The skill of robbing a tomb

Different from Luoyang and Guanzhong in the north, Luoyang shovel is useless because of the thin soil and high water level in many places in the south. Local grave robbers "adapted to local conditions", after long-term exploration and summary, formed a set of methods and skills to find and understand treasures. Mr. Liu Hongfu, a Hunan scholar, has been dealing with folk antique dealers for many years, and took the opportunity to understand and study the methods and techniques of grave robbers around Changsha before liberation, which can be summarized as "looking", "smelling", "asking" and "cutting".

"Look" means looking at Feng Shui. Old grave robbers are experienced and good at geomantic omen, so wherever they go, they should first look at the terrain and see where the ancient tombs that were destroyed on the ground are. As long as it is a real treasure trove of geomantic omen, it is usually a tomb with many treasures inside. Using geomantic omen to guide the determination of unmarked tomb sites on the ground is almost a hit. According to legend, during the Republic of China, there was a grave-robbing master named Cai in Changsha, and his feng shui was very good. If he goes out and chooses a place, his followers will gather around. Once he went to visit relatives in Ningxiang county and went to a scenic spot. He pointed to a rice field and told his colleagues that there must be a big tomb under this field, and the treasure in the tomb will definitely make you and me rich. None of his colleagues believed him, so the man made a bet with them: if there was no grave, he would lose 1000 dollars. On the contrary, 70% of the treasures are found in graves. Many people gamble wildly and secretly find dozens of villagers to dig at night. In the middle of the night, they dug up a brick tomb with pictures of the deceased's life before his death. There are swords, Baoding, jade articles, lacquerware, golden cakes, inkstones, bamboo tubes and other items in the tomb. Later, they sold them to American missionaries and got a lot of dollars to get rich.

"Smell" means smell. Grave robbers with this magical skill specialize in the olfactory function of the nose. Before digging, he turned over the surface soil of the tomb, took a pinch of tomb soil and put it under his nose to smell it fiercely, so as to distinguish whether the tomb was stolen from the smell of the soil and judge the age according to the color of the soil. It is said that Kung Fu can best distinguish the subtle odor difference between the tomb soil in Han Dynasty and the tomb soil in Tang Dynasty with amazing accuracy.

When Changsha was just liberated, an old grave robber was shot. He sold the cultural relics and national treasures he stole all his life to foreigners. This man is Wen Jia, who used to rob tombs in Han and Tang Dynasties. As long as you smell the unearthed objects, you can accurately determine the age. A grave robber brought some old lacquerware, saying it was from a prince's grave. Leaning on the couch, smoking opium, he picked up a lacquer ware, sniffed it under his nose, and then said with a smile, "Dear friend, it will take about seven months for your lacquer ware to be taken out in the urine pit." The man was shocked and even said, "Offend! Attack! "

"Asking" means stepping on the spot. People who are good at this way often dress up as Mr. Feng Shui or fortune teller, travel around the world, pay special attention to beautiful places and places they have been to, and pretend to be high officials. They are generally eloquent and good at chatting with old people. Wherever I went, I visited the local old people as a fortune teller or feng shui master, and got the information and location of the ancient tomb from the conversation. This kind of person has some skills and good eloquence, and it is easy to gain the trust of the other party. As soon as we found out the exact location of the ancient tomb, we immediately called a group of thieves to dig at night.

"Qie" means feeling the pulse. There are three meanings: the first layer refers to how to find the direction of digging a hole and enter the coffin in the shortest distance after discovering the ancient tomb. This kind of kung fu requires not only rich experience in robbing tombs, but also a keen sense of observing things. People who are good at this method often locate the coffin accurately according to the terrain direction, such as taking people's pulse, and then making a hole in the tomb from the slope to the head and tail of the coffin to steal the funerary objects. Zeng Guofan's tomb was stolen in this way a few years ago. The second meaning is to touch the treasure of the deceased after opening the coffin. Touch from the head, through the mouth to the anus, and finally to the feet. Touching a treasure is like feeling a patient's pulse. You should be careful and calm, pay attention to calm and accurate, and there can be no omissions. The third layer means touching the unearthed cultural relics with your hands. Because there are countless cultural relics touched by experts, they often don't have to look at them with their eyes. Just touch these objects slowly, and you will know what they are and how much they are worth. They often gamble with others to win or lose in this way, and they often win.

Second, listen to the thunder and distinguish the cemetery.

"Jiao Si robbed the tomb to make a fortune" in "The Thief of Clearing Banknotes" reveals the skill of robbing the tomb: "Jiao Si, a thief in Cantonese opera, is stationed here, often near Baiyun Mountain, and takes robbing the tomb as his profession. There are dozens of people who have the ability to listen to rain, wind, thunder, grass color and mud marks. One day, out of the northern suburbs, it was noon, and the lightning paid. Jiao told everyone to observe in all directions, saying that despite the thunder and lightning and the storm, I should be careful and listen again and again. Jiao Naiyi stood in the thunderstorm at the top of the mountain. After a while, it rained heavily and the east side came back alone. When it was called a loud thunder, I vaguely felt my feet floating, as if I heard a sound underground. Jiao Xi said,' I see. ……'"

This Jiao Si deserves to be a master of grave robbery! He not only mastered the ability of ordinary grave robbers to distinguish the color of soil from that of soil, but also was good at using some natural phenomena to help him find the grave. For example, in Lightning and Thunder, Jiao Si went out to rob a tomb in a thunderstorm, and he asked the people who robbed the tomb with him to stand in four different directions. After the rain, people from the east came running and said that when it thundered just now, they heard a faint sound underground. Which direction did he want to answer? Jiao Si was very happy and said, "We found it!" There is some scientific truth in this. The underground with graves is empty. When thunder is loud, it is easy to resonate. It sounds as if there is something underground that is in harmony with thunder.

Supplement: Modern grave robbery not only depends on Luoyang shovel, but also needs to master remote sensing and magnetic induction technology.