I looked at the scratches left by sharp objects on the wall, remained silent for a moment, and then continued forward: "Our purpose in coming here is to find Duan Jinyan, not to explore his life experiences. Let's find him first."
After passing the iron chain and suspended stone, there were no more mechanisms ahead, and the tomb passage continued downwards, with a final drop of nearly forty meters.
Seeing this, I had some doubts.
Logically, the burial dome should be located above the burial chamber, but in this tomb, the burial dome is located above the tomb passage.
The slope of over thirty meters indicates that the main burial chamber is at least forty or fifty meters above the ground, suggesting that it must have been a very large structure.
Could it be that the tomb passage here serves the same function as a modern staircase, winding and turning downwards, with the main burial chamber still located directly below the burial mound?
While this logic is plausible, such burial practices are rarely seen in history. Similar tombs have only been unearthed in some small ancient states established by ethnic minorities.
But on second thought, the Jurchen people were also a minority group, and their burial culture incorporated the strengths of many different schools, so it was not impossible for some changes to occur.
With these questions in mind, I finally stood in front of the entrance to the tomb.
This is a huge, hollowed-out space, nearly six meters high, with a dome built of bricks.
Ahead of us stands the grand and imposing Duanmen Gate, constructed of bluestone.
At this point, the door had been damaged. One of the doors had a large hole in it, and the other door was pushed open halfway, revealing a dark interior.
The monkey shone his flashlight on the damaged door: "The spiral scratches on it are very clear. Those people must have drilled down with an impact. There's no pungent smell in the air, and no oil residue on the ground. The energy supply is probably from batteries."
"This is bad! Duan Jinyan is a master tomb raider. This space isn't a quicksand wall. Logically, this gate shouldn't be able to stop him, but he chose to destroy it. Either he's trying to save effort, or..."
Song Laosan paused for a moment: "Otherwise, he's just eager to take the jade seal from the tomb and wants to finish this quickly!"
"Follow me closely, and be careful!"
I didn't respond to Song Laosan's words, but I became a little anxious because of his second assumption. I shone my flashlight and went straight through the end gate.
After entering, there is still a tomb passage ahead, but it is completely different from the outside.
The tomb passages on both sides are made of bluestone, and architectural shapes are carved on them.
Despite the lack of oxygen, the walls here are well-preserved, and the fuel is still on them. At first glance, it looks like walking inside a palace with red walls and yellow tiles, which is very grand.
On either side of this entrance, there is a pair of celadon openwork vases with intertwined floral patterns, each about 1.5 meters tall.
This type of porcelain is named for its shape, which resembles a hanging gall bladder. It has a straight mouth, a slender neck, sloping shoulders, and gradually widens below the shoulders, with a full lower belly. To put it simply, it's a large-bellied vase.
"Wow! This is some good stuff!"
The monkey's eyes widened when it saw the two gall-shaped vases on either side: "Pairs of gall-shaped vases are hard to find, but vases like these, which are openwork and well-preserved, are even rarer! Vases placed in this tomb must be products of the official kiln, right?"
"The official kilns of the Jin Dynasty could not produce this kind of bottle. The official kilns in the early Jin Dynasty, represented by the Daguantun Kiln in Fushun, Liaoning and the Jiangguantun Kiln in Liaoyang, mainly produced white porcelain and white-glazed black-decorated items. The small black-glazed items were finely crafted, but the large daily necessities were relatively rough."
Song Laosan waved his hand: "In the late Jin Dynasty, there were famous kilns such as Guantai Kiln, Jun Kiln, Yaozhou Kiln, and Cicun Kiln. Among them, Ding Kiln is the most distinctive. Ding Kiln has fine white body, lustrous glaze, regular and exquisite production, and gorgeous decoration. Hu Shahu was a figure in the late Jin Dynasty, so this porcelain is probably from Ding Kiln."
I corrected him, "This is not Ding ware, it is Ge ware."
Song Laosan was skeptical: "That can't be right. Ding kiln is in the Baoding area of Hebei, which is relatively close to the capital, while Ge kiln is produced in Longquan County, Zhejiang, which is too far away."
Seeing that I held a different attitude from Song Laosan, the monkey seized the opportunity to ask, "Young Master Duan, you say this bottle is from the Ge kiln, but do you have any evidence?"
"Legend has it that in Longquan, Zhejiang during the Song Dynasty, there were two brothers named Zhang who both loved firing porcelain and achieved considerable success. The elder brother, Zhang Shengyi, fired porcelain called Liutian Kiln, also known as Ge Kiln; the younger brother, Zhang Shenger, fired porcelain called Longquan Kiln, also known as Di Kiln. Ge Kiln has crackle patterns, while Di Kiln does not. The patterns on this gall-shaped vase are called eel patterns. As for the crackle patterns of Ding Kiln mentioned by the Third Master, they are not deliberately created like those of Ge Kiln, but rather formed due to aging and other factors, and are not as regular. Therefore, strictly speaking, Ding Kiln does not have crackle patterns. If crackle patterns do appear, it is due to aging or manufacturing failures. How could such a piece be used as a burial object?"
"These two bottles are so beautiful, isn't it a waste to put them here?"
The monkey was completely captivated by the two bottles: "Can you think of a way to let me take these two bottles out? I absolutely won't sell them; I'll just keep them at home for my own enjoyment!"
"We don't have enough time, and it's difficult to take something this big with us."
Seeing the monkey's reluctant expression, I added, "If you look closely inside the bottle, you probably won't want to keep it at home anymore."
What could be in this bottle?
After hearing what I said, the monkey went over and peered into the bottle through the opening: "Strange, how come there are monkey bones in here? The bottle opening is so narrow, how did those two monkeys get in?"
I didn't need to look to know what was in the bottles: "They weren't monkeys, but children, a boy and a girl on each side, who were like guides to the tomb. Before they died, they were filled with mercury to maintain their sitting posture, so they sat on these two bottles. Over the years, their bodies still rotted away. The mud at the bottom of the bottles was the rotting bodies of the boys and girls, along with the mercury that had been poured into their bodies."
"Damn it, this is really bad luck!"
After hearing my explanation, the monkey immediately lost interest in the two bottles: "These uncivilized ancient people are simply insane! It's one thing for them to die, but they even dared to harm such a small child! They're utter bastards!"
"The class divisions in ancient times were different from what you understand. Back then, people would send their own flesh and blood to be buried with them for the sake of survival, even if it was just a bag of rice. The practice of funerary sacrifice was prevalent in the Jin Dynasty, and there were probably even more people who were buried alive with the dead."
I adjusted the position of my mask: "Let's not waste any more time, everyone. We still have a lot to do."
"Giggle!"
As I was speaking, I suddenly heard a burst of laughter, which sounded like children playing.
Not only me, but everyone around me also raised their guns. Seeing our expressions and actions, Song Laosan swallowed hard: "That sound...you heard it too?"
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