Content introduction:
Wen Tao, a native of A Liang for five generations, was later renamed Li Yantao. Wen Tao's ancestral home was in Huayuan (now Yaoxian County, Shaanxi Province). He once served as our envoy in Yaozhou, Chongzhou and Yuzhou, and governed Guanzhong. Legend has it that when Wen Tao was born, a stolen star just fell on the craggy mountain in the area where Zhaoling was located, and superstitious people said that this man who would bring disaster to the Tang Imperial Tomb was born.
Wen Tao was the chief executive in Chang 'an for seven years. Almost all the Tang tombs in Guanzhong area were excavated by Wen Tao during his tenure. Wen Tao's excavation of the tomb of the Tang Dynasty is well documented, and it is clearly recorded in the official history and unofficial history.
Extended data
The destruction brought by Wen Tao to the imperial tomb in China is catastrophic and irreversible, and many precious cultural relics have been destroyed by it. Therefore, historians and archaeologists agree that Wen Tao is one of the most dangerous grave robbers in the history of grave robbery in China, and he is a sinner through the ages. After Li Shimin's death, Emperor Taizong took many precious masterpieces of calligraphy and painting, such as Preface to Lanting, as funerary objects and brought them into Zhaoling.
Ironically, after illiterate Wen Tao took a batch of paintings and calligraphy out of Zhaoling, what attracted him was not priceless paintings and calligraphy, but gorgeous silks and satins mounted outside. He told his men to tear off all the silks and satins and throw away the works. Historians speculate that Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion has never appeared again and may have been torn up by Wen Tao.
But what is puzzling is that there is no such post among the stolen treasures registered one by one in Wen Tao. Scholars of later generations hold a beautiful wish that the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion in the dry tomb of Wu Zetian is really a great fortune of Chinese culture.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Wen Tao
Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhaoling
Was Zhaoling stolen? It was stolen.
The tomb of Emperor Taizong has long been stolen. I remember saying that there were 2 1 tombs in the Tang Dynasty, only 3 tombs were not in Shaanxi, and the other 18 tombs were all in Guanzhong area, referred to as "eighteen tombs in Guanzhong" for short. Now only the tombs of Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian are complete. Wen Tao, the secretariat of Yaozhou in the Five Dynasties, stole Zhaoling and wrote a list. According to the History of the New Five Dynasties, Li Hong was no different from other parts of the world when he returned to Liang Dynasty. In the middle is the right bed, and there are stone beds in the east and west compartments. The stone letter on the bed is an iron box. I know that the books of past lives, Zhong Wang's handwriting, paper and ink are as good as new. I learned it and passed it on to the world. "Li Shimin's mausoleum (Zhaoling) was stolen? The history of the theft of ancient Zhaoling is still inconclusive. The only time was when Wen Tao, the secretariat of Yaozhou in the Five Dynasties, said that he wanted to steal Zhaoling Tomb, but there were many loopholes in what he said, so there is no conclusion in academic circles now.
The modern Zhaoling was stolen once in 1994, but the murals stolen from Zhaoling Museum have been recovered. Now it can only be said that the ground building of Zhaoling has been destroyed, and there should be no problem inside the mausoleum. Was the Zhaoling Tomb of Emperor Taizong stolen? Located in Jiushan, Xia Yan Township, Liquan County, 40km northwest of Xianyang City.
The BMW with stone carvings on the wall stolen from the cemetery is now in a famous museum in America. It was stolen when Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China. Was Li Shimin's Tomb Stolen Zhaoling is the tomb of Li Shimin, the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and the largest of the "Eighteen Tombs of the Tang Dynasty" in Guanzhong, Shaanxi Province. It is located more than 20 kilometers northeast of Liquan County. The cemetery has a circumference of more than 60 kilometers, a total area of more than 20,000 hectares, and more than 80 tombs/kloc-0. Known as the "world famous mausoleum", it is the largest royal cemetery in the world. From the first burial of Emperor Wende Shi in the tenth year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong to the twenty-ninth year of Kaiyuan, the construction of Zhaoling Cemetery lasted 107, and a large number of cultural relics remained on the ground and underground. She is a physical witness from the early Tang Dynasty to the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and a rare treasure house for us to understand and study the politics, economy and culture of the feudal society in Tang Dynasty and even in China. Zhaoling is the first example of China feudal emperor's "relying on mountains as tombs", and it is a microcosm of the reform and opening up in the Tang Dynasty. Zhaoling has preserved a large number of calligraphy, sculpture and paintings in the Tang Dynasty, which provides valuable information for us to study the traditional painting and calligraphy art in China. The epitaph of Zhaoling is a model of calligraphy art in the early Tang Dynasty. Or official or seal, or line or grass, from the hands of many famous calligraphers. Chu Suiliang, Li Zhi, Wang Zhijing, Yin Zhongrong, Zhao Mo, Gao, Chang Zheng, Wang Xingman, Li Xuanzhi and other great calligraphers, with their unique styles, have become a wonderful flower in China's calligraphy art garden. The relief of "Six Horses in Zhaoling" is novel in composition, concise in technique and exquisite in carving. Mr. Lu Xun once called it "unprecedented". The murals in Zhaoling's burial tombs are mostly a portrayal of the real life in the Tang Dynasty, and there is no lack of romanticism. Their brushwork is either bold or vigorous. Its colors are simple and lively, or delicate and exquisite, and its characters are lifelike, which is the best in the murals of Tang tombs. A large number of glazed pottery figurines unearthed in Zhaoling's burial tomb are exquisite in workmanship, beautiful in shape and colorful, which is also rare in China. Whether Zhaoling was stolen has