The mystery inside the brocade bag was clutched by Empress Dowager Xu Xi when she died, and the secret of the heavens was revealed

After 76 years since Empress Dowager Xu died, during an excavation to renovate the tomb, a small brocade bag was found in her right hand. Worth mentioning, what was inside that bag was even more unexpected and astonishing.

In 1908, Empress Dowager Xu died, ending nearly 30 years of supreme power to guide the Qing dynasty to withstand many events of history. Empress Dowager Xu Xi died on the night of November 15, 1908, shortly after she appointed the 3-year-old Puyi to the throne.

Although the civilization of the world came to China at the end of the 19th century, as a person of royalty, Xu Xi's funeral still took place in accordance with royal traditions and regulations. However, it is extremely strange that in addition to traditional votive items, people also burned many votive types that never appeared at funerals in China at that time such as paper money, watches, cabinets ... for this Empress Dowager.

The wealth buried under China's most powerful and luxurious empress dowager still stuns posterity because the quantity and value if measured by modern exchange rates can reach billions of dollars.

Accordingly, in 1928, Sun Yanying, commander of the 12th Corps of the Nationalist Party, used artillery to open the way to excavate the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi. As a result, the empress dowager's coffin was destroyed, and all her possessions, including gold, silver and strange precious stones, were violently taken away. Sun Yanying even opened Empress Dowager Xu Xi's mouth to steal the trillions worth of Yumingzhou.

The incident quickly spread throughout China and mass organizations and organizations sent telegrams to the government demanding strict punishment of grave thieves. Chiang Kai-shek ordered Empress Dowager Xu Xi back in the coffin and the stolen treasures recovered.

In 1983, a working group consisting of 13 people was formed to restore Xu Xi's remains and tomb. However, China's Ministry of Culture and History has announced that it will stop the restoration of Empress Dowager Cixi's remains and maintain the status quo.

In order to continue carrying out the task of preserving Xu Xi's body to the fullest, in April 1984, the working group once again opened the lid of the Empress Dowager's coffin. During this inspection, the team found a foreign object made of brocade in Xu Xi's right hand. It was a small bag, which contained 1 tooth and 2 of her fingernails.

The Empress Dowager was in the habit of growing nails, but each hand only raised three nails on the thumb, little finger and ring finger. Each of her nails had her own palace lady in charge of her care, and was protected by gold armor!

To protect the nails, Xu Xi specifically asked the nurse to specially prepare a special nail balm that made the nails softer and harder to break. Besides a variety of tools such as needles, hooks, brushes, small scissors used to trim nails for the empress dowager are "imported".

Thanks to careful care, Xu Xi's nails can grow up to more than 15cm in length. However, in old age, Empress Dowager Xu Xi's nails were still dull. Xu Xi initially blamed the subordinate for neglecting her responsibilities, but eventually she realized that she could not resist the inevitable law of time. At this time, Empress Dowager Xu Xi would cut her nails regularly.

Especially, when the 8-nation imperial coalition attacked Beijing, long fingernails became the identifying feature for pursuing Empress Dowager Cixi.

For safety's sake, she had to change into civilian clothes and also have her nails cut off. It is known that when cutting the nails of the empress dowager, all the palace ladies cried like rain. When she died, courtesans and close eunuchs carefully stored her nails and teeth in brocade bags stitched with gold thread and placed in the hands of the empress dowager.

Later, when the restoration work of Xu Xi's remains was carried out, it was discovered. Xu Xi's last body when put back into the coffin had a height of 1m60. All precious items such as jewelry, robes, buffalo legs ... recovered from the theft of 1928 remains intact in the final resting place of this powerful Empress Dowager.

For fans of Chinese historical dramas, especially during the Qing Dynasty, it will be no stranger to fake nails, also known as armor - inseparable objects of concubines. The ancient Chinese believed that hair and nails belonging to parents should be avoided and allowed to grow naturally. Long raised hair is no problem, but long raised nails will be extremely entangled. So the armor was born, with the sole purpose of protecting the long nails.

In addition, the Warring States era woman who grew long nails was usually only middle-class or older. A set of nails will show a woman's identity and class. To be more beautiful, they will dye their nails into their favorite colors, they can also paint or inlay on their nails decorative details.

As for Empress Dowager Xu Xi, a palace lady who had followed her once revealed in her autobiography that Xu Xi wore gold armor in her right hand and pearl armor in her left hand. In the evening, she opted for a less sparkly set.

And yet, the types of armor are also changed depending on the weather: Winter uses brocade, summer uses marble, the rest mostly use gold inlaid with jade and precious stones.

Empress Dowager Xu Xi's collection of fake nails is extremely diverse, each of which is not the same, exquisitely crafted and exuding extravagance with all kinds of materials from gold, agate, pearls to rare ivory pearls.

In particular, in Empress Dowager Xu Xi's armor, there was hidden poison to protect herself. Those who plotted to harm Empress Dowager Xu Xi would be given poison by her.

So to see, those noble nails are not simple at all, they not only represent the rank of women in feudal society, but also represent the rich desires of the ancients.

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Strangely, ancient concubines' hands were always "sticky" with "fake nails", what was the purpose? An Nhi16:37:51 26/06/2024Nail rings are also known as fake nails or protective rings. It has been around for a long time, since the Warring States period. The ancient Chinese believed that hair and nails were born from parents, so avoid cutting them and just let them grow naturally!