Wei Zili copper coin

To understand the long history of China, we can understand it not only by reading history books, but also by archaeological excavation, and an important part of archaeological work is the excavation of ancient tombs. After the passage of time and the change of dynasties, many emperors' tombs have been stolen, and some have even been destroyed, but some ancient tombs are still safe despite being stolen many times.

Ganling is such a mausoleum. Ganling is located in Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province. It is the joint tomb of Wu Zetian and Li Zhi, so it is also the only tomb in China where two emperors were buried. Because Ganling is well preserved and there are countless funerary objects, it is also called "the ninth wonder of underground burial".

When Ganling was built, it happened to be the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. According to experts' speculation, there should be no less than 500 tons of funerary objects in the mausoleum. When Tang Gaozong Li Zhi died, the total value of the funerary wares placed in the tomb was equivalent to one-third of the national revenue at that time. When Wu Zetian died, one-third of the national treasures were buried in the tomb. So the value of Ganling is incalculable, so it is no wonder that it will be called a miracle. Ganling District is built in imitation of Chang 'an, Tang Dou, and is located in Liangshan, Ganxian County, Xianyang. An interesting thing happened while building Ganling.

Chen Ziang, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, suggested to Wu Zetian that the mausoleum should be built in Luoyang. But before he died, Li Zhi said a last word: "Chang 'an is a land of change, and you can die without hatred.". So, according to Li Zhi's wishes, Wu Zetian chose a geomantic treasure house for Li Zhixuan in Chang 'an. Wu Zetian sent Yuan Tiangang, a world-famous alchemist at that time, to choose a hall for Li Zhi to build a mausoleum.

As we all know, ancient emperors attached great importance to the location and construction of tombs, so finding the location of tombs is also a major event. Yuan Tiangang dare not neglect this. He came to the Yellow River for the first time, but he still couldn't find a favorite place on both sides of the Yellow River. Later, Yuan Tiangang came to Guanzhong area, and after many days of searching, he still found nothing.

One night in the middle of the night, Yuan Tiangang couldn't sleep, so he came out to see the astronomical phenomena. Suddenly, he saw a mountain not far away spewing purple gas, long and straight, just intersecting with the Big Dipper in the sky. Seeing this scene, Yuan Tiangang was overjoyed and decided that this was the treasure he was looking for. He immediately ran to the mountain, found the place where the purple gas came out, and took out a copper coin to mark the position. This just hurried back to Wu Zetian. The mountain that Yuan Tiangang took a fancy to was Liangshan in Ganxian County.

There is no way to verify the truth of this story, but in history, Gan Ling has indeed saved the day many times.

According to historical records, during the Huang Chao Uprising in the late Tang Dynasty, when the rebels attacked Chang 'an, Huang Chao tried to rob Ganling with 400,000 rebels. Under the excavation of 400 thousand soldiers, the mountain was quickly dug in half. I didn't expect Huang Chao to dig in the wrong direction, and finally found nothing, but left a 40-meter pit for future generations, which was called "Huang Chao Pit" in history.

In the Five Dynasties, Wen Tao also robbed Ganling. At that time, Wen Tao led tens of thousands of people to dig Liangshan, and this Wen Tao was persistent. He went back and forth three times, but every time he dug, it would thunder and rain, and it would be over as soon as they left. Seeing this strange phenomenon, Wen Tao felt very scared and finally gave up the idea of stealing rain.

During the Republic of China, Sun Lianzhong, the general of the national army, also had the idea of Ganling. He led a regiment of troops, euphemistically speaking, to exercise in Ganling, but in fact he was robbing a tomb. Sun Lianzhong even used explosives, but still couldn't find the underground entrance, so the soldiers had to dig around, and for several days, much cry and little rain. Sun Lianzhong was frightened and ordered to retreat.