Grave robbers are a very magical group. They can be found in the novel "Tomb Robbers Notes" or "The Antique Game". Tomb robbers are a despised group, and they do all kinds of evil things. The reason why there is an industry of tomb robbers is that there are huge profits underground. This drives tomb robbers to take desperate risks and search for priceless ancient tombs regardless of the cost. What is puzzling is that tomb robbers are not archaeological experts, but they can always find ancient tombs. What special skills do grave robbers have? Why did Ma Weidu say "Don't underestimate them"?
Actually, grave robbers are really powerful. To give the simplest example, in the late 1990s, a Han tomb was discovered in a hill called Laoshan next to Babao Mountain in Beijing. It is called the Laoshan Han Tomb in historians. The "Huang Chang Ti Cou" was discovered in the Laoshan Han Tomb, indicating that it was a Han tomb of a princely rank. The Laoshan Han Tomb provides solid physical research on cultural relics for the study of politics, economy, and culture in Beijing during the Han Dynasty. What is unimaginable is that the discoverer of the Laoshan Han Tomb was not an archaeological expert, but a tomb robber.
As a collector, Ma Weidu will naturally not let go of this major archaeological event, and he also understands the reasons very well. Ma Weidu said that the two tomb robbers who discovered the Han Tomb of the Old Han Dynasty did not use advanced professional equipment at all. They only discovered the Han Tomb of the Old Han Dynasty by setting up a pergola with their hands and locating the cave at a glance. Why determine acupoints at one glance? What Ma Weidu said is also exaggerated, but it is actually the study of Feng Shui. The ancients paid attention to lavish burials and were generally superstitious. They must find a place with good feng shui.
Grave robbers also specialize in the art. Before engaging in this profession, they often have in-depth research on Feng Shui. The tomb robber came from a wild background, and he didn't have any rules when it came to studying, but he achieved impressive "achievements". As the saying goes, "Kill the old master with random punches." Tomb robbers don't follow routines and can often find ancient tombs by relying on their solid Feng Shui skills. In addition, tomb robbers also need to study history, cultural relic identification, geography and other subjects. Ma Weidu emphasized not to underestimate them, referring to the unique ability of the tomb robbers.
However, the tomb robber’s cleverness was of no use. Although tomb robbers have professional abilities comparable to those of archaeological experts, what they do are all illegal activities. Ma Weidu said not to underestimate them, which also provides us with a research direction, that is, tomb robbers and archaeological experts are mutually reinforcing each other, just like the struggle between cultural relic fraud and cultural relic appraisal experts.
As the saying goes, the higher the moral, the higher the devil. It is perfectly suitable to apply it to the relationship between tomb robbers and archaeological experts. Some of the technical methods of tomb robbers can also promote the progress of archaeological research, and the technological progress of archaeological experts has suppressed the arrogance of tomb robbers. Therefore, we still need to look at the relationship between tomb robbers and archaeological experts objectively and rationally, and do not belittle archaeological experts casually.