TheLooting of the Eastern Mausoleum was a major incident in early June 1928, in which some of the majormausoleums of the ChineseQing dynasty in theEastern Qing tombs were ransacked or vandalized by troops under the command of the warlordSun Dianying.
With thedissolution of the Qing Empire in 1912, the new Republic of China and the recently-abdicated royal family signed a treaty, in of which included the details and agreements guaranteeing formal federal protections of the Mausoleums of the Qing Dynasty. However, after the occurrence of multiple strenuous events such asYuan Shikai's attempted restoration of the monarchy in 1915 and the outbreak of theSecond Zhili–Fengtian War, made the Nationalist government's capability in upholding these obligations increasingly difficult. With logistics and funding for the protection and maintenance becoming sporadic and unreliable, vigilance over the guarding of the tomb sites dwindled.[1][2][3]
Sun Dianying was a commander of theFengtian Army, who allied himself and the forces under his control withChiang Kai-shek during the 1926Northern Expedition. Afters its conclusion however, Chiang Kai-shek increasingly began the exclusion of known dissidents; Sun Dianying himself- being a former warlord, naturally became one of the primary targets of disarmament. Distrust, confounded by corruption within the Nationalist government resulted in delayed pay, food, water, and other logistical problems that consistently plagued Sun Dianying's forces under his command. This in turn led to an increase in sporadic cases of insubordination, protests, and even desertions whilst stationed inHebei province. In face of this growing crisis, Sun Dianying proceeded to search for alternative sources of funding.[4]
The extremely opulent and extravagant nature of theEmpress Dowager Cixi's funerary procession following her death in 15 November 1908, required a vow of secrecy on certain details by the Qing officials and head-eunuchs responsible for overseeing its planning and procurement. After abdication of the Qing Dynasty in 1912 however, the token of secrecy over this information were no longer enforceable and were, inexorably, leaked to the public by formerpalace officials, the eunuchs and their relatives over the course of two decades. Some of these surviving information eventually manifested itself in the form of the 'Ai Yuxuan Notebook'; a compilation work that concerned the detail of Cixi's funerary and burial procession. Not in the least of which most significantly, were the information regarding the procurement of the vast array and amount, of treasure and unique burial items that were planned to accompany her coffin.
It was suspected that it was approximately at this point in time that the document (or most likely a copy of it) fell into the possession of Sun Dianying after having being received from two of his subordinated that had recently returned fromBeijing of which, after its study, lead to the decision and planning to loot the Eastern Qing Mausoleums.[5]
In the early hours of June 8, 1928, warlordSun Dianying led his army into the Eastern Mausoleums of theQing dynasty in Malanyu, northwest ofZunhua, Hebei. This was the final resting place of the Qing emperors and empresses, and was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from theForbidden City of Peking. The 78-square-kilometer (30.1-square-mile) burial site was for five emperors, 15 empresses and 136 imperialconcubines within 15 tombs, including theShunzhi Emperor (1638–1661), theKangxi Emperor (1654–1722), theQianlong Emperor (1711–1799) andEmpress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908).
On June 12, 1928, Sun Dianying ordered a large-scale graverobbing operation that removed almost all the underground funeral objects of the Huifeiling and Yuling Mausoleums and the underground palace of Puxiangyu East Dingling. Ma Futian, Regimental Commander in the 28th Army ofZhang Zuolin, had quietly occupied Malanyu. Sun Dianying orderedTan Wenjiang, one of his division commanders, to capture the tomb area. At dawn on July 2, Ma Futian was driven away and Tan's army looted the mausoleums in Malanyu. After that, Sun's army went straight to the area of the Eastern Qing Tombs, pretending to engage in war exercises in the area. Tan Wenjiang placed policemen all around, denying access to the area and signs declared the army was "protecting the Tombs" to prevent interference. Thelooting operation was directed by Sun Dianying from his car. Trucks were on hand to speed away with the loot as soon as they were loaded.[6][7]
The tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi (Dingdong Ling) was first to be targeted, and Sun gave first priority to officers above battalion commander level to collect treasure for themselves. Ordinary soldiers were eventually allowed to take the leftovers. The above-ground memorial hall was the most prominent and easily accessible structure. Upon entering, the thieves tore down the gold and brass dragon ornaments that enveloped the structure's pillars and stole the myriad of ornaments and gold medallions from the beams and eves of the building.
