In recent years, the theme of tomb robbery is quite popular, and we can also get a general understanding of some forms of ancient tombs from these works. In ancient tombs, there is always something in the mouth of a corpse, the most famous of which is the night pearl in the mouth of Cixi in the Qing Palace. So what does this custom of putting things in your mouth mean?
The ancients didn't have today's scientific level, so their spiritual world should be richer. So the first function of this custom is to "control your tongue".
This word means to control your tongue and talk less. In our culture, people will enter another brand-new world after death, and no matter how brilliant they were before, they will start over in another world after death. Therefore, it is emphasized that when the deceased goes to another world, he should talk as little as possible and don't show off his identity before he dies. This is also a way to avoid disaster.
Another function is anti-corrosion. As far as we know, the tomb owner's body was well preserved before the coffin was opened.
For example, when warlords looted and destroyed Dongling, according to people's description at that time, after Cixi's coffin was opened, the body lying inside was exactly the same as that of the person who had just died, and there was no sign of being captured or corroded. Moreover, her body is covered with all kinds of jewels, and under the brilliance of jewels, this long-dead person also looks radiant.
After a few minutes, the body was completely oxidized and became a complete mummy. However, from this process, we can also find that the coffin and the things in the mouth must have antiseptic effect.
And it has the function of preventing ghosts, which is a bit superstitious.
The ancients had an idea that people could not stop ghosts from possessing themselves after death, so things in their mouths also had the function of exorcism. For example, after the death of Wu Zetian, let future generations put a small piece of exquisite peach wood in her mouth. This kind of wood belongs to the category of the sun in the yin and yang system of our country, and ghosts can't get close at all, which is why many Taoist priests hold peach swords in exorcism movies. Therefore, Wu Zetian herself hopes that after lying underground, there will be no ghosts to rob her body, which is another function of the content in her mouth.
Finally, there is the role of showing identity. The objects in the tomb owner's population first reflect his taste. For example, Qianlong's tongue depressor is a beautiful white jade, and Galeries Lafayette's mouth is a night pearl. After the comparison, we can also find that Qianlong himself had a high pursuit of cultural leisure before his death, and as a monarch, he had long been above wealth. The choice of white jade can better show that he is out of low taste and accords with his hypocritical literati temperament. On the other hand, Cixi reeks of wealth and luxury.
In fact, the phenomenon of tongue-gagging is not limited to the aristocratic class. According to archaeological findings, in addition to funerary objects such as pottery pots, many civilian tombs also contain some cheaper items, such as copper coins and rice.
These practices are mainly to gain goodwill. For example, putting copper coins in the mouth means that the descendants of their family will be transshipped, and the dead ancestors will pray for future generations, which also shows our ancient people's beautiful yearning for personal life.
Therefore, tongue pressing is a very particular thing. Nowadays, some China people still keep this tradition when they hold funerals in rural areas, so we should clearly understand the morality behind this phenomenon.