Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

I used to be a tomb robber, and now I am a consultant at the Archaeological Institute of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

This huge change in my identity is due to the biggest trap I encountered in my tomb-robbing career—

GA agency.

After I was arrested, in order to convict me, the provincial department asked the Provincial Institute of Archaeology to send a team of experts to conduct a cultural relic appraisal on the more than 300 treasures I had accumulated during the 26 years of tomb robbing.

As a result, more than half of the treasures were designated as national first-class cultural relics.

There are also 16 pieces that are qualified to be included in the list of cultural relics prohibited from leaving the country, commonly known as national treasures.

The remaining treasures, which are classified as second-level cultural relics, are also priceless in the antique market.

The appraisal experts jokingly called me the tomb robber Yanxuan.

All the stolen items that remain in their hands are treasures of extremely high historical, cultural and economic value.

The appraisal results made the provincial department feel that the case was serious, so they reported it to the ministry and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Upon hearing the news, the two departments set up a joint working group to go to Shaanxi to guide the investigation of the case.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage sent experts from the National Cultural Relics Appraisal Committee to re-examine and appraise the treasures I stole.

The turquoise pendant with the Yellow Emperor's tribal totem, the Xia Dynasty bronze ware, and the tripod with inscriptions on the Western Zhou Dynasty royal family have been confirmed to be authentic.

It was also written in the appraisal opinion: Finding the sites where these treasures were unearthed and the tombs of the same period is of great significance to the advancement of the project of exploring the origins of Chinese civilization.

My fate, which was supposed to be shot, took a quiet turn at this moment.

Four months later, Director Tang from the Archaeological Institute of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage came to the detention center to have a long talk with me.

As long as I truthfully confess all the tomb-robbing events and identify the locations of the tombs, I will be given the opportunity to redeem myself from my crimes.

So I started by telling you how I started on the road of tomb robbing.

He mixed the unique techniques of finding tombs by observing qi, dividing gold to determine the burial site, distinguishing the age of the soil, exploring the tomb with a shovel, opening the coffin and resurrecting the body into the tomb-robbing experience with Director Tang for a full half month.

A month later I changed my name and became a consultant at the Archaeological Institute.

He then participated in archaeological consulting work at major sites such as the Anyang Yin Ruins, the Guanghan Sanxingdui Ruins, and the Shenmu Shimao Ruins.

Now that I have reached retirement age, I will soon be assigned to join an overseas cultural relics exchange organization to do my part to recover precious cultural relics that have been lost overseas.

Before leaving, I applied to the organization to write a memoir.

So this memoir-style novel came into being.

The following content is compiled based on the transcript of what I said to Director Tang back then.

I was born in Yagou Village, a small village on the Xianyang Plateau.

This is a small village that few people in Xianyang City know about, but it became famous in the international collection community in the 1980s and 1990s.

International collectors from Hong Kong Island, the island country, and the European continent will stop what they are doing and take a look at the antiques once they hear that they are from Yagou. No matter how busy they are, they will stop what they are doing and take a look.

Because the cultural relics that flowed out of Yagou are the best of the best.

And all of these have a lot to do with me.

To talk about how I got into tomb robbing, I have to mention my family.

I have a father who is very enterprising today, but was extremely out of place in the 1960s and 1970s.

My father always wanted to make money and live a good life. He raised pigs and chickens, and collected eggs and vegetables from villagers to sell. However, he lost all his money and was left with nothing.

My mother couldn't stand the hardship and returned to her parents' home. Later, I heard that she remarried in Inner Mongolia.

I still remember my mother's determination when she left.

I chased after her and cried until my voice was hoarse, begging her not to leave, but she didn't even turn her head.

The moment her figure disappeared from my sight, I really thought I was a child jumping out from between the rocks.

Otherwise, which biological mother would heartlessly abandon her own child?

After my mother left, my father seemed like a different person. He hid in his room all day smoking his pipe, and the house was filled with smoke as if it was on fire.