Upon reaching the tomb-mound at the rear of the complex, it was realized that none amongst the perpetrators were familiar of complete layout and design of the tomb and its burial chamber. After multiple initial failed attempts at locating the burial chamber's entrance via arbitrary digging and liberal use of dynamite (resulting in extensive structural damage), a suspected former tomb-keeper from the nearbyMalanyu village was brought forth, and interrogated into revealing exact location of the tomb's sealed entrance.[8]Locating the burial chamber's entrance after only a meter of vertical digging whilst under the tomb-keeper's guidance, the looters were met by the first major obstacle; the tomb's foot-thick sealing-wall ('Diamond Wall') whose durability made it almost impervious to all pickaxes, shovels and backhoes equipped on-hand.
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Further use of dynamite by the engineering corps were therefore required to breach this seal- opening the passage that lead into the underground palace.[9]Traveling down the burial chamber passageway, the perpetrators reached the final major obstacle: two heavy yet durable sets of marble gates that now divided the burial chamber and the coffin itself, from the outside world. Ignorant of the locking-mechanism of this door, Sun Dianying's men first attempted to hack down and cut at the door with pickaxes and shovels that were on-hand, but to no avail (damage to the doors of which are still visible today). Peering in through the narrow slit between these doors revealed that it was barricaded by an angled bar of carved marble that served as the locking mechanism and, knowing that, was then circumvented by having it set backwards to its original position via the combined use of steel wires and thin ropes to serve as a crude pulley-system.[10]
After the gates were bypassed, it was only the vermilion coffin of the Empress Dowager that now stood before them. Prying open the coffin lid, the perpetrators were met by a near-incomprehensible, almost other-worldly sight - the embalmed and considerably still well-preserved corpse of Cixi herself, wrapped in three layers of gold brocade and an additional layer of pearl approximately a foot-thick were laid around at the bottom of the coffin. On her head wore a Qing imperial red-and-black Phoenix-crown also adorned with pearls, with the largest that topped the crown purportedly, being almost the diameter of that of arobin's egg. In addition to this werejade andtourmaline coral andlotus leaf sculptures respectively, placed at her head and foot. Within the coffin surrounding her corpse were also multiple small sculptures of horses,Arhats,Buddhas andGuanyin (Goddess of Mercy) figurines carved ofgold, jade,emerald and various other gemstones. At either side of her feet were laid carved sculptures of jadeite watermelon slices,oriental fragrant melons, carvedJadeite Cabbage sculptures and multiple gemstone-carvedpeaches,plums,apricots and dates.[11] Encapsulating both the corpse and immense treasure were the four wooden walls of the coffin itself, entirely engraved with multiple goldenSanskrit excerpt passages of theAmitābha andAmitāyus Sutras,[12] that contained blessings forreincarnation and entry into'The Buddhist Pure Land' - a blissful spiritual place described as having wonderful adornments including jeweled ponds, colorful jeweled lotuses, raining flowers and jeweled trees that 'make the sounds of the Dharma'.[13]
As if starving wolves pouncing upon prey, the looters first dragged the Empress Dowager's corpse out of the coffin and discarded her aside as if refuse before proceeding to snatch at the largest treasured objects that had been previously placed around her body, such as the Buddha statues,jadeite watermelons, jade coral and vegetables. They snatched at the objects found beneath the body, ravaged the corpse itself - taking her imperial robe; tearing off her gold-threaded undergarments, shoes and socks, and stealing all the pearls and jewels on her body. The looters even violently pried open her jaws withbayonet blades and rifle-butts in their hasty quest to extract the legendary 'Yemingzu' ('夜明珠' lit. 'Night-Pearl') described as having light-emittingfluorescent-like properties,[15] that had purportedly been placed in Cixi's mouth following her death (to supposedly protect her corpse from decomposing, in accordance with Chinese folk-tradition). Ultimately, they looted all the objects under the coffin that had been favorites of Cixi when she was alive.[16][17][18] Cixi's burial garments and socks, due to be soiled by her corpse over the course of twenty years were subsequently discarded by the perpetrators, but not before all the sewn jewels and pearls were violently torn away. These surviving garments were recovered, restored and publicly displayed at theChina National Silk Museum.[19]
While Tan Wenjiang was robbing Cixi's tomb, Han Dabao, a brigade commander under Sun Dianying, led another group to the Yu Mausoleum belonging to theQianlong Emperor and declared his intention to 'conduct a war exercise'.
