Chapter 71: Challenging the Unknown

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Mongolian Secret Burial and Genghis Khan Secret Burial Place

The world-famous Mausoleum of Genghis Khan is located on the Ordos Plateau in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in the territory of the Yijin Horo (Mongolian meaning the tomb of the Holy Lord) banner, located on the high Gander Hills. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info surrounding a group of grassland scenery, the splendid Chengling Hall set off the majestic and magnificent. The total area of the mausoleum area is more than 50,000 square meters. In front of the main hall is a wide plaza with two "manihon" (flags) with the image of nine flying horses. It is said to be a symbolic sign of the Mongolian people's desire for prosperity and happiness.

The main hall of Chengling is 26 meters high, with a construction area of more than 1,500 square meters. The upper part is a large and two small yurt-style temple roofs, which are inlaid with blue and yellow glazed tiles, forming a traditional cloud hook wave pattern. The cornices are towering, the angles are volleying, the vermilion gate and the wide window lattice, the white marble carved railing in front of the hall, and the calm granite pedestal, set off the hall magnificently, solemn and solemn. The whole hall is composed of the front hall, the rear hall, the east and west halls, and the east and west corridors. The front hall houses a 5-meter-high statue of Genghis Khan, and the front of the apse displays three yellow satin yurts, among which the coffins of Genghis Khan and his three ladies are placed. The east hall houses the coffins of Genghis Khan's fourth son, Tuo Lei and his wife, and the west hall enshrines Genghis Khan's war knife, saddle and sacrificial milk bucket. The inner walls of the halls and the two corridors are painted with frescoes. The murals in the west corridor depict Genghis Khan's lifelong exploits and the social conditions, religious beliefs and living customs of the Mongolian people at that time, while the murals in the east corridor reflect the prosperity of the Mongolian and Yuan empires after Kublai Khan's unification of China, the relationship between the subjects and the imperial court, and the trade with neighboring countries.

Since Genghis Khan's death in 1227, his commemoration has been passed down from generation to generation in the steppe. Chengling is presided over by the Dalhuts who guard the tomb. Today, there are four major festivals on the 21st day of the third lunar month, the 15th day of the fifth month, the 12th day of the eighth month and the third day of the 10th month of the lunar calendar, and the small festivals every month. At the time of the sacrifice, many worshippers come with a pious mood and travel thousands of miles to stand in front of the tall statue of this legendary figure, and offer the holiest sacrifices such as hata, refining candles, incense, whole sheep, cow and goat's milk, ghee, mare's milk wine, etc. The entire memorial service takes about two hours. The sacrificial activities of Chengling carry the traditional culture of the Mongolian people for thousands of years, attracting a large number of tourists at home and abroad to come for sightseeing and worship.

In fact, the Ordos Genghis Khan Mausoleum is a tomb and symbolic tomb of Genghis Khan, not a burial place for Genghis Khan. As for where Genghis Khan was buried, it is still a mystery.

At present, the imperial tombs of all Chinese dynasties, such as the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty, have been found, and some of the tombs have been excavated, but the imperial tombs of the Yuan Dynasty have not been found. Moreover, there were 10 emperors of the Yuan Dynasty, and the world did not even know a single royal mausoleum. Not only that, but even the burial places of the princes and nobles of the Yuan Dynasty are rarely found. Therefore, there are very few cultural relics of the Yuan Dynasty that have been handed down, and the archaeology of the Yuan Dynasty has attracted much attention.

According to some historical records, Genghis Khan, including the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty, implemented a secret burial system, that is, the burial place of the emperor's mausoleum was not marked, announced, or recorded. Therefore, since the Ming Dynasty, the exact location of the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan and the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty has always been a hot spot for people to explore. In particular, there are many theories about the specific location of Genghis Khan's mausoleum, such as in the Ordos Plateau, south of the Kent Mountains in Mongolia, and in the Altai Mountains. Since it is a secret burial, no signs, no announcements, and no records, then, the records of all kinds of official history and wild history are naturally not very credible, and most of them are legends, speculations, and even chasing after the wind.

However, in recent years, there has also been a theory in the theoretical circles that according to the customs and habits of the Mongolian nation, Genghis Khan may have adopted the method of sky burial, so there is no trace, resulting in hundreds of years of fruitless search. That's not a bad idea.

In short, without sufficient archaeological evidence, the secret burial place of Genghis Khan will remain a mystery.

Find Genghis Khan's secret burial place: build momentum for treasure

According to the generally accepted theory in the historical circles, Genghis Khan, a generation of Tianjiao, died of illness in 1227 during the battle in the area of Liupan Mountain in the present-day Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The grief-stricken generals buried Genghis Khan in secret according to Mongol custom. For this historical figure who once established an empire across the Eurasian continent, the location of his mausoleum has become a hot topic in the archaeological community.

