Why is Luoyang shovel said to exist like a god in grave robbing tools?

Luoyang shovel is said to have been invented by Li Yazi, a grave robber in the countryside near Luoyang, Henan, China in the early 20th century. Around 1923, Li Yazi, a villager from Ma Po Village, came to a place called Jin Meng near his home for a fair. After a while, he squatted on the side of the road to have a rest. Li Yazi lives by robbing tombs on weekdays, so he often thinks about the problem of robbing tombs. .

At this time, he saw a steamed stuffed bun shop not far away. The steamed stuffed bun seller is preparing to dig a small hole in the ground. His tools for digging holes in the ground aroused Li Yazi's interest. Because he saw that this thing could pick up a lot of soil every time it poked into the ground. Li Yazi, an experienced grave robber, immediately realized that this thing was easier to detect ancient tombs than the shovel usually used, so he was inspired to make a pattern according to that tool and found a blacksmith to make objects according to the pattern. So it's called Luoyang shovel.

The invention of Luoyang shovel is undoubtedly closely related to grave robbery. Tomb raiding activities in Luoyang have existed for a long time, but historical records rarely mention tomb raiding tools. When it comes to the historical origin of Luoyang shovel, almost all of them will mention Guang Zhi Yi written by Wang Shixing in Ming Dynasty. This book describes the ancient tomb in Luoyang and its theft.

The most important thing is to carry a grave-robbing tool called "iron cone". Volume 3 of "Guangzhiyi Jiangbei Four Provinces" records that Luoyang is rich in water and soil, and it is not as good as a spring for burial. The winch is ten feet long. However, although buried, thieves can still smell it with an iron cone, and they will be angry with gold, silver, copper and iron. During the Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties, many princes buried Beimang. However, most of the ancient tombs are buried in long tunnels, and most of the funerary wares are made of gold, silver, copper, iron and other materials. Today, all the antiques of Sanwu belong to Luoyang. However, Otsuka is forbidden to have a company and is not allowed to send it. The sender has small ears.

During the Republic of China, some scholars once called Luoyang shovel "iron cone". Although they have the same name, the working principles of the "iron cone" mentioned by Wang and Luoyang shovel are quite different. There is only the link of stabbing the soil, but there is no link of raising the soil to see the soil. Obviously, the two are not the same thing. It's incredible that you can find out where the antiques are by smelling them. If the metal "iron cone" touches the rusty objects made of gold, silver, copper, iron, etc., it is bound to leave traces on the front end of the "iron cone", and you can draw conclusions without smelling it at all. This is obviously a misinformation.

According to Wang's description, the "iron cone" he mentioned is very similar to the tomb-robbing tool "iron fire pestle" in the Republic of China, and it is the iron drill used in the old folk coal stoves. This tool is still in use in Luoyang after the 1980s, and it is commonly called "tie rod" locally. The working principle of "pull rod" is to use the lever principle to press a sharp long iron rod underground and feel the underground soil layer through the touch. Generally, raw soil is hard and not easy to penetrate, while raw soil is loose and easy to enter. So find the entrance to the tomb and dig it. While looking for ancient tombs, we can also analyze the types of tombs and the types of funerary objects by observing the residues at the tip of iron drills.

These historical records do not show that Luoyang shovel has appeared in the Ming Dynasty, or has taken shape. Ancient pirate caves discovered in Luoyang archaeology are generally rectangular, a kind of steel shovel, shovel or? Legacy of first-class rectangular tools. There is also a kind of stolen hole, which is different from the previous one. This kind of stolen hole is round, with a diameter of about 50 cm, and is made by a round tool. Judging from the unearthed cultural relics, the upper limit of the relative age of such stolen caves generally does not exceed the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. At the same time, it is also found that the diameter of the exploratory hole laid by Luoyang shovel is generally around 10 cm. These situations show that the tools of grave robbery changed later, and the existing evidence points to the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.