The Archives of Emperor Li Zhi in Tang Gaozong and the Mystery of Location Selection of Emperor Gaozong's Ganling

Emperor Li Zhi: reigned from 650 to 683, with a good word and nine sons, with a weak and gentle temperament. Li Shimin acceded to the throne after his death and reigned for 34 years. He was kind and friendly, pacified Korea and expanded his territory. The Tang Dynasty was the time when Emperor Gaozong was emperor, and the territory was the largest. The emperor is weak and sick, and he is the king of a generation. Buried in Ganling after death. Emperor posthumous title, emperor Sheng Da, emperor Xiao Hong, temple number.

There is an interesting legend about the location of Gaozong Ganling. Shortly after Tang Gaozong acceded to the throne, he sent his uncle Wuji and a surname in charge of astronomical calendar, and asked Li to choose the location of the mausoleum for himself. One day, when they were looking for Liangshan, they saw three peaks of this mountain towering into the sky, and the main peak went straight into the sky. East and Jiusan across five waters, west and Loujingshan, Qishan connected. Wu Heqi embraced each other in front of the mountain, forming a water wall to enclose the dragon underground. Liangshan is a rare holy land in Long Mai. Wuji and Li will report back to Beijing after choosing the mausoleum site. When Yuan Tiangang heard about it, he strongly opposed it. It turned out that he went to Liangshan for the sake of Gao Zuling and knew the advantages and disadvantages of Feng Shui in this mountain. He said to Emperor Gaozong: From the outside, Liangshan is a treasure trove of geomantic omen, but it has many shortcomings. First, although Liangshan is surrounded by water on both sides, it can surround the dragon soul, but it is isolated from Long Mai of Emperor Taizong. If people choose their ancestors here, they can prosper for three generations. However, as the mausoleum of the emperor, Houjiangshan will be in danger for three generations. Long Mai, a branch of the Tang Dynasty, crossed the Yellow River from Kunlun Mountain, entered the customs, and spread eastward to Jiusan, Jinsushan, Cragginess Mountain and Yaoshan, with Qishan as the head. Now that Emperor Taizong has buried Jiu San as the leader, Your Majesty can't be the last one. Liangshan is not a dragon's head, but the tail of Long Mai in the Zhou Dynasty. The tail gas will decline, making it impossible for your majesty to govern the country. Second, the northern peak of Liangshan is high, and the two peaks are like female breasts. The whole mountain shape looks like a young woman lying flat. Your majesty chose the mausoleum here for fear that she would be controlled by women from now on. Third, the main peak of Liangshan is straight, which belongs to wooden lattice, and the second peak of South is round and profitable, which belongs to golden lattice. Although the three peaks are tall and straight, they look flat and earthy from a distance. Gold can make wood, soil can make gold, and the whole mountain dragon can help gold. Under the main peak of the underground palace camp, your majesty will be controlled by the people of the golden pavilion. In my humble opinion, if the mausoleum is located on this mountain, your majesty will be harmed by women in the future! After listening to Yuan Tiangang's sermon, Emperor Gaozong withdrew from North Korea without consulting. A confidant told Wu Shi that Wu Shi was very happy. She thought to herself: When I was a child, I heard from my father that Yuan Tiangang said that I could be a female emperor in the future, and it seems that it will come true. In the evening, I sent a pillow breeze to the emperor, which naturally praised Sun Chang's promise and demoted Yuan Tiangang.

Early the next morning, Emperor Gaozong issued an imperial edict, designating Liangshan as the location of the mausoleum. Hearing this, Yuan Tiangang looked up at the sky and sighed: Those who take the place of the Tang Dynasty will show their martial arts. Afraid of being implicated in the future, he quit his job and went out to travel.

After the site selection of the mausoleum, ministers argued endlessly about how to name it. Some ministers suggested that the name of the mausoleum of Emperor Taizong was Zhaoling to show the emperor's spirit, so your majesty's mausoleum was named Chengling to inherit the kindness of Emperor Taizong. Sun Chang Wuji said: Liangshan is located in the northwest of Chang 'an and belongs to the official position in the gossip. The official position is Yang and Heaven Emperor. Chang 'an is the imperial capital of your majesty's life, and Liangshan is naturally the heavenly capital of your majesty's eternal life. The world, heaven, heaven and earth are integrated, and Gankun is in harmony, and your majesty will always be the emperor. In my opinion, just call it Ganling! Emperor Gaozong was very happy to hear this, so he named it Ganling. Sun Chang where know, Yuan Tiangang said, it is said that Liangshan Yin Qi diffuse, can't be selected as a mausoleum. Now named Ganling, isn't it destined to have a woman as emperor? All subsequent developments were in accordance with Yuan Tiangang's prediction.

