Chapter 257: An Imperial Tomb from the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period? (1)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A woman’s burial site? And with colorful soil unearthed? Moreover, with such simple accompanying burial objects? This was clearly unreasonable.
As they dug further, they discovered horse bones, which only added to Luo Feng’s confusion. He now had to piece together all the information he had gathered so far and find useful clues.
Soon, he thought of a possibility, but it remained merely a speculation. The truth would depend on the evidence they would find.
Personally, Luo Feng was fairly confident in his guess, though.
“Do you have an idea? What have you figured out?” Gu Santong immediately asked.
“If my guess is correct, this should be a human sacrifice pit!” Luo Feng replied.
“Ah? A human sacrifice pit?” Gu Santong was momentarily puzzled.
Luo Feng then explained, “If it is a human sacrifice tomb, that could explain why a common woman’s grave contains colorful soil. You should know, Master Gu, that pre-Qin civilian tombs have rarely ever contained colorful soil, right?”
“That’s right! Common people couldn’t afford such things!” Gu Santong nodded in agreement.
One of the archaeological team members beside Gu Santong chimed in, “I remember that the Qin Gong No. 1 tomb had numerous accompanying burial tombs! And there were also human sacrifice pits with buried warhorses!”
Luo Feng nodded and glanced at the weeds around them, saying, “If this is indeed a human sacrifice pit, there must be a larger tomb nearby! After all, ancient records from the pre-Qin period mention that emperors and feudal lords had many more human sacrifices than common people—hundreds for some, while others had dozens. High-ranking generals and officials would also have dozens of human sacrifices, with the least being a few people.”
“Hmm, in that case, since a woman and a horse are part of the sacrificial burials, that would at least suggest that we’re searching for a general’s tomb, wouldn’t it?” Gu Santong asked, breathing heavily.
“What are you all talking about? Just because there is a horse and a woman, you’re already thinking of a general’s tomb?”
“Is Master Gu reliable? There hasn’t even been any treasures of significant value found yet. How did he reach the conclusion of there being a general’s tomb?”
Sensing the confusion from his viewers, Luo Feng smiled and said, “Human sacrifice was a popular practice during the Spring and Autumn Warring States and Qin dynasty periods. Do you know what the earliest human sacrifices were? Soldiers. But there aren’t many historical records of this practice during that time! Of course, after that short period, soldiers were no longer used for human sacrifices, as they were needed for warfare.”
“Later, the method of human sacrifice changed. Instead of burying living people, they would use terracotta figures to replace them. For example, the terracotta warriors and horses of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum were substitutes for real soldiers.”
“Another form of human sacrifice involved burying the tomb builders themselves. Many tomb owners preferred this method because it effectively protected their burial sites from being discovered.”
“Of course, women were also used as human sacrifices, like the wives and palace maids of emperors and kings. In the beginning, even the empress dowagers had to be sacrificed, but that practice eventually stopped.”
“Besides these types of human sacrifices, there was another item used:
warhorses. These were among the few animals that could be used for sacrificial burials. In the case of Qin Shi Huang, terracotta warhorses were used as substitutes.”
“Apart from these forms of human sacrifice, there was also the practice of sacrificing one’s own children.”
“This kind of sacrifice can be seen in Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, but it’s not found in other Qin dynasty tombs!”
“Of course, that was because Qin Er Shi, the second emperor of Qin, had his siblings killed and then buried with Qin Shi Huang as human sacrifices to consolidate his position as emperor. Under normal circumstances, this kind of sacrifice wouldn’t occur, as the fundamental purpose of human beings is to continue their lineage. If such a practice became popular, humans would bring about their own extinction!”
After finishing his explanation, Luo Feng laughed and asked, “Master Gu, did I get all the details about the human sacrifice system right?”
“Yes, you did!” Gu Santong nodded with satisfaction, wishing someone as knowledgeable as Luo Feng could join his archaeological team.
“Stop talking! My head is spinning!”
“Being Qin Shi Huang’s children must have been really dangerous, huh? Having to be buried with their father?”
“Indeed, the life of an emperor’s family is heartless!”
“Not every dynasty was like that! It was only that wastrel Qin Er Shi who had his siblings killed and buried with Qin Shi Huang!”
Gu Santong asked, “Little Luo, after seeing this place, do you think the feng Shui is good?”
“Haha, didn’t you forget? Our beautiful Su just said earlier that the feng Shui here is excellent!” Luo Feng knew that Gu Santong wanted to hear his analysis and continued, “As far as I can see, this place has the layout suitable for kings, generals, and even emperors. However, I believe that the civilian tombs were buried here before the larger tomb. If it weren’t for these civilian tombs disrupting the feng shui, this place would have been perfect for a legitimate emperor’s tomb.”
There was nothing they could do about it. Since there had been civilians buried here already, it was not like they could just dig them up and move them, right?
Nevertheless, as far as feng Shui was concerned, once buried, digging them up would not change the feng Shui of the area.
Unless these people were buried several hundred or at least several decades earlier.
“But even if the imperial feng Shui was disrupted by those earlier civilian burials, it’s still a good place. Perhaps some rulers didn’t mind this and still chose to be buried here!” Luo Feng concluded.
Everyone listened intently to Luo Feng’s analysis, impressed by his knowledge and insight..
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