Archive for category Unsolved Mystery
Sweats Blood Horse
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Unsolved Mystery on November 18, 2010
Ferghana horse, also called sweats blood horse in Chinese, is one of China’s earliest major imports. It is native to Turkmenistan and during Han Dynasty (25AD-220AD), it was brought back to China by Zhang Qian’s diplomatic mission. Since then, it became the bonded mount for Chinese ancient emperors. They loved it because it was well-figured and understanding. They even considered it as “horse from heaven”.
As the horses sweat blood when they are running, they were given the Chinese name Han Xue Horse (literally means sweats blood horse). They can run fast for long hours and can even reach 4300 kilometers in only 43 days. Therefore, they are commonly used for long-distance rides and horse-jumping moves. Read the rest of this entry »
Ancient Chinese Birth Chart
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Unsolved Mystery on November 8, 2010
Ancient Chinese birth chart, also called Chinese birth gender chart or Chinese astrology birth chart, is an ancient Chinese chart for baby gender prediction in ancient China. It has a history of more than 700 years in China. Some people said that this chart is over 90% accurate in predicting a baby’s gender. However, most people use it mainly for entertainment purposes nowadays.
In the past, having more boys meant there were more hands to work and bring in more money. Therefore, throughout Chinese history, Chinese have always strongly prefer the birth of a baby boy to a girl. In order to know the gender of an unborn baby, ancient Chinese invented the chart for predicting the gender. Read the rest of this entry »
Tomb of Cao Cao
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Unsolved Mystery on November 2, 2010
As is known to all, Cao Cao is a famous statesman, strategist, poet during the period of Eastern Han Dynasty. However, the location of his tomb has been a mystery for thousands of years. The legend goes that, in order to protect his tomb from destroying, Cao Cao made a careful plan before his death. On the day of his funeral, seventy-two coffins were carried simultaneously out of the four different gates to seventy-two burial sites. That means, there are 71 fake tombs for Cao Cao! Therefore, it is hard to find the real one.
However, according to recent archaeological discovery, the real tomb of Cao was discovered in Xigaoxue Village in Anyang County, Henan Province. Read the rest of this entry »
The Wordless Tablet
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Unsolved Mystery on August 5, 2009
Wu Zetian, as the only female Emperor in Chinese history, died in 705 A.D at the age of 82. She was buried alongside Emperor Gaozong in the Qianling Mausoleum, located in the Liangshan Mountain in Qianxian Country.
It is the only mausoleum that holds two emperors and due to its strong and secure construction, it is also notable as the only mausoleum to escape the unwelcome attention of tomb robbers.
However, Wu’s Wordless Tablet makes it more mystical. As it known to all, emperors liked erecting tablets with articles to eulogize their achievements. The inscription on the tablet of Emperor Gaozong contains over 8,000 words, singing the praises of Gao Zong’s political achievements and military exploits. However, dedicated to Wu, it had no carved characters when it was erected. Why did she set up an empty tablet for herself?
Some people believed that Wu wanted the later generations to give her a just and fair appraisal. Some said that her achievements were beyond the description of any high-sounding words. Some others thought that it was probably set up by her son Emperor Zhong Zong, who was dissatisfied with her arbitrary decisions and peremptory actions and unwilling to flatter her. But as a son of hers, it was inappropriate for him to reproach her. So he set up the Wordless Tablet to let people of later generations appraise her. The real reason for the tablet is still a mystery. Anyhow, she was the only emperor in Chinese history had a tablet with no word.
He Shi Bi
Posted by ancient chinese culture in Unsolved Mystery on July 11, 2009
He Shi Bi, was perhaps the most legendary and valuable piece of jade in Chinese history.
According to legends, it was discovered by a man called Bian He about 2,680 years ago. When he was cutting firewood on Mount Jing, he found an uncut jade stone and presented it to King Li of Chu and the later to his successor King Wu of Chu. However, he was called a cheat and had both his legs chopped off. Finally, King Wen of Chu came to the throne, moved by Bian he, the King sent his men to cut open the stone. To their astonishment, there was indeed a priceless piece of jade inside. It was made into a jade disc later and was named in honor of its discoverer (He Shi Bi literally means ‘The Jade Disc of He’).
Unfortunately, the treasure was later stolen from Chu and finally sold to Zhao. In 283 BC, ambitious King Zhaoxiang of Qin offered to trade 15 towns and their land for the precious jade (the origin of the Chinese saying of valued in multiple cities). However, when the minister of Zhao found out that the King refused to give up his land, he finally bring back the jade safely with the excuse of pointing out the flaws.
In 221 BC, Qin conquered the other six states and the jade finally came into Qin possession. Under the order of Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China, it was made into his Imperial Seal and had the seal inscribed with the words The Mandate is received from Heaven, May He have Longevity and Prosperity.
However, after passing through several successive dynasties, it was lost to history. No one knows how it was lost. There is no trace for it but only imagination left.
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Unsolved Mystery category.
Follow Me
