Whether in ancient times or in modern times, people attach great importance to the destination after death. Modern people will spend tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands to buy a cemetery for themselves; It goes without saying that in ancient rich families, people in the family will be buried in the cemetery at home after death.
what will happen to the most distinguished person in ancient times-the emperor after his death? Generally speaking, the emperor and his relatives will be buried in the imperial tomb after their death.
When it comes to the imperial tombs, most of us in China think of the Qin Mausoleum first. Wang Wei wrote in "Passing the Tomb of the First Qin Emperor": "The ancient tomb becomes Cangling, and the secluded palace is like a purple platform. The stars and mornings are separated by seven, and Hehan Jiuquan is open. " Jewelry is the star and moon, and mercury is the river, which shows the grandeur and luxury of the royal mausoleum.
The area of the Qin Emperor Mausoleum is about 12, square meters, which is equivalent to more than 18 mu of land. Many people will think that the mausoleum of Qin Emperor is the largest mausoleum in the world, but it is not.
In Japan, there is an ancient tomb, Emperor Rende's Mausoleum, which covers an area of more than 48, square meters, nearly four times the size of the Qin Mausoleum, and is the largest ancient tomb in Japan.
tomb owner's doubts
The owner of the Emperor Rende's mausoleum is not certain. Just because the tombs were built in the 5th century AD, it is generally believed that the most likely owner of this tomb is the 16th generation emperor Rende, the monarch of Yamato who ruled Japan in the 4th century AD.
who is emperor rende? To talk about this problem, we have to talk about Japanese myths and the inheritance of the emperor from generation to generation.
In Japanese mythology, there was a father of the gods-Iyenaki, who wanted to wash away the filth on his way back from the dead country-the kingdom of the dead, and three gods were born in the process of washing his face: Heaven shines against God, Harle lives and SUSANOO lives. When washing the left eye, the celestial goddess Otsuka, who was born, was the sun goddess who ruled the kingdom of God-Gaotianyuan, and was also the ancestor of the Japanese emperor.
The ancient Japanese mythological book Koji * * records the titles of 33 emperors. The earliest Emperor Jimmu to 14th Emperor Chuai is hard to confirm in history. Since the 15th generation of Emperor Ying Shen, there have been relevant records in history. The 16th generation of Emperor Ying Shen was Emperor Rende.
after investigation and research, many experts agree that the first 14 emperors were fictions made to deify the emperors into descendants of the God of Heaven, and the later emperors are more likely to really exist in reality. It can almost be said that Emperor Rende was one of the earliest emperors in Japan.
During the reign of Emperor Rende, he made great efforts to develop agriculture, water conservancy and diplomacy, which made Japan-Yamato at that time prosper rapidly. Today's Japanese will proudly call themselves the "Yamato nation" because Yamato under Emperor Rende was both the beginning and the prosperity of Japan.
Emperor Rende, who has strong national strength and sufficient property, is qualified and capable to build such a high-standard mausoleum for himself. There is also an interesting cold knowledge about Emperor Rende: According to legend, Emperor Rende was born in 257 AD, died in 399 AD, and lived for more than 14 years.
if this is true, it can be said that it is quite a long life. Also because of this unusual age, some Japanese experts questioned the authenticity of Emperor Rende. But this is all gossip, everyone has a different opinion.
Emperor Rende Mausoleum
Emperor Rende Mausoleum is a common name for this mausoleum. Its full name is "Kuzu Eryuan Zhongling". Maybe we will find this name very complicated now, but complexity is also a feature of ancient Japanese names and places. Because the mainstream now thinks that the owner of this mausoleum is Emperor Rende, it is more convenient to call it Emperor Rende's Mausoleum.
Emperor Rende's Mausoleum is located in what is now Oshima-CHO, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Because it is located in Daxian, Emperor Rende's Mausoleum can also be called "Daxian Ancient Tomb".
Emperor Rende's Mausoleum is a typical Japanese high burial tomb-a tomb with a round front and a round back. It is 486 meters long, 249 meters in diameter and 35 meters in width, with a total area of more than 48, square meters. Although counting the surrounding environment such as the burial pit and cemetery, the area of the Qin Emperor Mausoleum is slightly better, but it is said that the mound is sealed or the area of the Emperor Rende Mausoleum is relatively large.
You should know that the clogs of the royal tombs and the small clogs of ordinary people's graves are completely different in scale, and their "graves" can almost be regarded as a hill. Especially after the mound is covered with trees and plants, it looks like a mountain.
This is also the reason why some mausoleums have become tourist attractions. In addition to feeling the tomb culture of the ancients, they can also get a sense of returning to nature for a moment in a quiet environment. However, out of respect for the emperor in Japan, Emperor Rende's Mausoleum is almost never open to the outside world.
the most amazing thing is that this "hill" is really piled up bit by bit by manpower, which can be called "the mountain built by a foolish man" in Japan. Like other imperial tombs, Emperor Rende's Mausoleum looks huge on the outside, but there are also "household goods" and funerary objects with amazing quantity and quality inside. Generally, there will be stone chambers in ancient graves to place coffins, instead of burying coffins directly in the ground.
According to special standards, all kinds of buckets will be placed in tombs (mainly earthen figurines of plain pottery, with various forms such as human, animal and utensil). It seems that these models can be used instead of real objects, which can make the tomb owner show the supreme status in the underworld.
In the tombs, the articles of the tomb owner before his death will be put in as much as possible, so that the tomb owner can have a comfortable life in line with the old habits after his death. Other rare treasures should also be put in more, so that the tomb owner can't look shabby in the underworld, or he can't lift his head because his financial resources are not as good as others.
However, the archaeological exploration of Emperor Rende's Mausoleum is not completely clear, but many high-standard tombs and funerary objects can already be found around it.
non-existent grave robbers
I wonder if anyone has found the blind spot: aren't there grave robbers coming to rob the tomb? Emperor Rende's Mausoleum is so big, can't it be true that no one has any idea about it?
In China, there are indeed many novels and other literary works related to grave robbery. But that doesn't mean it's easy to rob a tomb. Not to mention that it is difficult for many archaeologists to work out a comprehensive plan for the development of tombs, and how non-professional grave robbers should act.
Take the Tomb of the Qin Dynasty and the pyramids in Egypt as examples. Just thinking about what protective measures a monarch can take for his home after his death is enough to make the timid grave robbers retreat without fighting and return home with courage.
and Japan has its own unique national conditions. For the Japanese, the emperor is a descendant of God. Disrespect for the emperor is equivalent to disrespect for God. This cause and effect is unbearable for ordinary people. How can anyone dare to steal the emperor's burial?
However, although grave robbery will not appear in Emperor Rende's Mausoleum because of the awe of the Japanese, scientific and reasonable exploration is still possible. In order to determine the real owner of Emperor Rende's Mausoleum, in 218, the Palace Office, which manages Japanese royal affairs, announced that it would dig and study the Emperor Rende's Mausoleum with Sakai City in Osaka Prefecture, and the archaeology was in full swing.
Generally speaking, the ancients really attached great importance to the world after death, and the most distinguished people in a country were no exception. Whether from the outside or from archaeological discoveries, the auspicious feathers in Emperor Rende's Mausoleum reveal the amazing smell of money in this mausoleum. I don't know what great discoveries Japan will make in the study of Emperor Rende's Mausoleum, so let's wait and see.