On April 28th, my country's first archaeological museum, the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum, was put into trial operation for the public. In addition to many precious cultural relics such as Yan Zhenqing Shudan's "Luo Wanshun Epitaph", which was first met with the public, the epitaph related to Shangguan Wan'er attracted many people. tourists.

　　Shaanxi Archaeological Museum is located in the south of Zhoujiazhuang Village, Guodu Street, Chang'an District, Xi'an. Among the more than 5,000 exhibits, there are Zhou Dynasty wooden figurines obtained by pouring gypsum liquid, and Tang Dynasty led camel figurines still standing after thousands of years. There are precious cultural relics such as stone carvings and jade wares from the Shimao site, bronze wares from the Western Zhou Dynasty, pottery figurines from the Baling Mausoleum area of ​​Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, and Yan Zhenqing's book "Luo Wanshun Epitaph".

　　Liu Sizhe, deputy director of the Cultural Relics Preservation Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, who participated in the exhibition, told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that the exhibition has been planned for two years, but the epitaph of Shangguan Waner is not the first time it has been displayed.

As early as 2017, the Forest of Steles Museum held an exhibition of celebrity epitaphs with the theme of "The Peach Blossom is Still", including the epitaph exhibition of Shangguan Wan'er, which was on display for a month.

"The epitaph exhibition of Shangguan Wan'er this time is presented as a permanent exhibition, and together with the epitaph of Yan Zhenqing's book "Luo Wanshun's Epitaph" exhibited for the first time, the epitaphs of two celebrities are displayed together, in order to reflect the archaeological work through the epitaph. How to identify the identity of the tomb owner, life stories, etc. through the epitaph." He also introduced, "In the past two days, most of the tourists who came were students from nearby universities. They came to have an immersive visit experience and learn about the stories behind the archaeology."

　　In Liu Sizhe's view, the reason why the general audience is interested in Shangguan Wan'er is because she often appears in film and television dramas and is a celebrity.

According to Li Ming, a former researcher at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology who presided over the excavation of Shangguan Wan'er's tomb back then, there were not many famous women in Chinese history, and even fewer were famous, talented, and storytellers. Shangguan Wan'er had all three. It's been hot for more than a thousand years.

　　Mystery 1

　　Shangguan Wan'er's tomb was severely damaged

　　"Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Taiping, one is the female prime minister and the other is the princess of Zhenguo, but now there is nothing left to say: 'The words of Taiping are prosperous, and the long-term wish is Ji Hongxiu'." Weibo blogger Wang Chunchun, who is certified as a writer and poet Such information was issued on April 28, causing a large number of netizens to follow and comment.

　　In an interview with a reporter from Beiqing Daily, Li Ming, a former researcher at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, introduced the story of the excavation of Shangguan Wan'er's tomb.

　　According to Li Ming, the tomb of Shangguan Wan'er was discovered by archaeological exploration in 2013 before road construction in Konggang New Town, Xixian New Area.

The official excavation in early August, after entering the tomb, the archaeologists found that the northern half of the tomb had been severely damaged, "the tomb was destroyed horribly, the top had completely collapsed, and the highest point of the four brick walls was only 1.3 meters. When one piece was uncovered, the original position of the coffin bed in the western part of the tomb was completely leveled, there was no funerary utensils in the tomb, and the coffin and the remains of the owner of the tomb disappeared without a trace.”

　　It is gratifying that the bluestone epitaphs placed in the corridor are basically intact, even maintaining the appearance when they were placed during the burial.

The 9 seal characters "Inscription of Shangguan's Inscription in the Old Tang Dynasty" on the cover of the epitaph made the archaeologists finally believe that this is the tomb of the famous female prime minister Shangguan Wan'er.

　　Mystery 2

　　"Shangguan Wan'er" may be just a nickname

　　Although the name of Shangguan Wan'er is well known to the public, Mr. Li Ming introduced that this name is not used in formal academic articles, including the taboo "Shangguan Wan'er" which is not clearly recorded in Tang history books.

　　In this regard, Li Ming explained that "Wan'er" is the name of Shangguan Zhaorong recorded in the biography of the old and new "Books of Tang".

The epitaph is the first-hand material, from the hands of the people at that time, and it was made within two months after the death of Shangguan Zhaorong.

In terms of the selectivity of historical materials, epitaphs are more credible than the history books compiled by future generations.

"Perhaps 'Wan'er' is just the baby name of Shangguan Zhaorong. She lost her father in swaddling clothes and was convicted as a slave with her mother. It is understandable that she does not have an official name and character. In the official documents of the Tang Dynasty, no matter how the identity changed, The only name for her is 'Shangguan'." Li Ming introduced that the epitaph found in Shangguan Wan'er's tomb did not say "Jieyu surnamed Shangguan, taboo Wan'er", so as an excavator, following the custom of the Tang Dynasty, the tomb of this tomb was not written. The official name is "Tang Zhaorong Shangguan's Tomb" - the so-called "Zhaorong" is the title of the female official in the Tang Dynasty court, ranking second among the emperor's "nine concubines", the second-rank rank, is a very high status.

　　Mystery 3

　　It is difficult to determine who destroyed the tomb

　　In the epitaph of Shangguan Wan'er, there are phrases like "Princess Taiping mourns, donated 500 pieces of silk, and sent envoys to hang offerings", as well as the writing characteristics of the epitaph. Archaeologists believe that the funeral of Shangguan Zhaorong was arranged by Princess Taiping.

The reason why Princess Taiping wanted to bury Shangguan Wan'er was that she had a close relationship with Shangguan Wan'er.

According to the year of Princess Taiping's first marriage, it can be concluded that the two were of the same age and grew up in the palace at the same time.

Shangguan Waner was promoted by Wu Zetian as a talented person at the age of 13, and has been working as a "secretary" by the Queen's side since then, and Princess Taiping is Wu Zetian's most beloved daughter, and the two have the conditions for frequent contact.

　　In 710 AD, Shangguan Wan'er was killed.

In 712, Li Longji, later Tang Xuanzong, ascended the throne.

In July of the second year, Princess Taiping was given death for treason.

Tang Xuanzong also ordered the destruction of the tomb of his consort Wu Youji, so that Princess Taiping would die without a place to be buried.

　　In Li Ming's view, when Li Longji ordered the destruction of Wu Youji's tomb, he also destroyed the nearby Shangguan Zhaorong tomb, also targeting Princess Taiping.

It is worth noting that the tomb of Shangguan Zhaorong's former backer Wu Sansi was also destroyed.

At the beginning of the eighth century, the destruction of tombs and the construction of new ones seemed to be extreme ways 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.

At the current stage, the inference put forward by the archaeological team that "Tang Zhaorong's tomb of Shangguan was officially destroyed" is the conclusion pointed to by the evidence from the archaeological excavation data and is a more reasonable explanation at present.

　　Text / reporter Zhang Enjie

　　Coordinator/Liu Jianghua