altitude of 1047.9 meters. Bahe River surrounds its east, desert water surrounds its west, and Ganling Gong Xuan is located on the north peak. Liangnan two peaks are low, east-west, with Sima Dao in the middle, so these two peaks are called "Feng Ru".

In the first year of Hongdao in Tang Gaozong (683), Wu Zetian appointed Wei Daijia, the official department minister, to be responsible for the dry ling project, and Li Zhi was buried in August the following year. Since then, the dry ling project has continued. In May of the second year of Tang Zhongzong Shenlong (706), Emperor Li Xian of Zhongzong ordered Wu Zetian to be buried in Ganling. The year before last, Tang Zhongzong also pardoned the royal family who were persecuted to death because of political problems during the reign of Wu Zetian, and reburied them, including Princess Li Xianhui of Yongtai, Prince Li Zhongrun of Yide and Prince Li Xian of Zhang Huai. In addition, in the second year of Shenlong (706), the tombs of Li, Li and Yiyang Princess Li were built.

According to Tang Yao Hui, in the 14th year of Zhenyuan in Tang Dezong (798), when Ganling was rebuilt, 378 houses were built.

Ganling is the best preserved of the eighteen tombs in the Tang Dynasty, and it is also the only tomb in the Tang Dynasty that has not been excavated.

The tomb of Wu Zetian has never been stolen, and it is full of all kinds of magical legends. The reasons for online inquiry are:

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Huang Chao Rebellion happened. Huang Chao used 400,000 troops to rob Ganling, but dug a ditch more than 40 meters deep, and did not find the entrance to the pyramid-shaped mound, so he had to give up angrily.

During the Five Dynasties, Wen Tao organized troops to excavate all the tombs of the Tang Dynasty in Chongzhou, Houliang. "The tombs of the Tang Dynasty in its territory will be found and taken away as treasures. ..... but Ganling wind and rain can't be sent. " Ganling was spared because of its strong building.

In the early years of the Republic of China, warlords scuffled, and stealing ancient tombs became a common practice. Under the guise of protecting Ganling, Kuomintang general Sun Lianzhong led his men into Ganling and used live ammunition to cover a division's troops to rob Ganling. The soldiers bombed many places with explosives, but they couldn't find the entrance to the grave.

1958, several local farmers shot and blew stones, and accidentally blew out the tomb door. 1February, 960, the "Ganling Excavation Committee" was established in Shaanxi Province. After preliminary excavation, it was confirmed that the bombing site was an underground tomb, and the excavation of Ganling underground tomb began on April 3. /kloc-in may of 0/2, the stone masonry of the tomb was all made public. The excavation situation is the same as that recorded in the Biography of Yanshan Temple in the Old Tang Dynasty, "The gate of Ganling Xuanque was blocked with stone, and the stone gap was fixed with cast iron".

Premier Zhou of the State Council gave instructions on the excavation plan of Ganling that "we can't finish the good things, but this matter can be left to future generations". Later, the State Council issued a notice asking "Don't dig in front of the national imperial mausoleum", and the excavation of Ganling stopped.

Wu Zetian personally wrote a merit tablet for her husband-Shengji tablet is located on the west side of Sima Road, opposite to Wu Zetian's wordless tablet. The "sacred monument" is a monument erected by Wu Zetian to praise Gao Zong. She personally wrote more than 5,000 words of inscriptions, the surface was painted black, and the words were filled with gold powder, which was radiant.

This sacred monument records the martial arts of Emperor Gaozong and sets a precedent for setting up a memorial for meritorious service in front of the imperial tomb. Before Ganling, there was no tablet in the emperor's tomb, and there was no epitaph in the tomb. Ganling broke through this convention, so the sacred monument has special historical value.

Walking in front of the tomb of Empress Wu Zetian, the first female emperor in China, is actually a small hillside with a signal relay station at the top, which is no different from the general hillside, with high and low weeds. No matter how brilliant people are, they will eventually return to dust.

However, the stone tablet of the only orthodox female emperor in the history of China has not been engraved with a word.

The tablet without words is carved from a complete giant stone carving, which is a great system in China, giving people a dignified and heavy aesthetic feeling. There is no inscription on the tablet forehead, only eight dragons are carved at the head of the tablet, which are cleverly intertwined and row upon row, with bare bones and muscles, silent and full of vitality.

On both sides of the monument, there are dragon figures, each with a dragon, and the lines are carved and lifelike.

On the front of the monument, there is also a line carved lion horse figure (or lion horse fighting figure), whose horse bends its hoof and bows its head, which is gentle and lovely; The lion held his head high, his eyes bright, and he was very dignified.

There are many flowers and plants on the monument, and the lines are fine and smooth, so this wordless monument has always been famous.

According to relevant historical records, after Tang Gaozong's death, the site selection, design and construction of Ganling were carried out under the direct guidance of Wu Zetian.

Although there is no lettering on the tablet, its shape and ornamentation have expressed or far exceeded the deeper political and social significance that words can express.

Some artistic symbols are used on the monument, such as the huge volume of the monument, the strange shape of the beheading party, and the nine dragons of the emperor to show the political status of Wu Zetian. This may be the wise move of Wu Zetian or Tang Zhongzong, which made the "tablet without words" preserved to this day.

Wu Zetian's wordless tablet implies that her merits and demerits should be judged by future generations.