The empresses of the Tang Dynasty are generally legendary, and in terms of mystery, the Ruizhen Empress Shen of the Tang Dynasty (called "Shen Pearl" in the film and television drama) is particularly worth mentioning, because her mysterious disappearance has made the three emperors of Daizong, Dezong, and Shunzong search for more than thirty years, but in the end they still failed to find their whereabouts. What kind of bizarre event is this?
Shen was born from the Wuxing Shen clan, a famous and prestigious clan in Jiangdong, and was the daughter of Dali Zheng and the eunuch Shen Yizhi, who entered the palace as the son of Liang Family when Emperor Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty was still the grandson of Emperor Guangping, and soon gave birth to his eldest son, Li Shi, later Tang Dezong. At that time, Princess Cui was quite jealous and relied on the power of her aunt Yang Guifei to be arbitrary, so although Shen gave birth to her eldest son, she was always oppressed by Cui.
The Shen clan was born in the Wuxing Shen clan and entered the palace as a son of the Liang family
In his later years, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang appointed Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong as his ministers, and made An Lushan the envoy of the Three Towns Festival, which led to many crises in the empire. In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756), An Lushan rebelled, and along the way, the momentum was like a bamboo, and soon he captured the eastern capital Luoyang and forced the capital Chang'an. In order to avoid his attack, Tang Xuanzong fled to Shuzhong with Yang Guifei and his crown princes and grandchildren, including the crown princes Li Heng and Li Yu.
Because Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had tightly sealed the news before fleeing, a large number of concubines and emperors and grandsons had no time to flee, and they became prisoners of the rebels, including the Shen clan. After Shen shi was captured, the rebels imprisoned her in the Ye court in Luoyang, and as for what kind of treatment she would suffer, from the nature of An Lushan and his rebels, it is conceivable ("The rebellion of Lushan, Xuanzong Xingshu, the kings, concubines, and lords who were fortunate enough to fall into thieves, and were later detained in the Eastern Capital Ye Ting.). See Old Book of Tang, Vol. 52, Liechuan II).
Shen was captured during the Anshi Rebellion and imprisoned in Luoyang
Soon, the "Ma Songpo Change" occurred, Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei's brothers and sisters were killed, and Cui Fei completely fell out of favor. Afterwards, the crown prince Li Hengbei took Lingwu and was proclaimed emperor here, for Tang Suzong. In order to quickly quell the rebellion, Emperor Suzong of Tang appointed Li Yu as the Grand Marshal of the Terracotta Army, and while calling on the King of Tianxia to serve, he asked for help from Hui Qi and Dashi on the other. In the second year of De (757), the Tang army took advantage of the rebel infighting and the killing of An Lushan to defeat An Qingxu and once retake Chang'an and Luoyang.
When Li Yu entered Luoyang, he had found Shen Shi in the Court, but either because of the war Fang Yin, there was no time to settle Shen Shi, or because Shen Shi was disgraced, he was very faceless, so Li Yu did not take her back to Chang'an, but let her continue to live in Luoyang. However, just when Li Yu was worried about how to properly settle the Shen clan, the rebel army led by Shi Siming swept in and even attacked luoyang city again. This time, the Shen clan, who remained in the Dongdu Palace, was once again caught in the hands of the enemy.
Since Luoyang broke up, Li Yu had not seen Shen again
The war then lasted for another four years (759-763), until after the defeat of the Shi Dynasty rebels and suicide, Luoyang and other places were restored. However, what Emperor Daizong of Tang (Li Yu had already ascended the throne in 762) did not expect was that when he entered Luoyang, he found that the Shen clan had long disappeared ("And Emperor Daizong broke the thief, took the eastern capital, saw it, stayed in the palace, fang jing slightly northern expedition, did not have time to return to Chang'an.) Russia and Siming fell to Heluo again. And the defeat of the dynasty, the reconquest of the eastern capital, the lost place, the unpredictable survival. Ibid.).
The following year (764), Emperor Daizong made his eldest son Li Shi crown prince and formally issued an edict to search for shen's traces, but after more than ten years, there was still no news ("Emperor Daizong sent envoys to visit, and for more than ten years he did not hear about it.) Ibid.). During this period, Guangcheng, a nun of Shouzhou Chongshan Temple, had falsely claimed that Shen had entered Beijing, but after being examined by Yousi, it was found that she was only Li Shinian's nursing mother. Emperor Daizong was furious when he heard the news and ordered him to be killed.
Tang Dezong searched for his mother for 26 years, but finally found nothing
When Li Shi ascended the throne as Emperor Dezong of Tang (779), he sent people to continue the search for his mother, while honoring Shen Shi as empress dowager. At the canonization ceremony, Emperor Dezong knelt down to the empty empress dowager's chair, whimpering in his mouth, and the courtiers were infected by this, and all of them wept for it, and the Hanyuan Hall, which should have been joyful, instantly turned into a sad place ("The emperor worships again, and he can't help himself, and he weeps left and right." Ibid.).
During Dezong's 26-year reign, he had been searching for his mother, but the heavens were not touched by this filial piety, and the whereabouts of the Shen clan were still a mystery. However, during this period, there were many "counterfeit goods" who falsely claimed to be Shen In the hope of wealth, but without exception they were all recognized. After the death of Emperor Dezong of Tang, his son Li Xuan took the throne as Emperor Shunzong of Tang, and although he reigned for only 8 months, he still sent people to find his grandmother in order to comfort his father's spirit in heaven.
After Tang Xianzong ascended the throne, he stopped the search activities
However, the cruel facts proved that this was just the wishful thinking of Tang Shunzong, and the real Shen Clan was probably already ancient. Therefore, after Emperor Shunzong's son Li Chun of Tang ascended the throne (805), Yousi requested that this laborious and fruitless search be stopped, and at the same time suggested that The funeral of Shen Shi be sent, the empress dowager, and the crown tomb should be built on the tomb of Emperor Daizong, and the god should be located in the temple of Emperor Daizong. Emperor Xianzong felt that the minister's suggestion was very reasonable, so he issued an edict to implement it. At this point, the search activity, which took more than thirty years, was officially brought to an end after nothing was obtained.