Empress Xiaoyichun Tomb
Reginald Hanfy
The Looting of the Eastern Mausoleum was an incident in which some of the major mausoleums of the Chinese Qing dynasty in the Eastern Qing tombs were looted by troops under the command of the warlord Sun Dianying.
On June 12, 1928, Sun Dianying ordered a large-scale graverobbing operation that removed almost all the underground funeral objects of the Huifeiling and Yuling Mausoleums and the underground palace of Puxiangyu East Dingling. Ma Futian, Regimental Commander in the 28th Army of Zhang Zuolin, had quietly occupied Malanyu. Sun Dianying ordered Tan Wenjiang, one of his division commanders, to capture the tomb area. At dawn on July 2, Ma Futian was driven away and Tan's army looted the mausoleums in Malanyu. After that, Sun's army went straight to the area of the Eastern Qing Tombs, pretending to engage in war exercises in the area. Tan Wenjiang placed policemen all around, denying access to the area and signs declared the army was "protecting the Tombs" to prevent interference.[1]
The looting operation was directed by Sun Dianying from his car. Trucks were on hand to speed away with the loot as soon as they were loaded. At midnight the engineering corps blew up the entrance, opening the passage leading to the underground palace. The stone door was pried open to give access to the rear room of the grave. Sun gave first priority to officers above battalion commander level to collect treasure for themselves. Ordinary soldiers were eventually allowed to take the leftovers.[1]
The robbers first took the large treasure objects placed around the remains of Empress Dowager Cixi, such as jadeite watermelons, grasshoppers and vegetables, jade lotus and coral. They snatched objects found beneath the body and ravaged the corpse itself, taking her imperial robe; tearing off her undergarments, shoes and socks, and taking all the pearls and jewels on her body. The looters even pried open her jaws and took the rare pearl from her mouth. Ultimately, they looted the objects under the coffin that had been favorites of Cixi when she was alive.[1]
While Tan Wenjiang was robbing Cixi's tomb, Han Dabao, a brigade commander under Sun Dianying, led another group to the Yuling Mausoleum and declared his intention to conduct a war exercise. They blew the entrance and doorways of the underground palace and rushed into the tomb. The coffins of the Qianlong Emperor and his empress and four concubines were pried open, all the valuables looted and the skeletons thrown into the mud. The soldiers then rushed to the Yuling Mausoleum and the underground palace of Puxiangyu East Dingling and looted what they could.
Newspapers reported the graverobbing and the news spread throughout China and around the world. People were outraged. China's dethroned last emperor Puyi, who had dismissed Sun from his post, sent telegrams to Chiang Kai-shek; Yan Xishan, Commander of Garrison Force in Beijing; the Central Committee of Kuomintang and local newspapers asking them to punish Sun Dianying severely. Many others also called for punishment. However, Sun Dianying bribed those who were in a position to discipline him and nothing was done.[1]
After removing the treasures from the graves, Sun and his army sealed the empty chambers with stones. They carted off some of China's greatest treasures, but some things could not be easily removed and the imposing buildings of the mausoleum still survive.[2]
It is not known when Lady Wei entered the Forbidden City. In 1745, she was granted the title "Noble Lady". She was elevated on 9 December 1745 to "Concubine Ling", with "Ling" (令) meaning "clever and pleasant". On 20 May 1749 she was promoted to "Consort Ling", and although at this point she still had no children, the Qianlong Emperor adored her, describing her as gentle and beautiful. On 10 August 1756, when she was almost twenty-nine years old, she gave birth to the Emperor's seventh daughter, Princess Hejing. On 31 August 1757, she gave birth to the 14th son, Yonglu, who would die prematurely on 3 May 1760, and on 17 August 1758 to the ninth daughter, Princess Heke. On 3 February 1760, Consort Ling was elevated to "Noble Consort Ling". On 13 November 1760, she gave birth to the Emperor's 15th son, Yongyan, and on 13 January 1763 to his 16th son, who would die prematurely on 6 May 1765.
In 1765, while on a tour to Hangzhou, Empress Nara fell out of favor and was sent back to the Forbidden City to be confined. The real reason behind the Empress's downfall remains the subject of debate. Whatever happened, when they returned to the Forbidden City the Emperor stripped the Empress of her powers and on 28 July he promoted Noble Consort Ling to "Imperial Noble Consort". On 17 June 1766, she gave birth to the 17th son, Yonglin.
Empress Nara died on 19 August 1766 and the Emperor did not designate a new empress. However, the Imperial Noble Consort, who held the highest rank among all of the imperial consorts, was placed in charge of the imperial harem. She was thrifty in managing the funds and guided the Confucian rituals. She also accompanied the Qianlong Emperor on his excursions to Mount Tai, Jehol and the areas south of the Yangtze River.
