Empress Dowager Cixi was buried in the Qing Dongling after her death. There are countless treasures buried with her, including the world-famous night pearl.
I'm afraid Cixi didn't know that it took her 65,438+03 years to build the supposedly indestructible Ding Dong Mausoleum, the Dongling of the Qing Dynasty. 10 years later (A.D. 1928), it was stolen by the army commanded by the warlord Sun Dianying, and a lot of treasures were looted, even the pearls in her mouth were missing.
Grave robber part
For Sun Dianying, the tomb of Qingming is undoubtedly a piece of fat that he has coveted for a long time. There are five imperial tombs in Qing Dynasty, three in Liaoning Province, two in Zunhua County and two in Yixian County, Hebei Province, which are the main parts of Qing Dynasty. The Qianlong period was the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, and Empress Dowager Cixi was one of the rulers of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, the tombs of Emperor Qianlong and Empress Dowager Cixi are the most luxurious, with countless rare treasures inside.
1July, 928, due to the serious deduction of wages, Sun Dianying took? Military exercises? The flag of Qing Dongling, Yuling and Fiona Fang of Putuo Guding Dongling were under martial law within 30 kilometers, and large-scale looting began.
Judging from the photos left in those years, at first, the grave robbers did not know the entrance to the underground palace, but dug everywhere, leaving traces of their excavation on the top of the treasure house, outside the attached hall and in the Ming building. 1928 In July, the tomb raiding team finally found the entrance to the underground palace.
After the excavation, Sun Dianying claimed to take revenge on Sun Chengzong, and bribed some of the stolen treasures to Song Meiling, Kong Xiangxi and others, so that the case investigation was finally dropped.
The value of the night pearl
According to Jiang Buli's book The Theft of Cixi Mausoleum:? The 5 1 Night Pearl weighs 422 yuan and 77 cents (now 133.4375 grams) and is worth 10800000 silver. ?
1908 At that time, the valuation of108,000 taels of silver was equivalent to the current 8 10/00,000 yuan. According to Jo Yeo-jeong's Antique Guide:
In a word, if all the funerary objects of Cixi are recovered to pay off the foreign debts, there are still tens of millions of surpluses, which is enough to make the country rich. The pricing and valuation of the listing were precious prices at that time, and all the values were the valuations of Chinese and foreign antique collectors and jewelers from then to Xuantongyuan, all of which increased tenfold. In the late Republic of China, it was appraised again, and it will be increased by a hundredfold. Today, it is no longer possible to pay attention to it.
And to quote Sun Dianying, the night pearl is even more magical:
She (Cixi) has a night pearl in her mouth, which is divided into two pieces. When it is closed, it is a ball, transparent and dull. When you close it, it reveals a green cold light, and you can see your hair within a hundred steps at night. It is said that this treasure can keep the body from melting. It is no wonder that after Cixi's coffin was split open, Lafayette seemed to be asleep, only seeing the wind, his face turned black and his clothes were not suitable. ?
Priceless and with magical colors, it is no wonder that the luminous pearl in Cixi's mouth is famous at home and abroad, and many people are curious about its whereabouts.
The whereabouts of the night pearl
According to Pu Yi's memoirs, the luminous pearl of Empress Dowager Cixi was stolen, and her grandmother gave it to a powerful lady in the early years of the Republic of China, which made him deeply worried. ?
Strong woman? It refers to Song Meiling. It is said that Sun Dianying gave the stolen pearls to Song Meiling. Song Meiling decorated the night pearl with embroidered shoes.
Sun Dianying later said: I gave the Pearl of the Night to Mrs. Jiang () for me. ? But without seeing it, it is difficult to know its origin.
During 1997, some scholars participated in Taipei? Cross-strait cultural exchange meeting? At that time, I asked many questions about this night pearl. Because Song Meiling is old and lives in the United States, it is difficult to know its origin. I also asked Mr. Na Zhiliang, an archaeologist at the National Palace Museum in Taiwan (at the age of 92,/kloc-0 died in 1998). He also shook his head, not knowing the details.
Recently, the whereabouts of the pearl in the mouth of Empress Dowager Cixi have been circulated in the media.
Said Song Meiling went to the United States to prepare for military spending, and the pearl in her hand was taken away by American oil tycoon Rockefeller. Since then, he has been persuading Song Meiling to make attractive terms. Song Meiling reluctantly gave up what he wanted and sold it to him, so as to provide the necessary resources for the war of resistance. such as
Today, this 800 million-pound luminous pearl is still collected in Rockefeller's home. But I think it's still the same sentence: it's hard to know its root until you see it. ? I hope that one day the treasure will return to the motherland!