According to reports, more than 770 years after the death of Genghis Khan, the search for Genghis Khan's tomb has never been interrupted. Many people looking for Genghis Khan's tomb came for the treasures in legends or speculations. Some people have predicted that Genghis Khan's Mausoleum may contain a large number of rare treasures, even more than the treasures of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. Because, most of the treasures plundered by Genghis Khan's army when they swept across Eurasia are missing.

In particular, in the past ten years, the search for Genghis Khan's mausoleum has been heating up, Hungary, Poland, the United States, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Russia, Turkey, South Korea and other more than 10 countries have invested a lot of manpower and material resources, and have actually carried out the work of finding Genghis Khan's mausoleum, but basically to no avail. Among them, the Japanese began to implement a huge archaeological plan to find the tomb of Genghis Khan seven years ago, using advanced detection instruments, and as a result, they spent more than a billion yen to excavate two or three hundred ancient tombs near Mount Kent, and found nothing. In the past three years, the American billionaire Kravitz has cooperated with Mongolian archaeologists to use advanced instruments that can explore to a depth of 10 meters underground, and has also carried out a large-scale search for Genghis Khan's tomb in Mongolia, and found a mausoleum with a stone wall outside in Mongolia.

It has been reported that the "Japan-Mongolia Joint Archaeological Team" discovered the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan near Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The news has caused domestic and foreign news media to hype up the news about the search for Genghis Khan's secret burial place, leaving the archaeological community and readers confused.

Recently, a reporter interviewed Liu Zhaohe, director of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Cultural Relics Bureau, who had just returned from a visit to Mongolia, and he believed that news such as "the discovery of Genghis Khan's mausoleum" was a kind of hype and was very uncredible. It's just that some foreign archaeological teams are building momentum in order to expand their influence, and the archaeological work of Genghis Khan's secret burial site has not made much progress in fact.

In mid-October, Liu Zhaohe led a delegation of cultural relics from China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to visit Mongolia, during which he learned that not only did the local media react indifferently to the news that the "Japan-Mongolia Joint Archaeological Team" had discovered the tomb of Genghis Khan, but also the government officials concerned were indifferent.

Liu Zhaohe believes that Genghis Khan adopted a secret burial, and that all the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty were secretly buried, and so far no secret burial place of the Yuan Dynasty emperor has been discovered. According to the secret burial system of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor's mausoleum does not seal the mound, does not leave the signs that outsiders can see, and after the burial, ten thousand horses must be flattened, and the ground plants are restored as before. In order to prevent it from being stolen or destroyed by future generations, it is impossible to find it easily. In particular, it is even more difficult for foreigners who are not familiar with the customs of the Mongolian ethnic group.

Liu Zhaohe told reporters that there are many theories and records about the secret burial place of Genghis Khan, but most of them are legends, and their authenticity needs to be further verified. However, the consensus of the archaeological community is that after Genghis Khan died of illness in Liupan Mountain in Ningxia, his body was transported back to a certain place in the grassland and buried in a deep pit on the surface. After the burial, it is backfilled with soil, and then "ten thousand horses are flattened". The surrounding area should be enclosed with tents, and the tents should be removed until the grass on the burial ground grows and is no different from the surrounding grass, so that the location of the burial will not be revealed.

It is also reported that after Genghis Khan's secret burial, he killed a baby camel on the surface of the secret burial ground, and at this time, the mother camel who accompanied the baby camel would cry out in grief and use the camel's special memory to remember the place. In the second year, when the sacrifice was made, the she-camel was brought and when she was far away, she would gallop over in grief and cry out at the place where the baby camel had been killed, so that the people who came to the sacrifice would find the exact place of the burial. Assuming that the legend is true, but the lifespan of camels is limited, then over time, this sign of memory slowly fades away.

Regarding the news that the "Japan-Mongolia Joint Archaeological Team" had discovered the tomb of Genghis Khan, Liu Zhaohe confidently denied it. He said that what is certain is that the "Japan-Mongolia joint archaeological team" recently excavated only the ruins of a palace near Ulaanbaatar, not the tomb of Genghis Khan. According to the funeral customs of the nomads, Genghis Khan was never buried in or near the palace.

Genghis Khan had four camps in spring, summer, autumn and winter (called "Erdo" in Mongolian), and changed camps every season. Liu Zhaohe said that the Japanese archaeological team excavated only the ruins of the palace building of one of the camps.

Liu Zhaohe also believes that China has a large number of historical materials about Genghis Khan, and that China has the most comprehensive and thorough study of Genghis Khan in the world, and also understands the customs of the nomadic people, and has the right to speak on the issue of Genghis Khan's mausoleum. Therefore, judging by the current situation, the ruins of the palace excavated by the Japanese are not the tomb of Genghis Khan. It seems that Japanese archaeologists are doing academic research on the one hand, and more importantly, they are creating public opinion.