Armed with the knowledge and methodology gained after the ransacking of Cixi's Eastern Ding Mausoleum prior, the perpetrators once more breached the tomb's 'sealing-wall' with the use ofdynamite as they did before. This time however they were taken by surprise by a new, unforeseen obstacle; the underground entrance and the burial chamber itself was inundated approximately by more than a few meters of stagnant water; flooding of which was a result of centuries of rain-water seepage into the chambers caused by construction methods that were not water-tight. Pumps had to be brought it to reduce the water to more tolerable levels prior to entry.[20]
Upon reaching the final set of marble gates, the looters utilized the same method as before to unlatch the locking mechanism. Despite multiple attempts however, the gates to the burial chamber refused to open. It was later discovered that, possibly due to buoyancy, the wooden coffin of the Qianlong Emperor was lifted off from its pedestal, and then relocated itself to the marble gate of the burial chamber whilst the floodwaters were being drained - resulting in his coffin coincidentally serving as a crude ad-hoc barricade, preventing the doors from opening and delaying the thieves' entry. Nevertheless, the gates and the coffin itself inevitably yielded to the use of dynamite. The looters blew down the entrance and doorways of the underground palace and rushed into the tomb. The coffins of theQianlong Emperor, his empress and four concubines were pried open, all the valuables looted and their remains thrown onto the mud-covered floor of the burial chamber.
The corpses of both the Qianlong Emperor and those interred with him were discovered to be in more worsened condition of preservation in comparison to Cixi, mostly owing to having been buried for longer, with further decomposition exacerbated by water-damage caused by centuries of flood-water inundation.[21]
The soldiers then proceeded to the above ground Yu Mausoleum Memorial Halls and the underground palace of Puxiangyu East Dingling, and proceeded to similarly loot what they could. After removing the treasures from the graves, Sun and his army sealed the empty chambers with stones. They carted off some of China's greatest treasures, but some things could not be easily removed and the imposing buildings of the mausoleum still survive.[22][23]
On the day of the looting incident, a soldier reportedly arrived at a shop belonging to an antiquities broker inBeijing and began acting arrogantly - aiming to sell off a significant amount of valuable items that he had brought forth. The extremely regal, and valuable nature of the purported items instantly attracted the attention of fellow patrons, outside bystanders and a passing patrol of law enforcement alike. Both the soldier and the broker were subsequently arrested and transferred to the Peking Garrison Command for questioning - the suspect was revealed to be a subordinate ofSun Dianying and, under interrogation, disclosed the details of the ongoing looting operation and the source of the treasures. Sun Dianying was named as the organizer, and mastermind of the plot.[24][25]
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By near the end of June of that year a combination of hearsay, rumors and published news of the massive looting operations had spread pastHebei and had already reached as far asBeijing andTianjin.
Public perception to the news of the looting, both within China and around the world, were mixed.Cixi herself, having consistently been a controversial figure throughout her life whom was known infamously for her arguably lavish, corrupt and vain lifestyle at the expense of the common Chinese people, that had in no shortage a part contributed to the downfall of the Qing, was interpreted by some as a crude form ofkarmic retribution.