Legends are legends after all. According to documents, after the death of Emperor Gaozong in the first year of Hongdao, some people strongly advocated building a mausoleum in Luoyang. However, Wu Zetian followed the wishes of Emperor Gaozong and returned to Chang 'an. She chose Jidi from the Weibei Plateau in Guanzhong, and appointed Wei, the official minister, as the envoy of Shanling, and Wei Taizhen, the doctor of the household department, as the main task. Employed more than 200,000 soldiers and migrant workers. According to the burial system with the mountain as the mausoleum, the main peak of Liangshan is used as the mausoleum, and the underground Xuan Palace is built halfway up the mountain. Chen Ziang, a Book of the New Tang Dynasty, wrote: When a mountain passes through and recovers, it is necessary to act as a servant, lead a group of sick people, raise tens of thousands of troops, mobilize the capital, supervise the young and help the old, shovel stones on the back of the mountain, and drive them to make achievements. After more than 300 days and nights of intense construction, the main project was completed when it was buried in August of the first year of civilization. After Emperor Gaozong was buried, he continued to build Ganling. Twenty-two years later, Wu Zetian died in the first year of Shenlong. On the issue of burying Wu Zetian, the court had a dispute. Zhongzong wanted to meet his mother's wishes and return to the mausoleum, but Minister Yan Shansi strongly opposed it. He said: the honorable person should be buried first, and the humble person should not be buried after moving the honorable person. The heavenly queen is not as good as the emperor. If we open the mausoleum today and bury it together, we will feel humble and revered, and we will be afraid of Long Mai. I have heard of Xuanzang in Ganling. Its door is blocked with stones, and its stone gap is fixed with cast iron. If the mausoleum is opened today, it must have been cut out. Doing so will do more harm than good. Looking at the side of Ganling, it is more auspicious to choose the land. Without building a mausoleum, there are both burial tools and a solid foundation. If there is knowledge in Shinto, the secluded road will be the meeting. If there is ignorance, what good will it do? The benevolent Emperor Zhongzong did not accept this proposal. In order to show filial piety, he ordered people to dig through Ganling Road, open the tomb door, and buried Wu Zetian in Gong Xuan Palace in May of the second year of Shenlong. From then on, Ganling became the only cemetery in China where two emperors were buried together. After Wu Zetian was buried together, Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Zong Rui were buried in Ganling 17 people, including two princes, three kings, four princesses and eight ministers. Therefore, all the construction projects of Ganling Cemetery were completed after the early years of Wu Zetian, Zhongzong and Zong Rui, which lasted for 57 years.

When Ganling was built, it was in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, and its national strength was strong. The cemetery was large in scale and magnificent in architecture, ranking first among all emperors' tombs in past dynasties. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, learned a lesson from history. From ancient times to the present, there was no immortal country, and no one dug graves. Starting from Zhaoling, he created a mountain-based burial system, which was designed by famous artists Yan Lide and Yan Liben at that time. Mausoleum is composed of architecture and sculpture, which is arranged on the mountain in a dragon and phoenix shape. The dry tombs of Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian developed and perfected the shape of Zhaoling. The cemetery is modeled after Chang 'an, Tang Dou, and is divided into Imperial City, Miyagi City and Outer Guo Cheng. The north-south main axis is 4.9 kilometers long. According to the literature, Fiona Fang in Ganling is 80 miles away. The original city wall is double-decked, and there are four gates in the inner city, namely, Dongqinglongmen, Nanzhuquemen, Xibaihumen and Beixuanwumen. According to the investigation by archaeologists, the inner city of the cemetery is square, with a length of 1450m from north to south, 1582m from east wall and 1438m from west wall, with a total area of about 2.3 million square meters. There are many magnificent buildings in the city, such as sacrificial halls, wings, cloisters, Quelou and other 60 courtiers, such as ancestral halls and Xiagong.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the ground buildings in Ganling were seriously damaged. According to Tang Yao Hui, in the 14th year of Zhenyuan, when Ganling was rebuilt, a total of 378 houses were built. Since then, after 1300 years of wind and rain, the Li Honglou on the ground of Ganling has disappeared. Only 1 arranged on both sides of Sima Road outside Zhuquemen in the inner city of the cemetery, more than 20 exquisite large stone carvings have become a true portrayal of the vigorous development of society in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, which makes people feel the spirit of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Starting from the natural shuangque, the second peak in the south of Liangshan, it is arranged symmetrically to the north in turn. At the top of the list is a pair of octagonal watches, which are more than 8 meters high. This is the symbol of the emperor's mausoleum, and its shape shows the concept of eternal life and the worship of ancient ancestors for human reproductive behavior. Then there is a pair of magnificent carved-winged horses, with their heads held high and their wings carved with cirrus clouds, which seems to have the potential to take off. The northern part of Yima is a pair of beautiful high-relief ostriches, symbolizing the cultural exchanges and friendly exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and the people in the western regions. Next to the ostrich are five pairs of stone war horses with riders and ten pairs of stone Weng Zhong about 4 meters high.