Lead:
Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in the vast history of our country who holds the supreme power of the country, because of her special position in history, her story has always been widely praised, or adapted into literary works, or adapted into film and television works on the big screen, into our lives. After Wu Zetian's death, Qianling, buried with Tang Gaozong, became one of the three most luxurious imperial tombs, but it was the only mausoleum that had not been stolen and excavated, and the 61 headless stone people in front of the tomb also became the confusion of people for thousands of years, however, the answer was actually solved by two farmers.
The birth of the Empress
Wu Zetian entered the palace at the age of fourteen and became a talented person of Tang Taizong, but he was not favored, and for more than ten years, he was fixed in the position of the five talents and did not improve. Later, Emperor Taizong of Tang passed away, and Wu Zetian was sent to Ganye Temple to become a monk along with other concubines who had no children. If there is no accident, Wu Zetian's next fate is the Qinglan Ancient Buddha, who has survived this life. But history is always not willing to be lonely. As early as when Tang Taizong was seriously ill, Wu Zetian had already hooked up with the crown prince Li Zhi. After Emperor Taizong of Tang drove hexi to the west, Wu Zetian returned to the harem, and step by step completely transgressed the patriarchal society as a woman and established a new dynasty.
The mystery of the headless stone statue
Wu Zetian, who was legendary all his life, left a wordless stele in front of the mausoleum after his death, as if he knew the extreme evaluation of the world that he was either praised or reprimanded, and his merits were left to posterity to comment. In addition, the 61 headless stone people in front of Wu Zetian's mausoleum also make her story more intricate. Where did the heads of these stones go? There are two folk legends: the first is that during the Ming Dynasty, people destroyed the stone statue heads of "evil" in order to avoid the plague; the second is that the foreign envoys of the Ming Dynasty saw their ancestors guarding the tomb for the emperor, and because they felt humiliated, they instigated the people to destroy the stone statues. Of course, there is no evidence for these two claims, and the headless stone statue has become a puzzle for thousands of years. Where did the heads of these stone statues go?
The "secret" of the stone statue
In 1974, when two local farmers were hoeing the field, they dug up a large stone, and in order to give the crops in the field a better growing environment, they tried to dig it out, and the stone turned out to be a human head. The frightened two calmed down and realized that the stone was not simple, and immediately contacted the cultural relics department.
After verification, this stone is exactly a cultural relic of the Tang Dynasty. Subsequently, experts found many personal head-shaped stones in the surrounding area, which matched the 61 headless stone statues in front of Wu Zetian's mausoleum. After investigation, it was found that due to the weak neck, most of the stone statues became headless in the Ming Dynasty earthquake, and some were destroyed in the Ming and Qing wars. Since then, the mystery of thousands of years has finally been revealed.
epilogue
: Although these stone statues are no longer complete, they can still show the art of carving ingenuity in the Tang Dynasty. Just as our lives are not perfect, imperfections are also beautiful.