When Mongolian President Bagabandi visited China, he said in an interview with Chinese reporters: "According to Genghis Khan's will, his mausoleum will never be known to the world." We should follow this will of Genghis Khan. I don't think it matters where Genghis Khan's mausoleum is...... Let it always be a puzzle and let those who are willing to guess the answer continue to guess the answer. ”

The last Mongolian prince Qi Zhongyi revealed the secret of Genghis Khan's mausoleum

In the face of some media hype about the news that Japan and other countries have found the secret burial place of Genghis Khan, Mr. Qi Zhongyi, the 34th grandson of Genghis Khan and the last Mongolian prince in China, just smiled indifferently. He introduced some little-known things to reporters and unveiled one of the mysterious corners of Genghis Khan's Mausoleum in Ordos.

Located in the Yijin Horo Banner of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan has always attracted attention at home and abroad, and the Mongolian people regard it as a sacred place every year, but some people believe that it is just a tomb of Genghis Khan.

Qi Zhongyi, a 78-year-old man who has served as deputy head of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's Yikezhao League (now Ordos City) for many years, retired from the post of vice chairman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference a few years ago. At his home, the old man was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency reporters and told them many little-known things about Genghis Khan's mausoleum.

"Outsiders don't know that the tomb of Genghis Khan, located in the Ijin Horo Banner, is very important, and it is not just the tomb of the ancestor Genghis Khan. There are many secrets in Genghis Khan's coffin, but they cannot be said. I remember that in 1954, when the great sacrifice was made, the coffin was opened, and the then chairman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Ulanfu, saw it with his own eyes. The reporter also visited a portrait of Genghis Khan's whole family treasured in Qi Zhongyi's home, a total of 12 people in the painting, and the portrait of Genghis Khan is different from the image that is now circulating in the world. Qi Zhongyi said that the portrait was taken from Genghis Khan's coffin.

"According to the customs of the Mongols and the shamanism practiced in the past, the main sacrifice of ancestors is to sacrifice souls, not bones. According to the custom of the Mongolian people, when a person is about to die, his last breath - the soul will leave the body and attach itself to the hair of a nearby camel. According to historical records, the camel hair that absorbed the last breath of Genghis Khan's ancestors - that is, the soul of the camel has been collected in the tomb of Genghis Khan in Ordos for hundreds of years. Qi Zhongyi said.

At that time, the Mongols did not have a tradition of body worship, believing that the human body came from nature and should be returned to nature after death. The early burial will allow the soul to ascend to heaven. Therefore, in the coffin enshrined in Genghis Khan's mausoleum, what is preserved is the soul adsorption at the time of his death -- the white male camel's mane. According to records, when Genghis Khan died, he took a white male camel's mane and put it on Genghis Khan's mouth and nose, if he did not breathe, it means that the soul has been attached to this white camel hair, and the body can be disposed of, and this camel hair is kept in the clothed mound.

The old man Qi Zhongyi believes that "Genghis Khan died in Liupan Mountain in the current Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, it was summer, the climate was hot, and it was impossible for the body to be transported far away, and it is very likely that the secret burial was in Ordos." He also told reporters a beautiful legend that circulated on the Ordos Plateau:

In that year, when Genghis Khan led the army to the west to conquer Western Xia, he passed through Baoer Tolgoi in the Ordos grassland, witnessed the beautiful scenery of abundant water and grass here, and the beautiful scenery infested with flowers and deer, he was very intoxicated, and dropped the horsewhip on the ground when he was nostalgic, and when the entourage wanted to pick up the horsewhip, he was stopped by Genghis Khan. The Great Khan was moved and recited a poem: "The place where the golden deer roosts, the hometown of hoopoe birds, the place of revitalization of declining dynasties, and the state of pleasure for white-haired old men." And he said to the left and right, "When I die, I can be buried here." After Genghis Khan's death on Liupan Mountain, his subordinates prepared to transport his coffin back to his hometown in Mongolia for burial, but when the hearse passed through the Ordos grassland, the wheels suddenly sank into the ground, and the horse-drawn horses did not move. At this time, everyone remembered Genghis Khan's words before his death, so Genghis Khan was buried on the Ordos grassland on the spot, and 500 families of "Dalhut" people were left to guard.

Qi Zhongyi told reporters that when Japan invaded China, in order to protect Genghis Khan's mausoleum, the then Kuomintang government moved Genghis Khan's coffin to Xinglong Mountain in Yuzhong County, Gansu Province, and Taer Temple in Huangzhong County, Qinghai Province in 1939. In 1941, the Japanese invading army that occupied Baotou invaded Ordos, looted and burned down Wang Aizhao (Wangye Temple), which was the Mongolian religious and cultural center in Ordos at that time, and the fire burned for more than half a month. On April 1, 1954, the central government of the People's Republic of China moved Genghis Khan's coffin back to Ordos, rebuilt the cemetery in Yijin Horo Banner, and gradually gathered the relics of Genghis Khan scattered in various places to Genghis Khan's mausoleum. At present, Genghis Khan's mausoleum also houses the coffins of Genghis Khan's wife and brother, as well as Genghis Khan's fourth son, Tulei and his wife.

