Businessmen believe that the soul lives in another world after death, and the grave is the owner's residence in another world. Everything is carried out in accordance with the ritual system of "death is like life, death is like existence". After the death of the slave owners and nobles, they all used slaves to die for their slavery after death. In the tombs of slave owners excavated in Anyang, Henan Province, usually a few or dozens of people died, and in some big tombs, 200 to 300 people died. Some of them are samurai slaves with swords beside their skeletons; Some skeletons have chariots and horses next to them, which are slaves to drive cars; Some skeletons have dog bones and are slaves of dogs; Some skeletons have no skulls beside them, and the skulls are on the other side. They are slaves who were killed and sacrificed. Some skeletons have their upper hand bones tied behind their backs, showing obvious signs of struggle. They are slaves buried alive.
After Shang Dynasty, there was the custom of martyrdom in Zhou, Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period and Qin Dynasty. The article "Mozi Festival Burial" said: "There are hundreds of emperors who killed martyrs, and dozens of widows; Generals and doctors killed dozens of martyrs, only a handful of them. Mozi is talking about the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. " "Miscellanies of Xijing" contains: "The tomb of the king of seclusion is very tall and solid. When the door is opened, it is full of stone and chalk. If you remove Zhang Yu, you will get mica, which is more than a foot deep. When you see more than a hundred bodies, they are immortal. The only man, the rest are women, sitting or lying, still standing, wearing all kinds of clothes, not strangers. "The only man should be the king, and more than one hundred women should be buried maids and concubines.
The State of Qin began to bury the living in Qin Wugong. Records of the Historian Qin Benji said, "When Wu Gong died, Yong Yang was buried. At first, 66 people died. After Qin Mugong's death, even more people died. According to Records of the Historian Qin Benji, "In thirty-nine years, Miao (Mu) died and was buried in Yong, with 177 dead. Qin Zhiliang's courtiers and Yu's three names, namely, Zhong Xing and Zhen Xuan, also died one after another. Qin people mourned it with the poem "Yellow Bird". "Shaanxi Fengxiang excavated Qin Jinggong's tomb and found that there were more than 100 martyrdom slaves.
Qin dynasty abolished the system of human sacrifice in 384 BC, and Historical Records of Qin Benji said: "Sacrifice ends in the year of A.D.. But this is not the case. After the death of Qin Shihuang, the number of people who died for him is rare in history. When Qin Shihuang died in the thirty-seventh year, Qin Ershi issued an imperial edict, saying, "If the first emperor's harem doesn't have a son, it's not appropriate to keep him, so he was forced to die. "Those who have no children in the harem are martyrdom, so there are many dead." "Historical Records of Qin Benji" also said: "At the time of burial, or the opportunity taken by the craftsman, Zang (referring to slaves) knows it, and Zang is the most important. After the great event, those who closed the door and admired it outside and those who closed the craftsmen did not make a comeback. "In order to worry about these craftsmen revealing the secrets in the tomb, they were executed. It is estimated that there will be tens of thousands of martyrs in Qin Shihuang's tomb.
The important feature of the imperial tombs in Han and Tang dynasties is not to be buried with people, but with the burial system, that is, to let the royal family and nobles be buried with the nearby imperial tombs after their death.
Since the Song Dynasty, Khitan, Nuzhen, Mongolia, Manchu and other frontier nationalities have successively entered the Central Plains, and all have the tradition of martyrdom, which has prompted the resurgence of martyrdom in the Central Plains. The martyrdom of imperial servants began in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. A Qing Zhao Yi's Notes on Twenty-two Histories said: "When Taizu collapsed, eunuchs died, and when Wen Jian and Yongle were founded, they were given preferential treatment one after another. For example, Zhang Feng, Heng Li, Zhao Fu, Zhang Bi and Wang Bin all inherited thousands of royal guards. Some people called them "women in heaven" and their ancestors were kind. Judy, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, died. More than 30 people died at that time. According to the records of the Li Dynasty, more than 30 people died when the emperor collapsed. On the day of death, all the soldiers were paid in court, and they were all taken to the temple pavilion in the hall, shaking with tears. There is a big bed and a small bed in the hall, so that they can stand on them, surround them with ropes and stick their heads in. Then they went to sleep and died. " When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty died, ten concubines died. There was a maid-in-waiting named Ai Guo who had been in the palace for less than a month. Xuanzong is dead. When she was told that she was on the list of martyrs, she was a god-fearing person and wrote a poem about Breaking Bad:
There are several shortcomings, but so are the shortcomings;
Life is like a dream, and death is also a feeling;
Losing a relative to Xi is a shame to be unfilial;
Sadness can't be sad, you can mourn.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Wang Youshu was stewed to death, and Ming Yingzong instructed him: "When the king is in Japan, he should be as frugal as possible after his death, and his wife is below, so he doesn't have to die. It's a pity that Yingzong's instructions haven't arrived yet. Gongfei, Lady Shi, Euclid, Chen, Zhang, Han and Li have been buried from the dead. Ming Yingzong opposes human martyrdom. On his deathbed, he said: "I can't bear to be martyred by human beings, and this matter will end on its own." At the same time, he gave the title to the martyred imperial secretary. His book says: "I am committed to righteousness, and I should recommend my nickname with the dragon to show my respect." The title given by Yingzong to the concubines who died for Zhu Youdun, the king of Zhou Dynasty, was "Zhenlie" and the title of his wife was "Zhenshun" in recognition of their virtues of loyalty, fortitude and obedience. Since Yingzong, there has been no human sacrifice in the Ming Dynasty.