In the thirty-eight year of his reign, the Emperor decided to secretly select an heir. Seven of his sons were living at the time, but he decided to choose Yongyan, who was not outstanding, but was hardworking and humble.
As time passed, the Imperial Noble Consort became increasingly ill. On 9 February 1775 her elder daughter, Princess Hejing, died and the news worsened her condition. She succumbed to her illness on 28 February 1775 at the age of 47. On 12 March 1775, she was posthumously granted the title "Imperial Noble Consort Lingyi", and on 19 November, she was interred in the Yu Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs after a grand funeral far more regal than that of an Imperial Noble Consort. She was buried on the right side of the Emperor's burial place, while his first wife, Empress Xiaoxianchun, was buried on the left side. After the Yu Mausoleum grave robbery occurred in 1928, it was revealed that her remains were well-preserved during inspection.
On 9 February 1796, the Qianlong Emperor abdicated and became a retired emperor. Yongyan was enthroned as the Jiaqing Emperor. When Qianlong announced his successor he also posthumously elevated Imperial Noble Consort Lingyi to "Empress Xiaoyi". After the Qianlong Emperor died on 7 February 1799, the Jiaqing Emperor honoured his mother with the posthumous title "Empress Xiaoyichun".
The popular TV play "Yanxi strategy" a few days ago is just a female growth inspirational play. Wei Yingluo, the protagonist of the play, became a royal concubine from an ordinary embroidered woman in a weaving house. She is deeply loved by Emperor Qianlong. Although she is not the queen, she is more beautiful than the queen. Looking at her growth history, Wei Yingluo is not only extremely smart, but also a leader who likes and dislikes clearly and is not easy to provoke. If someone bullies her, she will definitely revenge, and every time she starts, she is very ruthless, which is not what ordinary women can do at all.
Such a Wei Yingluo, who dares to love and hate, lives in the Forbidden City without being bound by the rules and regulations of the court. Because otherwise, it made Qianlong very curious, then pampered, and finally ascended the throne of the imperial concubine to honor his life. After 70 episodes of TV series, I found that Qianlong's love for weiyingluo was not a general one, but a universal and extreme one.
In the beautiful Forbidden City, how happy it is to get the only favor of Emperor Qianlong. Even the empress is jealous and crazy at last. Of course, this is the plot of the TV series. We can't know what the real harem looks like. However, a few days ago, I came to the East Tomb of the Qing Dynasty in Zunhua. In the Yuling Tomb of Qianlong, I got an answer. The emperor of Qianlong doted on Wei Yingluo, his concubine. He doted not only in his life, but also after his death. He doted on her forever.
Why do you say that? In the Yuling of the Emperor Qianlong, in addition to the Emperor Qianlong, there are two queens and three concubines buried here. The two queens are empress Xiaoxian, empress Xiaoyi, and the three are empresses Huixian, Zhemin and Shujia. Empress xiaoxianchun is Fucha Rongyin, the married wife of Qianlong in Yanxi strategy. Empress xiaoyichun is Wei Yingluo's imperial concubine. Because of her birth, her son Jiaqing became the emperor, and she was called empress xiaoyichun.
In the Yuling Mausoleum of Qianlong, the coffins were placed in such a position: Emperor Qianlong was in the center, the left side was the married wife, empress xiaoxianchun, the right side was empress Lingfei, xiaoyichun, and the other three imperial concubines were placed in the horizontal position in turn. This is enough to show the position of the imperial concubine Wei Yingluo in the heart of Emperor Qianlong.
The Yuling Ming Hall of Qianlong is spacious, with magnificent buildings, fine materials and beautiful workmanship. From south to north, it is successively the stele Pavilion, the five hole bridge, the stone statue life, the pailou gate, the one hole bridge, the xiamapai, the well Pavilion, the Shenchu storehouse, the East-West chaofang, the three-way three hole bridge and the East-West Pingqiao, the East-West Banfang, the longen hall, the three-way one hole bridge, the glazed flower gate, the two column gate, the altar five supplies, the square city and the Ming tower The regulation of Baocheng, Baoding and underground palace not only inherited the former dynasty, but also developed and innovated.
In Yuling, there are Mingtang vouchers, Chuantang vouchers and Jintang vouchers, which are in the shape of "main". There are four relief Bodhisattva statues in the stone gate. On the stone treasure bed in the gold hall, the coffin of Emperor Qianlong is placed in the middle, and the coffins of two empresses and three concubines are beside them. Under the coffin of Qianlong there was a golden well. There are relief Buddha statues, patterns and scriptures on the walls and tops of the vouchers in the underground palace. "Five Buddhas" are embossed on the top of the Mingtang coupons. On the wall of the coupons of the Jintang there are more than 30000 characters in the Yin of Sanskrit (ancient Indian) and Tibetan (Tibetan).
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