Follow the visitors to continue to walk around the Qianling, and soon see the most surprising scene for us, only to see the east and west sides of the Shinto outside the Suzaku Gate, there are two groups of stone statues, neatly and respectfully arranged in front of the mausoleum. There are 32 statues on the west side and 29 statues on the east side, a total of 61 statues.

These stone figures are between meters and meters, the size is about the same as the real person, people are accustomed to call these stone statues "Fan Statue", "Bin King Statue", also called "Sixty-one Fan Chen Statue". These life-size stone figures are dressed in different ways, ranging from robes with waists to purple sleeves with lapels. But they all stood side by side, their hands arched forward, and their postures were extremely humble, as if they were lining up here to welcome the emperor's arrival. But the strangest thing is that these stone statues are headless, which makes people have many questions, why does Qianling use these headless stone statues to guard the tomb? If you look closely at them, you will see that the heads of the stone statues can be seen from the necks of these people with the marks of the smashed off. So, is the disappearance of the heads of these stone statues man-made, or is it a natural disaster?

There are different opinions about why the stone statue does not have a head. One theory is that the heads of these stone statues were cut off by the people of the Ming Dynasty. In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, a foreign envoy went to the Qianling Tomb to play, and found that his ancestors were actually erected here to guard the tomb of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. But he was afraid of causing dissatisfaction among the local people, so he came up with a clever plan. Every night he would trample the grain in the crops near Qianling, and then the next day he fanned the flames and told the people that they were all made of stone statues, and that they had become sperm at night and began to spoil the crops. In order to protect the crops and food, these statues must be destroyed, their heads cut off, so that they cannot come out to harm the crops. The local people thought that the foreign envoy was very reasonable, so in a fit of rage, they cut off the heads of the stone statues.

In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, some poets described the Qianling Tomb in the verses that "the red horse peeled off and fell aside", which should mean that the horses and stone statues of the Qianling Tomb fell to the ground one after another. The scene of the stone statue falling to the ground described in the poem seems to be similar in time to the folk legend.

There is also a theory that when the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China, they saw a group of statues of foreign envoys standing in front of Tang Qianling, and they also felt humiliated by their faces, so they cut off the head of the stone statue. But this statement is groundless, because according to historians, the Eight-Nation Coalition Army did not come to Qianling at that time, so where did it come from to cut down stone statues?

Although the above are folk legends and cannot be used as a basis, archaeologists have further analyzed this phenomenon and found that natural disasters may have brought disaster to these stone statues. Through a large number of data, it is proved that in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, that is, on January 23, 1556, a strong earthquake occurred in the area of Huaxian County, Shaanxi, with a magnitude of 8-11. More than 800,000 people died in the earthquake because it occurred in the middle of the night. Qianling is only more than 100 kilometers away from Huaxian County, which also belongs to the epicenter area, and Qianling has also suffered a devastating blow, which is the Huaxian earthquake that shocked China and foreign countries. Experts believe that the earthquake was one of the main reasons for the fracture of the heads of the 61 statues. Coincidentally, many of the stone statues and stone horses in front of the mausoleum were damaged on their heads. In addition, the material of these stone statues is not very strong, because there are some stone flaws in the stone materials used at that time, so when the stone statues are damaged, the head is the most prone to problems.

Researchers deduce that some of the 61 statues were most likely destroyed in the earthquake and some in the wars of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Even though these stone statues have been destroyed, it is still possible to find the scene of the prosperous Tang Dynasty from their images.

From the second year of Chongning in the Northern Song Dynasty to the sixth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, there were "poems inscribed by those who came and went", totaling 39 people and 42 paragraphs. Among them, the inscription of "The Legend of the Great Golden Emperor and the Brother of the Great Golden Emperor in the middle of the yang side of the wordless stele is engraved in a rare Khitan script known as the "mystery of the twentieth century", and the historical value is precious. On the immediate north side of the two stone monuments, sixty-one stone statues of Fan Chen are erected. There are 29 statues in the east group and 32 statues in the west group. These stone figures were ethnic minority officials and neighboring princes and envoys under the Tang Dynasty at that time. In order to show off the prestige of Gaozong and the Wu Zhou Dynasty, Wu Zetian erected their statues in front of the mausoleum. On the back of the stone statue engraved with the country, official position and name, the handwriting can be identified today as "King Stole of Mujuhan", "King of Khotan", "Prince of Tochar Holding Kada Gan", "Mo Si Envoy Shifting Greedy Khan Dagan", "Lord of the City of Immortals He Fu Diyan" and other seven statues. Outside the four gates of the inner city of the cemetery, there are also 4 pairs of 8 tall and majestic stone lions, with the most majestic outside the Suzaku Gate. This pair of stone lions hold their heads high, the giants are mane, their eyes are wide-mouthed, their feet are stretched forward, and their bodies are squatting back, awe-inspiring and upright like Mount Tai. The stone lion is placed in front of the mausoleum, which increases the sacredness and majesty of the cemetery.

When we walked here, the three of us were surprised by the scenery in front of us, and Makushu deliberately kept a distance from the visitors. He took out the compass and looked at the Shinto, his face changed drastically, and then he quickly put the compass away. An Xiangfei and I looked puzzled, but Mu Xiu didn't say it, and we didn't want to ask at this time, because on this Shinto Road outside the Suzaku Gate, there were obviously more people than in other places.

Although our purpose is not pure, but in the face of this scene, we can't help but stop and browse for a while, and after carefully looking at these headless stone statues, under the urging of the curtain repair, An Xiangfei and I reluctantly bid farewell to this headless statue.

If you continue to walk from Shinto, you should have reached the east side of Sima Dao, but there is a very strange feeling on the road in between.

"Did you notice it, why does this road feel a little wrong?" I'll speak first.

"Yes, a little, it stands to reason how can there be a mountain here, isn't this blocking feng shui, and the green dragon, the white tiger, the Xuanwu, several doors are open and bright, but here is a big mountain outside the door, is there anything special?" An Xiangfei heard me say this, and said confusedly.

"Let's not talk about it yet, let's talk about it when we go back. We'll be able to get out after the front. At this time, a few patrolling security personnel not far away really walked over like us, and Mu Xiu hurriedly reminded An Xiangfei and me in a low voice.

This novel is from Reading Rim