As the most representative writer of Chinese archaeological documentary works, Lu Xuwen wrote a series of works on "Chinese archaeological exploration documentary series" during the 20 years before and after Yue Nan, vividly representing the process of major archaeological discoveries and excavations in modern Chinese field archaeology.

Recently, the Commercial Press (Weibo) He has published 11 volumes of this series, which are "Eternal Learning Cases: Deciphering Records of Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project", "Looking for Ancestors: Missing Records of" Peking Man "Skull Fossils", "Tianci Kingdom: Surprising Records of Sanxingdui and Jinsha Ruins", "Outstanding Soldier Saint: Decoding Records of Yinque Mountain<Sun Zibing Method>", "Unprecedented Sound: Excavation Records of Marquis Yi's Tomb at Leigudun" The Resurrected Legion: The Discovery of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin, The Tragedy of the State of Yue: The Excavation of the Nanyue King's Tomb in Guangzhou, The Solitary Soul of the Western Han Dynasty: The Excavation of the Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, The Immortal Famen: The Immortal Record of the Buddha Bones in the Underground Palace of Famen Temple, The Wind and Snow Dingling Mausoleum: The Opening of the Underground Xuangong Cave of the Ming Dingling Mausoleum, The Sunset Imperial Mausoleum: The Stolen Record of the Treasures in the Underground Palace of the Eastern. Our reporter interviewed Yue Nan on the writing of these archaeological documentary and the stories behind them.

Books are used as textbooks for tomb robbing

Beijing News: When did you first enter the field of archaeological documentary writing?

Yue Nan: When I was studying in the PLA Academy of Arts, I went to the Ming Tombs for tourism. At that time, the water in the reservoir was very large and the environment was very good. I visited Changling, Jingling and other palaces. I thought this place was magical and wanted to write about it. This is the excavation led by Zhao Qichang from the Department of Archaeology of Peking University. Zhao Qichang's wife, Yang Shi, was also writing. Later, I worked with her to complete The Wind, Snow and Tombs, which was published in 1991.

The Beijing News: In recent years, novels about tomb robbing, such as Ghost Blowing the Lamp, have become very popular. You have been engaged in archaeological documentary writing for 20 years. Have you encountered any related events?

Yue Nan: I have met many ironic things. When I was in Xianyang, the local people caught several grave robbers. A case handler told me that they read your book and started to rob tombs. I felt very wronged.

Moreover, after the discovery of the Han Tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha, archaeologists found that there were stolen caves of the Tang Dynasty and modern stolen caves, one of which was half a meter away from the No.1 Han Tomb. Technician Ren Quansheng was not very happy when he saw the contents of the coffin coming out and drank heavily. Later, he talked with other archaeologists and said that the nearest cave was dug by himself, and he thought it was a fake tomb. He regretted that he lost this windfall. There are many stories like this.

Beijing News: What specific changes have taken place in Chinese archaeology since you wrote 20 years ago?

Yue Nan: As a layman, a journalist and writer, my observation is that archaeological excavations are becoming more and more mature. I have investigated the Ding Tomb of the Ming Tombs and the excavation of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xi'an. For example, when the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the First Emperor of Qin were first excavated, after digging a pit, the staff washed the soil on the Terracotta Warriors and Horses with water, and then shook the mud out. However, washing with clean water was slow, so they poured it with boiling water. The terracotta warriors and horses poured with boiling water look like concrete men. Mr. Xia Nai was very angry. In addition, the excavation at that time was not standardized and the method was not good. The construction site employs many migrant workers, instead of digging slowly with a small shovel as now. They also didn't know how to dig. Once the shovel and pickaxe went down, they cut off the heads of the good terracotta warriors and horses, which were broken.

It turns out that the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are all colored, but after being excavated in that era, they are all black, and no color can be seen. In recent years, there are new technologies. After the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are excavated, they are smeared with liquid medicine, and the colorful ones are displayed. From here, it is also a great progress. Now, the procedure of archaeological work is becoming more and more detailed, and has entered the right track.

Beijing News: You also wrote in your book that many new archaeological discoveries were discovered during the construction of infrastructure projects. Some were not very damaged, but some were very damaged. Is this a lot?

Yue Nan: There are a lot of them. They have been protected and blown up. They can be found everywhere. When they are blown up, they will be blown up. My newly published book, "Unprecedented Sound: Excavation of Marquis Yi's Tomb at Leigu Dun", is a typical example of protection. The stone excavated during the construction before, the construction personnel thought it might be an ancient tomb, but the Sui County Cultural Center said no, and asked the construction personnel to continue digging. Later, the construction company used explosives to blast the tomb, which was only seventy or eighty centimeters away.

In order to protect cultural heritage, the cultural relics department has done a lot of work, but it has really suffered a lot of grievances. Some have been protected, and some have also been removed. In some sites, not only the cultural relics department can't stop them, but also the State Administration of Cultural Heritage can't send people to coordinate them. The interests of local forces and businessmen are so great that they ignore the national laws, which is very hateful.

The Beijing News: Some of the cultural relics unearthed now are very good underground, but they will go bad after being rediscovered. Do you know a lot about this?

Yue Nan: It's true that there is such a problem, but it's much better now than in the past. For example, Famen Temple excavated a large number of silk, many of which were carbonized. Although foreign experts were invited to help protect them, they were still not ideal.

Therefore, the leaders of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage did not agree to excavate Empress Wu's Qianling Mausoleum, because our cultural relics protection technology was not good enough. He said that there must be silk in the Qianling Tomb, which cannot be protected now, so we do not agree to excavate it.

Archaeological achievements safeguard sovereignty

The Beijing News: What are your subjective intentions in your archaeological records, besides reproducing the whole process of archaeological excavation and related history?

Yue Nan: Actually, what I want to write is not only the discovery, excavation and search in the archaeological process. My set of books starts with how to discover the skull of Peking people, and then writes about the loss and search of the skull. What I want to express is that the Chinese nation has lost a culture and tradition.

The new Beijing News: The Ancient Learning Plan: The Decryption of the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasty Chronology Project is related to the source of Chinese civilization. One of the functions of archaeology is to provide solid evidence for the history of Chinese civilization.

Yue Nan: This book explains that the dawn of Chinese civilization began in the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty, and lasted until the famous Bronze Age. What do I want to say? If we recognize the historical glory of the Chinese nation, we must find evidence from the underground. When Mao Zedong was in Yan'an, he said that China has a history of 4000 years. Where does written history come from? It was the tortoise shell found in the Yin Ruins that was inscribed with the name of the king of the Shang Dynasty. Bronze ware was excavated in the Yin Ruins, and the Shang and Zhou Dynasties existed in China. From here, we can push the history forward

After the September 18th Incident, in order to find an excuse for invading China, Japan used the imperial literati to write articles and fabricated that the Northeast was not owned by China in history. For this reason, Fu Sinian presided over and invited fellow historians to write the Outline of the History of the Northeast, while refuting the nonsense of the Japanese; On the one hand, let Chinese people understand the history of Northeast China. At the same time, he commissioned a person to translate the main part of the Outline of the Northeast History into English and submit it to the League of Nations, forcing the League of Nations to conclude that the three northeastern provinces "are part of China, which is a fact recognized by China and other countries".

The function and nature of archaeological research is to clarify some historical issues. I want to express how much archaeology has contributed to the Chinese nation. A large part of the spread of culture and the history of the past can only be understood through archaeological excavation. Only through archaeology can we realize how our Chinese nation lives, learn lessons from history, and thus enlighten future generations - this is the thought and main line of my writing this set of books.

Interviewer/Beijing News reporter Zhang Hong