However, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial edicts were worse than waste paper. Our local government doesn't care about the imperial court at all, and even the imperial tomb dares to openly dig away the buried treasure. This is how Wen Tao excavated Zhaoling in our time.
Li Shimin's Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, which was buried with him, reappeared in front of the world, but disappeared again with the conviction and murder of Wen Tao. From then on, there was no news, and no one was lucky enough to see the original. However, the record of this history is not clear, and there are many doubts that need to be confirmed by new archaeological discoveries.
Even Li Shimin's acquisition of the original Preface to the Lanting Pavilion by Emperor Taizong was full of suspense. The first way, Li Shimin "cheated" from the eloquent monk; The second view is that the Preface to Lanting was stolen once in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and fell into the hands of the emperor of Chen Dynasty.
This eloquent monk was the host of Yongxin Temple in Zhejiang in the early Tang Dynasty, and his master, Monk Zhiyong, was Wang Xizhi's seventh grandson, Ji Wang Fa. Wang Xizhi's "Preface to Lanting" has been handed down from generation to generation. After Wang became a monk, there were no descendants, so he passed the original to his most proud disciple before he died.
I don't know where Li Shimin found the original Preface to Lanting in eloquence's hand. You can't openly rob a country's monarch. So, Li Shimin sent Xiao Yi, an ancient scholar, to solve this problem.
Dressed as a poor scholar, Xiao Yi went to a judge with several original works of Wang Xizhi. The inexperienced debater monk told him that these were genuine, but they were not treasures. Xiao Yi pretended not to believe, coaxed and cheated, so excited that he had the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion, and took down the original hidden in the beams to show him.
Then, while the eloquent monk was away, Xiao Yi sneaked into the room and stole the original Preface to the Lanting Pavilion, which was dedicated to Li Shimin. The eloquent monk was very ill with anger and died soon. This statement is more traditional, but the other is completely different.
Some people think that the original preface to Lanting was not in the Wangs' house, but was brought to the grave by Wang Xizhi's brother-in-law Hao. Hao's sister married Wang Xizhi, and her daughter married, which can be described as close relatives. At the same time, he is also a calligrapher himself, so it is not surprising that the Preface to Lanting Collection has reached him.
After Hao's death, a large number of tombs, such as Preface to Lanting, were buried with him, and their tombs were built in Zhenjiang Dantu. 200 years later, when the Chen Dynasty was founded, soldiers of the Chen army excavated Hao's grave and rediscovered the original work of Preface to the Lanting Pavilion. Chen Bomao, the second son of Chen Shizu and Chen Chuan, loves calligraphy very much, so naturally he won't miss this good opportunity.
Chen Bomao quickly collected Wang Xizhi's Mo Bao and hid it in his secret vault. According to historical records, Chen Bomao's calligraphy has greatly improved since then, and Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is truly biography. Unexpectedly, two years later, a palace coup took place in the Chen Dynasty, and Chen Bomao was killed, and these Mo Bao disappeared again.
A good prince, who didn't devote himself to studying palace fighting tactics, was keen on calligraphy and other entertainment hobbies, and was robbed of his country as a result. This is probably a plaything. It is not necessarily a good thing that such treasures as Preface to Lanting fall into the hands of emperors and generals.
As for how the Preface to Lanting Collection reached Li Shimin, there is no clear statement. I think it is possible that the Chen Dynasty was destroyed by the Sui Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Sui Dynasty. Whether captured or bought by the people, it finally fell into the hands of Li Shimin. If it has been hidden in the palace, Li Shimin, as the emperor, will naturally get the treasures of the previous dynasty.
There are also different opinions about whether Li Shimin really buried the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion. Legend has it that after Li Shimin's death, he really asked to use the Preface to Lanting as a pillow. Life and death are inseparable. But his sons, Tang Gaozong and Li Zhi, didn't do this. They secretly transferred the Preface to Lanting and buried it in their dry graves with Wu Zetian.
If this is true, then the Preface to Lanting stolen by Wen Tao should be a fake, which was used by Li Zhi to fool Lao Zi. Then we may see the original work of Preface to Lanting in the future, because Ganling has not been stolen so far, and it is one of the few imperial tombs in the Tang Dynasty that has not been stolen.
Unexpectedly, Wu Zetian not only failed to let a man fight for power and profit, but also managed the country, and even did a very good job in preventing grave robbery. At that time, Huang Chao mobilized 400,000 people to dig dry tombs, but failed, so that dry tombs could be preserved.
To put it another way, perhaps the original work of Preface to Lanting will always be hidden underground, which is its best destination. Wouldn't it be nice to be an eternal legend of the Chinese nation?