Decipher three mysteries about Shangguan Waner’s tomb

On April 28, Shaanxi Museum – China’s first archeology museum was put into experimental operation. The epitaph related to female Prime Minister Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi – a close female official of Emperor Vo Tac Thien has attracted the attention of many people.

Shaanxi Archaeological Museum is located in the south of Zhoujiazhuang Village, Guodu Street, Chang’an District, Xi’an. Among the more than 5,000 artifacts, there are Zhou Dynasty wooden figurines obtained by pouring plaster liquid and a camel statue after thousands of years since the Tang Dynasty.

Liu Sizhe, deputy director of the Cultural Relics Conservation Department of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, who participated in the exhibition said, “the exhibition has been planned for two years, but the epitaph of Shangguan Uyen Nhi is not the first time it has been held.”

Before that, in 2017, the Forest of Steles Museum held an exhibition of famous epitaphs with the theme “Peach blossom as before”. The epitaph of Shangguan Wan’er has been on display for a month in this exhibition.

This time Shangguan Waner’s epitaph exhibition is introduced as a permanent exhibition. The epitaph in the book “La Uyen Thuan Mo Chi” by Nhan Chan Khanh is also displayed for the first time here. According to research, the epitaphs of these two famous figures were displayed together to reflect the archaeological work through the epitaph. Although the exhibition has only been open for two days, there are many visitors who are students, students have had a rich experience of visiting and learning about the stories behind archeology.

In Liu’s opinion, the reason the general audience is interested in Shangguan Wan’er is because she often appears in dramas and movies and is a popular female character to Wu Zetian.

According to Li Ming, a former researcher at Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, who presided over the excavation of Shangguan Wan’er’s tomb, there are not many famous women in Chinese history, Shangguan Wan’er has both. beauty, talent and noble status – something that few ancient Chinese women have.

Mystery 1: Shangguan Wan’er’s tomb was severely damaged

Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi and Princess Thai Binh, one is a female prime minister and the other is a princess of the female emperor Vo Tac Thien.

In an interview, Li Ming, a former researcher at Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, introduced the story of the excavation of Shangguan Wan’er’s tomb saying: Shangguan Wan’er’s tomb was discovered discovered by archeological exploration in 2013 before road construction in Konggang New Town and Xixian New Area.

“The official excavation in early August, after entering the mausoleum, the archaeologists discovered that the northern half of the mausoleum was severely damaged, the tomb was horribly destroyed, the top had collapsed. completely, only 1.3 meters remained at the highest point of the four brick walls.

There is not a single piece of floor tiles left, the original position of the coffin bed in the west of the mausoleum has been completely leveled, there are no pilgrimage utensils and coffins in the mausoleum. and the remains of the owner of the tomb disappeared without a trace.”

The good news is that the bluestone epitaphs placed in the corridor are basically still intact, even keeping the same appearance as they were placed during the burial process. The nine characters of the seal “Shangguan inscription in the ancient Tang Dynasty” on the cover of the epitaph led archaeologists to finally believe that this is the tomb of the famous female prime minister.

Mystery 2: Shangguan Wan’er may just be a nickname

Although the public is familiar with the name Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi – the female prime minister of the female emperor Vo Tac Thien, Mr. Ly Minh said that this name is not used in official scholarly articles, including including the taboo related to “the death of Shangguan Waner” is not clearly recorded in the history books of the Tang Dynasty.

In this regard, Mr. Ly Minh explained that “Uyen Nhi” could be the nickname (name given by parents) of Shangguan Chieu Dung as recorded in the biography of the “Book of the Tang Dynasty” old and new.

According to Mr. Ly Minh, the epitaph is the document created by the people at that time after two months of Thuong Quan Chieu Dung’s death. In terms of the selectivity of historical documents, epitaphs will be more reliable than historical books compiled by later generations.

Perhaps Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi is the name of the rice offering that Thuong Quan Chieu Dung’s parents gave her. She lost her father while still a swaddling child, and soon she and her mother were convicted of slavery. It is easy to see that she does not have an official name in a Tang Dynasty document, no matter how her identity changes, the only name people remember her is attached to the word “Shangguan.”

According to Mr. Ly Minh, on Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi’s grave did not write “Tiep Du surname Thuong Quan, Huy Uyen Nhi”. According to the habits and customs of the Tang Dynasty, the official graves will be titled “Duong Chieu Dung Thuong Quan’s grave” for example, indicating that this is a grave of a female official. On the grave, there is also a rank equivalent to the second-rank official, confirming that Thuong Quang Chieu Dung is Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi because the second-rank official is a high-ranking official, which is also the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.

Mystery 3: It is difficult to determine who destroyed the tomb

In the epitaph of Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi, there are sentences such as “Princess Thai Binh mourned, donated 500 silk sheets and sent emissaries to hang sacrifices”, as well as the writing characteristics of the epitaph.

Archaeologists believe that Shangguan Chieu Dung’s funeral was arranged by Princess Thai Binh. The reason why Princess Thai Binh wanted to bury Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi was said to be because of the close relationship between the two of them.

Based on age, it can be seen that Princess Thai Binh and Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi have similar ages. Since the age of 13, Thuong Quan Uyen Nhi has excellently received the praise of Vo Tac Thien’s talent, always by the side of the Queen of chrysanthemums dedicated to serving. Princess Thai Binh is the beloved daughter of Emperor Vo Tac Thien, so maybe the two will meet often, so the close relationship is understandable.

In 710 AD, Shangguan Waner was killed. In 712, Ly Long Co, later Duong Huyen Tong, ascended the throne. In July of the second year, Princess Thai Binh was executed for treason. Duong Huyen Tong also ordered the destruction of Vu Hau Vuong’s tomb, so that Princess Thai Binh died without a burial place.

In Ly Minh’s view, while Ly Long Co ordered the destruction of the tomb of Vu Du Ky (Vuhou Vuong), Ly Long Co also destroyed the tombs of nearby Thuong Quan Uyen and Princess Thai Binh. also did not escape the fate of destroying the tomb.

It is worth noting that the tomb of Vu San Tu, the great supporter of Shangguan Chieu Dung, was also destroyed. In the early eighth century, the demolition of tombs and the construction of new ones seemed like an extreme way for those in power to vent their grievances and express their attitudes.

Looking through the history books, there is no record of who destroyed Shangguan Wan’er’s tomb and for what purpose they did it. At the present stage, the inference made by the archaeological team that “the tomb of Shangguan Zhaorong’s family was destroyed by the later dynasty” is the conclusion indicated by evidence from archaeological excavation data and is a more reasonable explanation at the present time.