been a question that tourists are interested in and often ask for many years. We say that Zhaoling, like the tombs of many emperors, was unfortunately stolen in history. The most clear record is that during the period of the Five Dynasties' history, Liang appointed him as our ambassador to Yaozhou (governing Huayuan County, now Yaoxian County, Shaanxi Province) and Yuzhou (governing Meiyuan County, now Dongmeiyuan Town, Fuping County, Shaanxi Province) to win the battle with righteousness and conduct a large-scale excavation of the Tang tombs in Guanzhong. "The History of the Old Five Dynasties: Biography" records that during the seven years of his reign, "the tomb of the Tang Dynasty, which knows something, took the book of the previous life, and the paper and ink of Zhong (Yao) and Wang (Xizhi) were as new." The records in The History of the New Five Dynasties Tao Wenchuan are more detailed. It said, "During the seven years in the town, people living in Tang's tomb learned about it and took away its hidden treasure. Zhaoling is the most solid, and the Taojian Palace system is no different from the world. It is in the middle of the master bedroom, the stone bed in the east and west compartments, the stone letter on the bed, the iron box in the middle, the book of past lives, calligraphy, paper and ink as new. Tao learned it and passed it on to the world. Only dry ling, wind and rain can't be sent. " Judging from these records, Zhaoling was indeed robbed. However, Wen Tao who robbed Zhaoling was also killed. Tao Wenchuan, a new and old history of the Five Dynasties, recorded that Wen Tao's excavation of the mausoleum was unpopular. He later surrendered to the later Tang Dynasty and bribed the Queen of Zhuang, General Liu, with the stolen treasure. Minister Guo Chongtao told Zhuang Zong: "The robbery of this grave robber is unforgivable." Because of the Queen's kindness, Zhuang Zong left Wen Tao to die. Ming zong succeeded to the throne and finally "executed" the Tang tomb thief at home. Zhaoling was stolen, which is Yao's record. After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Taizu Zhao Kuangyin decided to restore the tombs of emperors in previous dynasties, and ordered all counties to check the existence and abolition of the tombs of emperors in previous dynasties. As a result, it was learned that 28 tombs of emperors were stolen during the unrest, including 8 tombs of Tang Dynasty in Guanzhong 12. They are Xianling, Zhaoling, Dingling, Jianling, Yuanling, chongling, Fengling, Zhang Ling, Duanling, Ling Zhen, Jianling and Jingling. This result should be credible. Since the large-scale restoration of the imperial tombs in Song Taizu, imperial edicts to protect the imperial tombs have been common in the imperial edicts of past dynasties, but there is no record in the history books about the re-excavation of the Tang tombs. Therefore, I'm afraid Zhaoling in Wen Tao has never been destroyed since it was excavated in the Five Dynasties. However, in recent years, scholars have questioned the incident of stealing Zhaoling in Biography of Wen Tao, and proved that Zhaoling was not stolen by Tao Wen from both positive and negative aspects. First of all, scholars believe that Yao and Yu are our envoys, and he is in charge of Yisheng. In the Eighteen Mausoleums of Emperor Taizong, its sphere of influence only involves Sanyuan, the northern part of Jingyang and the northwestern part of Fuping, while Ganxian, where Ganling is located, and Liquan, where Zhaoling is located, are both Li's territory. Although nominally Li's adopted son, he is different in essence. Wen Tao could not have committed a crime in Zhaoling. If Tao Wen really digs the Tang tombs, it can only be the Tang tombs under his jurisdiction. In addition, scholars believe that since Wen Tao robbed Zhaoling and stole the "handwriting handed down to the world", why didn't "Zhong Wang's handwriting" such as "Preface to Lanting" spread to the Song Dynasty from then on, or even today? With Zhong Wang's lofty position in the history of calligraphy, his "handwriting" and "paper and ink" have been spread in the world, and there will be more records and copies, but there is no news. Therefore, they denied that historical records were wrong. I hope this beautiful wish can come true.
Why didn't the Zhaoling Tomb of Emperor Taizong be excavated? Consider two reasons: on the one hand, the archaeological level and scientific and technological level of the country are not mature enough, and the means of preservation of cultural relics are not advanced, which leads to the oxidation of many cultural relics not long after they are unearthed.
On the other hand, the underground structure of Zhaoling is still unclear. In order to better explore the imperial tombs, it is necessary to make overall plans and carry out scientific work. Extended data:
Main mausoleum pattern:
Zhaoling Gongxuan was built on the hillside of the south slope of the main peak of Jiuyi Mountain, 60 kilometers away from Fiona Fang cemetery. There is an underground palace at the bottom of the peak, including the tomb buried with him, which stretches for dozens of miles and is magnificent. According to relevant historical records, Zhaoling is surrounded by city walls, and there are houses and temples on the mountain, which is the place where the tomb owner's soul plays.
The underground of Zhaoling is the Xuan Palace. Because of the steep mountain around the gaunt underground palace, there is a plank road on the side of the mountain, which winds up more than 400 meters halfway up the mountain and reaches the Yuan Palace Gate. There are turrets at the four corners of the city wall, and there is one in the middle. It is called Zhuquemen in the south, Xuanwu Gate in the north, Qinglongmen in the east and Baihumen in the west.
Overall layout:
The main mausoleum of Zhaoling is located at the main peak of Jiuzhang Mountain in the northernmost part of the cemetery. 190 More than 90 buried tombs are centered on the main peak of Lingshan, and distributed in a fan shape on both sides and due south of Lingshan, guarding Zhaoling like a star guarding Beichen, just like the layout of Chang 'an in that year. The imperial court is in the north, and the courtier's office is in the south, which symbolizes the supreme power of the autocratic monarch. The arrangement of buried tombs also reflects the strong patriarchal ideology of autocratic monarchy.