I don't remember how long it was before my dad finally walked out of the room.

That day he bought some wine and meat, coaxed me to eat the meat and go to sleep, and then he drank with my grandfather all night.

My father disappeared at dawn.

My grandfather said that my father was disobedient and would rather die than give up.

Then he taught me to study hard and be sensible, to be an honest and decent person, and not to be as stubborn as my father.

Later I heard that my father stole the commune's letter paper, carved a radish stamp, and forged a letter of introduction to go to the south.

Later, many people said that my father died outside.

I don't believe it. I always feel that my father will come back.

Because of this, I even had several fights with people who said my father was dead.

Even though I was beaten black and blue by them every time, as long as I heard them say my father was dead, I would still rush up and grab the person who was talking and fight him to the death.

Gradually, they no longer dared to mention the fact that my father died outside.

My grandfather was concerned about me studying and becoming sensible.

In those days, studying seemed to be a useless thing, and it was even more difficult to find a decent teacher.

I don’t know how my grandfather got in touch with Professor Zhang from Northwestern University who was sent down to a nearby place for reform.

Grandpa would catch rabbits and fish every now and then and send them over.

Perhaps Professor Zhang was grateful for the favor, so he tacitly allowed me to go to his place to study at night.

Professor Zhang studies history. After finishing the textbook content every day, he would explain history to me in detail.

Those historical contents played a significant role in my later tomb robbing.

Later, Professor Zhang received a letter to resume his work. As he left, he held my hand and said, "The college entrance examination will be resumed soon. Prepare well. I'll wait for you at Northwestern University."

At that time, I was full of hope for the college entrance examination.

I feel that as long as I get into college, my life will undergo a major change.

You will have a decent job in the city and don't have to work hard in the fields to make a living.

Xiufang, whom I have secretly loved for many years, would be willing to marry me.

The dignity lost because of my father will be taken back.

In the future, I will be able to hold my head high and let everyone in the village look up to me with envy.

After careful review and preparation, I was admitted to university as I wished in 79.

When the admission letter from Northwestern University arrived, the entire Yaodian Commune was in an uproar because I was the only college student in the commune.

I became a celebrity in a short time.

The commune leaders came to Yagou to encourage me and told me not to forget my hometown when I become successful in the future.

Everyone says that I am the God of Literature who has descended to earth. In ancient times, I would be the top scholar in the Hanlin Academy and would definitely become a high-ranking official in the future.

Many people came to my house with gifts, and after flattering me enthusiastically, they said in a roundabout way that I should not forget my friends when I become rich.

I emphasized again and again that I would not accept gifts, and even stuffed them back.

But they still found ways to keep the gifts in my house.

Matchmaker Wang was even more eager to act as my matchmaker and promised to find a girl from the city as my wife.

But I was thinking about Xiufang in my heart, so I rejected Matchmaker Wang without hesitation.

Matchmaker Wang left with a sullen face. Not long after, Xiufang's parents came to my house to propose marriage, hoping to arrange the marriage as soon as possible.

It would be best if we could have our wedding night before reporting to university.

Now that we have our wedding night, I, your rich husband, will not run away with someone else in college.

Grandpa asked Xiufang and I what we thought.

Xiufang blushed and nodded slightly, and I stared at her and laughed foolishly.

That day, I felt proud for the first time after years of being suppressed in my heart.

After my grandfather agreed, our two families got busy arranging the wedding.

On the day when the happy event was about to take place, bad news suddenly came.

Someone wrote letters of complaint to the city, province, and Northwestern University.

Report that my father is a criminal who forged a letter of introduction and absconded, and that the son of a criminal is not qualified to go to college.

The higher-ups took the report very seriously and sent someone to investigate.

After a round of visits, the investigator came to a conclusion and decided to cancel my admission.

The admission letter that I treasured like a treasure was taken away so lightly.

The person who was so warm and respectful to me just a moment ago suddenly changed his expression, made sarcastic remarks, and asked my family to return the gifts we had received.

