Empress Dowager Cixi's Dingdongling project cost a total of 2.27 million taels of silver and lasted for 14 years until her death. The mausoleum is golden and splendid, and the degree of luxury is difficult to reach even the Forbidden City of the Imperial Palace. The most important part of the imperial tomb is the underground palace under the roof of the high sealed earth treasure, which is where the coffin of Empress Dowager Cixi is placed. The treasures buried in the coffin are even more valuable, so how many treasures are there in Cixi's tomb?
According to relevant records, as early as Empress Dowager Cixi's death, when the underground palace was just repaired, a large number of burial items were successively put in, until Empress Dowager Cixi was buried and closed the underground palace. In the Qing Dynasty Ministry of Internal Affairs's "Entering the Funeral after Filial Piety, Sending Clothes, and Appreciating The Clothes of the Relic", there is a detailed record of the treasures in the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi, and there are many treasures put into the underground palace from the fifth year of Guangxu to the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu, such as:
On March 2, 1886 (April 5, 1886), a red Baguio inlaid mother green beetle, a red and yellow Baguio gourd, an East Pearl, a Positive Pearl, a Red Baguio Longevity Pendant, and two Positive Pearls were placed in the underground palace.
On October 15, 1908 (November 8, 1908), a golden Buddha statue was placed in the underground palace, inlaid with 61 large and small positive beads and 61 eastern pearls. The small beads counted on a plate, a total of 208 beads. A statue of the Jade Buddha. A statue of a jade birthday star. One plate of rosary beads, counting 208 beads. Coral Buddha Head Pagoda, Green Jade Fushou Three More Back Clouds, Bergamot Double Fall Horn Tethered Green Jade Lotus Canopy, Coral Ancient Money Eight Pieces, Positive Pearl Twenty-two...
These are the burial relics of the underground palace that Empress Dowager Cixi has written about during her lifetime, and many of them are valuable treasures. After Empress Dowager Cixi's death, the items that followed her were more and more precious, and Li Chengwu, the eldest son of Li Lianying, the grand chancellor of the Inner Court (Li Lianying entered the palace at the age of 7, it was impossible to have a son, Li Chengwu was the son who was passed on to him) was Empress Dowager Cixi's personal bodyguard, who was familiar with the internal situation, and was recorded in detail in the "Notes on Ai Yuexuan":
When the empress dowager did not enter the coffin, she first laid a layer of jeweled brocade made of gold wire at the bottom of the coffin, which was about seven inches thick. The mattress is covered with a layer of embroidered filigree mattress, and the mattress is covered with a layer of beads, and the beads are covered with a thin mattress of embroidered Buddha beads. A lotus leaf in front and a tourmaline lotus at the foot. Put it away and carry the empress dowager in. The back legs are placed on the lotus flower, the lotus leaves on the top of the head, wearing a gold silk beaded embroidered dress, the outer cover is embroidered with beads hanging, and the nine beads are used to wrap around the back of the body, and the eighteen statues of the Bengfo Buddha are placed on the back arm. The above treasures are private filial piety and are not listed in public accounts. After the crowd was placed, the Draupadi was covered behind him. He wore a beaded crown on his head, and next to it were 108 statues of Golden Buddha, Trifo, jade Buddha, etc. There is a watermelon on the left and right of the hind foot, two melons, and a total of 200 pieces of peach, plum, apricot and other treasures. There is a jade lotus root on the left side of the back body, with lotus leaves, lotus flowers, etc., and a branch of coral tree on the right side of the body. Its empty space is sprinkled with beads and other objects, and when it is filled, the net is covered with one. Just as she was about to put on the lid, the Grand Princess came. The beaded net was lifted, and a piece of the jade eight horses and one of the eighteen jade arhats were taken out of the box, and placed them next to the back hand, and the lid was squared, and the funeral was completed.
Through this diary, we know that the number of treasures in Cixi's tomb that are not on the public account is staggering, and the material of these treasures themselves is already extremely valuable, and the artistic value they contain is immeasurable. For example, emerald watermelon, green skin red seed black silk; emerald melon, there are white skin yellow seed powder, there are green skin white seed yellow. Another example is the jade lotus, which has sludge on it, and produces green lotus leaves at the nodes, and pink lotus flowers bloom. The total value of these treasures is incomparable, and it is no exaggeration to say that they can enrich the country.
However, at the turn of the spring and summer of 1928, the warlord Sun Dianying blocked the road checkpoints of the Qing Dynasty In the name of military exercises, blew up the grand and complete Tang Dynasty Empress Dowager DingDongling Underground Palace (and the Qianlong Emperor's Yuling Tomb), and looted the treasures in the tomb. Afterwards, Sun Dianying said without showing off when talking about the scene at that time: "Lafayette is like sleeping, only when he sees the wind, his face turns black, and his clothes can't be taken." "Cixi's tomb was destroyed by the greed of the bandits, and the priceless treasures in the tomb were eventually scattered and lost, leaving a heavy blow that could never be repaired."