Other perceptions to the crime by members of the public and the press were more negative - with many being outraged and condemning the looting of the tombs as a desecration of the ancestors, and a direct disrespect of Chinese culture. China's dethroned last emperorPuyi, who had dismissed Sun from his post sent telegrams toChiang Kai-shek,Yan Xishan, Commander of Garrison Force in Beijing, the Central Committee ofKuomintang and local newspapers demanding strict investigation of the crime requesting for Sun Dianying to be sentenced to death. The crime, perpetrated by Sun Dianying whose forces were part of the wing of theNationalist military was seen as a betrayal, and was one of the major contributing factors to Puyi's later increased sympathies with theJapanese Empire.[26] Many others within Chinese society also similarly requested for punishment.[27]
As Puyi was residing in Tianjin at the time of the incident, a letter request of dispatch was sent to former Qing-nobleZaize to evaluate the status of the mausoleum complex on his behalf, and to make arrangements for any re-interment and repairs where deemed necessary. The remains of the Empress Dowager Cixi, theQianlong Emperor, his empress and concubines were hastily re-buried, with additional restoration work on the tombs, burial chamber and coffins also undertaken. In the case of the Yuling Mausoleum, the floor of the burial chamber was discovered in a chaotic and dilapidated state with the remains and bones of all the occupants scattered about and mixed together across the burial chamber's floor. As modernDNA forensic technology and methods were not yet available to assist in distinguishing whose remains belonged to whom at the time of the crime, the remains of both the Qianlong Emperor, his empress and concubines were all gathered as one and then interred directly into the coffin of the Qianlong Emperor for expediency.[28][29]
The ultimate status of the treasures looted from the Eastern Qing Tombs have to this day, remained unknown, with none yet having being positively identified or recovered, and their fate having being perpetually surrounded by an air of mystery consisting of only popular rumors, hearsay, conspiracy theories and allegations.
A list of the purportedly stolen items from the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi published by the 16 January 1929 edition ofThe World's News noting the type, amount and estimated value (not adjusted forinflation) of the allegedly lost items were as follows:[30]
four-thousand five-hundred small pearls, with an additional 113 lbs of other gems (£180,000).
Total (estimated) value: ~£3,781,700.[31]
For a time the looting of the Eastern Tombs remained a focus of national interest. Sun Dianying, with both his name and complicity of the crime being widely circulated within national news, grew increasingly anxious. Upon realizing that if no acts of interventions were undertaken, it would be only a matter of time until he was arrested and punished with imprisonment at best, ora firing squad at worse. Therefore, Sun Dianying chose to bribe those who were in a position to discipline him in an effort to delay or prevent, any legal or punitive action taken against him, with some of the treasures both he and his subordinates obtained. Combined with the myriad of other ongoing military and political crises that plagued both the country andthe Nationalist government ultimately, nothing was done and Sun Dianying went unpunished.
To whom was bribed, with what items, and the amount of said items used to pay for the bribery till this day, consists only a matter of largely hearsay, conspiracy theories, popular rumors, allegations and unsubstantiated accusations. InMainland China, the most popularly perpetuated rumors alleges Sun Dianying to varying degrees of success, bribed the four major families of theKuomintang and other high-ranking members of theRepublican political and military elites.[32][33][34]
The most popularly accused, and the treasures with which they were allegedly bribed with are:[35]
As there currently remains no reliable substantial proof or reputable historical evidence that any of the accused ever owned or received these treasures nor did their successive family members, relatives or close associates publicly disclose and make admissions of such, the cultural relics looted from the Eastern Tombs are largely regarded as being lost; having most likely already been traded and circulated around various parts the world, stored as collector's items, or some portion possibly damaged beyond recognition - their fate unknown, and remain a matter of historical contention.[36]
Events depicted in the Chinese historical-drama television seriesThe Eastern Tomb Thieves (东陵大盗).
