Stone Statues of Sixty-One Foreign Ministers

Is this the fact that the Tang Dynasty period and the world friendly exchanges? A variety of different countries came to the Tang Dynasty to learn and exchange unprecedented pomp. It is said that they are still subject to the Tang Dynasty. Political obedience is, of course, short-lived, and cultural exchanges between each other are far-reaching.

Next to the Sanchuyu site of Qianling, there are 61 statues of Zunchen, the same size as a life person. Some of them wore tight sleeved clothes, some waist banded, some foot boots, two hands arch like prayer, neatly arranged in front of the tomb, both to the Tang emperors courteous reflection, but also their return to the central, bodyguard palace epitome. The 61 statues of the honored Chechen were built around Wu Zetian's death. At the time of the initial construction, each stone statue was engraved with surnames, officials, ethnic groups and subordinate countries, indicating that they came from different ethnic groups and different regions. But these texts have been eroded by wind and rain for more than a thousand years, and most of them have been destroyed. Only 7 stone statues have leftover text and can be read. During the Song Dynasty, an official named You Shixiong, who had examined the text on the back of the statues and recorded them, among which 35 statues could identify them. These people could be divided into six categories according to their country and region, such as the Huizhu Dudu under the protection of Tang Anbei Province; The leaders of all ethnic groups and the governors from the east of the Congling Mountains of Anxidu Hufu; the leaders of the Duhu, Dudu and Tuguhun from the western Turkic region of the northern Tang Dynasty Hufu. The real guest and overseas Chinese of Wang Bin lived in Chang'an but five or six people, most of them were officials of all ethnic groups under the Tang Dynasty or kings and princes of all the countries that lived in Chang'an, most of them were generals and 12 guards of the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, he was appointed to serve as the local administrator of the Tang Border Territory. The official products are generally more than three products, and some even the official residences are one. The reporter saw at the scene that the traces of the broken neck of the stone statue of Chechen were clearly visible. So, when was the head of the stone statue smashed? When building Qianling, the stone statue must be intact, but until now, no one can tell what person, at what age, why the stone statue's skull was smashed. Some people think that when the eight-country coalition invaded China, they saw that there were foreign envoys in front of the Tang Tomb, and felt insulting to the face of the foreigner, so they cut off all the stone heads. But in fact, the eight-country coalition forces did not go to the tomb when they invaded China, which is still to be debated. Some people think that the head was smashed in the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the plague hit the county, and there were countless people who died. Local people believe that the source of the plague may be these minority leaders and foreigners in Qianling, so they have "moved the heads of the stone statues". Yu Yingfeng, the former director of Qianling Museum, speculated that the stone statues may have been destroyed in the Ming Dynasty Huazhou earthquake, "the earthquake caused the stone statues to collapse and the head is missing." The earthquake occurred on January 23, 1556, and the seismic wave shook most of China, covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land. For a moment, the bumps and shakes, the sound is like thunder, the ground is picturesque, or the mountains are suddenly broken, or the ditches are trapped, countless buildings, suddenly collapsed and fell.

The 61st statue of the Shichen, also known as the Wang Bin statue, is the image of the surrounding clans and state leaders who were submissive to the Tang Dynasty during the Gaowu period. It is a witness to the friendship of the Tang Dynasty and the surrounding clans and the people of the country. At the beginning, the back of the statue was engraved with the name, ethnic group, knight and name, and it is now more long-term. The original 64-sun stone statue of Qianling, 61-sun, blue stone, round carving. The head of the existing stone statue is incomplete, the height is 1.50 to 1.77 meters, and the shoulder width is 0.54 to 0.65 meters.

The location is superior, the scenery is pleasant, the environment is beautiful

Traveling to Shaanxi, this station came to Xianyang City, to visit Qianling. The 61st statue of the emperor is also known as the "Image of the King of the Bin", standing outside the gate of the Qianling Zhuque, on one side is 32, on the other side is 29, the stone statue is similar to the true person height, the costume is different, each stone statue is engraved with a name and title. Why the kings are without heads, and there are many different opinions.

Sixty-one princes had no head, and the heads of these statues were cut off by the people of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, a foreign envoy to Qianling to play, found that his ancestors were standing here to guard the tomb for the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, feeling that both damage to the national character, but also degrading personality, self-esteem was strongly damaged, and wanted to destroy these stone statues. But he feared to be dissatisfied with the local people, and he thought of a clever plan. Every night he trampled on the grain in the crop field near Qianling, and the next day he fanned the fire and told the people that it was all made of stone statues, that they had become refined at night and began to spoil the crops. To protect crops and food, the stones must be destroyed. The local people thought the foreign envoy was very reasonable, and in a hurry they cut off their heads.