I was furious and my eyes turned red.

The gift was given by you yourselves. I didn't want it at the beginning but you forced it on me. Now you have the nerve to ask for it back?

I clenched my fists tightly, and the veins on the back of my hands bulged and throbbed.

I want to smash their mouths while they're talking!

When I was about to explode, my grandfather held my shoulders and told them coldly to go to the kitchen and take the gifts away.

Xiufang's parents also changed their expressions.

He said the marriage was off, then took Xiufang and left.

My eyes followed Xiufang's figure closely, hoping she would stop for me.

But no.

He didn't even look back at me.

My vision blurred and the image of my mother resolutely leaving home emerged in my mind.

The figure of the mother overlaps with Xiufang.

There was a loud bang in my heart, as if something collapsed.

I raised my face, trying not to let the tears that had gathered in my eyes flow out.

But the tears are as disgusting as those hateful people, and they just keep flowing out of my eyes like a dam bursting.

It's going to destroy my last bit of stubbornness.

I ran out of the village, along the ridges into the empty fields, and burst into tears.

When I had cried until I had no more tears and was about to sit down to calm down, there was a crack, my right foot suddenly stepped on empty air, and I fell uncontrollably to the ground.

He turned his head to look at the place where he had stepped on air, and a chill rushed to his head, making all the hairs on his body stand up.

There was a hole about 40 centimeters square on the ground.

Fortunately, my left leg was stuck outside the hole, so I didn't fall in.

After lifting my right leg, I squatted carefully at the entrance of the cave and looked down.

The black cave is bottomless, and gusts of cold wind blow out from the cave entrance, just like the legendary monster cave.

About six or seven centimeters away from the cave entrance, there are four bamboo sticks stuck in the cave wall.

There is a new-looking broken edge at the front end of the bamboo strip.

Thinking of the cracking sound before the fall, I immediately understood what happened.

Some people dug a hole and used bamboo strips to make a partition, put something on the partition to cover the hole, and then buried it with loose soil to hide it from people.

It's very similar to the traps we played with as children.

Dig a hole in the ground and pee in it, put branches over the hole and cover it with soil, then wait for other children to step on the hole.

Once a child steps in and gets his legs splashed with urine, the child who dug the hole will clap and cheer wildly with laughter.

Is someone trying to trick me?

My first thought was that the person who reported me not only ruined my future, but also set a trap for me to fall to my death.

Then I thought it was unlikely.

Even the gods might not be able to predict that I would leave from here.

Moreover, this bottomless hole doesn't look like something that one or two people could dig out.

What exactly is this hole?

While frowning and thinking, he looked into the depths of the cave again, and vaguely saw an indentation dug inward on the cave wall, which looked like a stepping stone.

I shuddered all over.

I remembered that the camel grandfather at the end of the village told a story and mentioned that tomb robbers on the Guanzhong Road liked to dig footsteps on the cave walls.

Because the footrest makes it convenient to enter and exit the tunnel, and also to transport large treasures out.

Could it be that the hole in front of me that almost got me killed was dug by tomb robbers when they robbed the ancient tomb?

When I thought that there might be an ancient tomb below with countless treasures, my heart started beating wildly.

What should I do?

The opportunity to go to college has been lost, and the hole in front of me may be another opportunity to change my life.

But grandpa said that people should be honest and do their duty.

When Professor Zhang talked about Cao Cao's tomb robbing, he said that tomb robbing was shameful.

I am a well-educated person...

What is the use of reading to gain knowledge?

I didn't do anything wrong, but I was disqualified from going to college.

If you don’t seize the opportunity, you will always be a farmer digging for food in the fields!

If a person does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth!!

It felt like there were two little people arguing back and forth in my heart, making my head hurt.

Not knowing what to choose, I looked around.

Hopefully no one comes before a decision is made.

But things went counterproductive.

A figure is running towards me quickly!