|
The tombs all followed the same basic design, a temple in front and a walled enclosure with the underground tomb behind. Because Wanli(万历) ruled for so long, he constructed a huge tomb. And in 1956, Chinese archaeologists decided to open it, the only Ming emperor's tomb ever excavated. As the workmen opened the heavy tomb doors, a giant corridor was revealed, far larger than any Egyptian pharaoh's tomb. And there laid the lacquered coffins of the emperor and two of his wives.
The tomb was opened by the communist authorities as a lesson in class consciousness to demonstrate how the capitalist rulers had lived a life of luxury whilst the toiling masses starved. They could not have chosen a better example as the lavish grave goods amply demonstrated. Amongst them, this light as air - woven gold cap. The combination of lavish living and incompetent governing couldn't last. Twenty-four years after this tomb was completed, the dynasty was over. But it wasn't the wall that led the Ming down. It was a love affair.
The Chinese believed that their Great Wall constructed by millions of workers would protect them forever. But in fact, it was destroyed by a pretty face. The story begins with the sack of Beijing in 1644 by a rebel army. In the chaos that followed, a nomadic tribe, the Manchu(满族) saw a perfect opportunity to invade. Their immense army marched against China. But the Great Wall remained intact, not an inch of wall was destroyed or even damaged during the invasion.
This is the fort the Manchu really wanted to capture. It was commanded by the greatest and most faithful general of the entire empire, General Wu, which makes it all the more strange that he is not here among the fort's collection of China's greatest soldiers. He is not included because of what he did when he was confronted by the Manchu army. The general had only one weakness, his love for a concubine, the Lady Chen, famous as the round-faced beauty. Lady Chen unfortunately also attracted the attention of the Chinese rebel leader who had just sacked Beijing. Desperate to regain his lost love, General Wu called upon his hated enemy, the Manchus to help him crush the rebellion and of course free his beloved Lady Chen. Here at Shanghaiguan(山海关), General Wu did the unthinkable. He opened the gates of the Great Wall and let the Manchu army in. The greatest civil engineering project in history failed, but not because of any structural weakness, it crumbled because of the smile of a pretty girl.
lacquer: a liquid made of shellac dissolved in alcohol, or of synthetic substances, that dries to form a hard protective coating for wood, metal, etc
all the more: more so, even more, to an even greater degree
|