The old man Qi Zhongyi said sonorously: "The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos will always be the holy place of the Mongolian nation. ”

Qi Zhongyi was not in favor of finding the secret burial place of Genghis Khan

In the face of the phenomenon that some countries are keen to find the secret burial place of Genghis Khan, Mr. Qi Zhongyi is opposed and believes that there is no need to find a new tomb of Genghis Khan.

"Not only Genghis Khan, but all the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty were buried in secret. The reason why the ancestors took secret burial measures was to prevent future generations from stealing and excavating. As a descendant of Genghis Khan, I do not agree with anyone going to find and excavate Genghis Khan's secret burial place and disturb our ancestors. Qi Zhongyi, an elderly man who retired at home from the post of vice chairman of the CPPCC of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region a few years ago, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency reporters at his home in Hoh.

Old man Qi Zhongyi said: "The secret burial place of my ancestor Genghis Khan has always been a mystery to the world, and it is no exception to our family, but there is no need for us to solve this mystery against the wishes of our ancestors. ”

Qi Zhongyi said: "The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, located in the Yijin Horo Banner of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, has always been recognized by the world as the mausoleum of Genghis Khan. The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos is undoubtedly an irreplaceable place of sacrifice for Genghis Khan. ”

"The Genghis Khan Mausoleum here is not only a place where the relics of Genghis Khan and his family are kept, but most importantly the place where Genghis Khan's heroic spirit is located. Here is the camel hair that absorbed the last breath of Genghis Khan's ancestors, that is, the soul. Therefore, the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos is an authoritative mausoleum to pay tribute to the souls of the ancestors. ”

Qi Zhongyi, although slightly hunchbacked, is in good spirits, clear in language, and has a very good memory. He told reporters that the tomb of Genghis Khan, which is located on the Ordos Plateau today, evolved from the four white chambers built by Ögedai Khan for the spirit of his father Khan in the 30s of the 13th century. In order to help Ögedei Khan keep his soul and pay tribute to Genghis Khan for a long time, several of Genghis Khan's close comrades-in-arms volunteered to let their children and grandchildren protect Genghis Khan's mausoleum on behalf of the Great Khan, and they were given the title of Dalhut (meaning "guard") by Ögedei Khan. In the period of Kublai Khan, the mourning chamber for Genghis Khan has also developed from the original four white rooms (four white felt tents) to eight white rooms (eight white felt tents), and the sacrifice ceremony to Genghis Khan has also been institutionalized and standardized.

Qi Zhongyi said that the Eight White Chambers were originally erected near the capital of the Mongol Khanate, Khara Horin (in present-day Mongolia). After the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol royal family retreated to the area north of the Great Wall to establish the Northern Yuan Dynasty, with the Great Wall as the boundary. During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, a man named Mandu Cheng of the Northern Yuan Dynasty was dissatisfied with the royal rule at that time, and stole the Eight White Chambers and moved to the Hetao area, which is now the area of Ulannaoer on the Ordos Plateau. Later, Genghis Khan's fifteenth generation Sun Dayan Khan Batu Mengke sent his third son Balsborot to recover the Hetao, and named Balsborot as a right-wing 30,000 Jinong (equivalent to deputy Khan) to rule the current entire Hetao region (including the Ordos region). Balsborot adhered to the ancestral system and re-established the relics of Genghis Khan in the Eight White Chambers, and continued to let the Dalhuts guard and worship Genghis Khan's mausoleum. This activity continues to this day. Qi Zhongyi is the descendant of Balsborot.

Qi Zhongyi pointed out: "As the only group of Genghis Khan's mausoleum guards, the Mongolian Dalhuts in the Ordos region have guarded and worshiped Genghis Khan's coffin for more than 500 years without interruption. The sacrificial culture of Ordos is the most complete, traditional and representative in the Mongolian region. There is no substitute for this phenomenon. Therefore, it is meaningless and unnecessary to go to the secret burial place of Genghis Khan again today. Moreover, the Dalhuts, who had guarded the tomb of Genghis Khan for generations, could not accept it emotionally. ”

The old man Qi Zhongyi repeatedly emphasized: "Genghis Khan's Mausoleum is in Ordos, and Genghis Khan's Mausoleum is in the hearts of his descendants." The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, located on the Ordos Plateau, has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for hundreds of years. ”

Mongolian secret burials are truly magical.

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