As we all know, the ancient emperors placed great emphasis on building tombs. They started building mausoleums when they first came to the throne. Some people think, why did you, as a young and healthy person, think of building a mausoleum? Isn’t that a bad omen?

However, the old emperor was of the opinion that as long as the mausoleum was magnificently built, he could live in luxury after his death. Therefore, most of the tombs of kings or mandarins in the past contain many valuable treasures in the hope that the deceased will enjoy prosperity in the next life.

In addition, since science and technology were not yet developed at that time, it could not be mechanized, but could only use human power, so that the construction of the tomb required a lot of money, materials and personnel. From choosing the location, planning, summoning workers, preparing the funds to building the tomb, each stage takes a lot of time. As a result, the ancient emperors often thought about building mausoleums as soon as they ascended the throne.

People will wonder, when the underground mausoleum is built and buried, the tomb door is closed from the inside, how do the workers finally get out?

According to the “story” recorded by Sima Thien, Qin Nhi The buried him after Qin Shi Huang’s death in the tomb that Qin Shi Huang himself built during his lifetime. Qin Nhi The was afraid that the secret in the tomb would be revealed by the craftsmen and secretly ordered everyone involved in the construction process to be killed. These people were all locked underground and suffocated.

Avoid revealing the design of the tomb and being blinded by silver and gold at the same time. Most of the workers who capture the key secret of the tomb are either murdered or buried depending on the owner of the tomb. Some craftsmen know the fate of the former and understand that they cannot escape death, so they found a way to live for themselves.

If we first look back at the construction of the gates of the Ming Tombs, we will understand how the artisans got out.

Minh Than Tong and his two empresses are buried in the Minh Dinh mausoleum. This is also the only one of the thirteen royal mausoleums in Thirteen Mausoleum that has been excavated.

After the founding of the People’s Democratic Republic of China, it is a difficult problem for archaeologists to enter the Minh Dinh Tomb. From the outside in, the underground mausoleum gate is completely closed from the inside. The use of explosives causes serious damage to the monument.

But suddenly a thought occurred to the archaeologists: “If nobody locks from the inside, the craftsmen will surely use a mysterious mechanism to close the gate.

This is the key point that contains the wisdom of the artisans. It is the method by the blocking force of the stone block on the gate. As the mausoleum gate closes, people wait for everyone inside to come out completely, using the natural tilt and gravity to prop the door through the rock so it can fit into the large door’s internally closed latch. Use the power of the stone to block the door.

“Automatic kick” mechanism

The mausoleum gate uses a type of stone called “Automatic Stone” that clicks securely into place. The workers dug a small trench in the ground. After placing the “Auto Stone” in this ditch, lean against the stone block against the gate and gradually close it. Outsiders who do not understand this mechanism are difficult to open up.

The artisans used this method to avoid the tragic end of living burying in the ground. At that time one knew how to use gravity and could also roughly estimate the fall speed and fall time of the loincloth, which helped them to escape quickly from the underground grave.