According to experts' research, this lady is the first-generation lady named Xin Zhui, the prime minister of Changsha in the Western Han Dynasty. Under normal circumstances, corpses are easily corroded and rotted by bacteria, so few corpses are found. Even if there is, it has been treated with special environment or antisepsis, such as Egyptian mummies. After the internal organs are hollowed out, the body can be preserved by dehydration. In the arid and hot places of Xinjiang, people have found natural dry mummies, such as the female corpse of Loulan. In Siberia, people have also found frozen bodies, and the reason for preserving them is low temperature. Xin Zhui's corpse is different from mummy and ice corpse, and it is a kind of wet corpse. Mawangdui has been in the warm zone of Changsha for more than 2,000 years, and just died for a few months, which is really a miracle. So how did the ancients preserve an inanimate body for more than two thousand years without rotting?
Archaeologists present have never seen such an old and well-preserved body. Xin Zhui's joints can move, and his muscles are elastic, which is a degree of preservation that modern antiseptic drugs can't obtain.
It just means that the tongue is sticking out, the epiglottis is raised and there is a small rectal prolapse.
In other words, rotten bacteria produce a gas, which goes out where there is an exit. Therefore, even a little introduction to some organs proves that there is early corruption.
After the death of natural organisms, under the action of bacteria and their own enzymes, the bodies will gradually decompose until they are converted into carbon dioxide and water, and Xin Zhui was no exception at first.
Judging from the situation at that time, the process of corruption was relatively short and the time was not very long.
What caused these corruptions to stop early? How did the ancients preserve this body two thousand years ago?
People's eyes first focused on the liquid that soaked the body. As early as when the coffin was opened, people found that the body was soaked in smelly brown liquid. Is this the mystery?
One view is that it is deliberately configured to protect remains and organic matter. In other words, in the current concept, it is an antiseptic solution.
My personal opinion is that the coffin can be filled with traditional Chinese medicine or herbs and a mixture of Chinese herbal medicines. Chinese herbal medicines can delay the decomposition of corpses and have such an effect.
Measures must be taken, or corruption will not stop.
A large number of Chinese herbal medicines were found in the funerary objects, which supported the view that the ancients could prepare antiseptic potions to some extent.
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the development of science, people realized that human corruption was mainly caused by foreign corrupt bacteria and their own proteases.
That is to say, after death, enzymes in cells are released, and related tissues around cells may be digested even if they are digested.
However, in the coffin liquid soaked by Xin Zhui's corpse, there are some components that have inhibitory effects on spoilage bacteria and enzymes. Can the medical level before 2000 help the ancients to prepare antiseptic potions?
Dressed well, poured a lot of water to save it, this is not recorded.
After testing, the result is surprising. Coffin fluid not only contains rich protein decomposition products, but also contains bactericidal substances such as acetic acid and ethanol. And ethanol is alcohol, which is a commonly used disinfectant today.
If the coffin liquid was not prepared by the ancients, where did the ingredients such as ethanol come from? The coffin is full of silk. Some experts believe that silk is a kind of fiber with high protein content, and its fermentation can produce ethanol and acetic acid with the same content. But where does the water that dissolves these substances come from?
At first, experts speculated that Xin Zhui weighed 70 kilograms, but actually he only weighed 34.3 kilograms. More than 60% of a person's body is water. Is the water in the coffin liquid produced when the corpse decayed in the early stage? But later, this guess was denied. Because there are more than 80 kilograms of coffin liquid, which is equivalent to the total weight of Xin Zhui's body, where did the extra water come from?
I thought the water vapor would seep in slowly.
Why only the body of the noble lady is preserved, and why can't the bodies of some people with higher status than her be preserved? Many questions have been puzzling scientists. But what is certain is that the liquid in the coffin prevented the corpse from rotting to a certain extent, which is an important reason why the corpse does not rot for thousands of years. When some scientists were arguing about the source of the coffin liquid, the reason why the body didn't rot was still being explored, and then the idea that external water penetrated into the coffin was ruled out.
When people re-examine the structure of tombs, many discoveries follow.
The whole coffin has no traces of flooding and is well preserved, which is not easy to do in rainy Changsha. People have to re-study the environment outside the coffin. Xin Zhui's body will not rot for thousands of years, which must be directly related to these.
The coffin for storing the bodies and funerary objects is more than 20 meters underground.
At the same time: there is a big mound under this tomb pit, called Fengtu mound, which is about four meters thick. Below the mound is a platform, and below is a grave pit. Soil is a soil layer formed by artificial compaction.
About ten meters deep sealed soil and solid rammed earth create a low temperature and light-proof environment for the underground coffin. During the excavation, experts found a substance called white mud.
White paste mud is a kind of porcelain clay, which is sticky when used to make porcelain. It contains silicon dioxide, and its molecular structure is very close. The water outside is not easy to penetrate, and the things inside can't penetrate outside.
However, this discovery has not stopped. Black charcoal is exposed to white mud.
There are about five thousand kilograms of charcoal.
In fact, there are many small holes in charcoal, which can absorb water. There is water in the container, and everyone can hear the hissing sound. Water is entering the gap. Let's look at the structure of Mrs Xin Zhui's tomb. The coffin is surrounded by charcoal and gypsum, forming a constant temperature and humidity environment. There is thick rammed earth on it, and there is a big sealed earth pile, which provides a closed, low temperature and constant humidity external environment. Objectively speaking, many methods have played a role in preserving the body, such as the liquid in the coffin, earth-sealing piles, rammed earth, white mud and charcoal. So since there is liquid in the coffin, why didn't it flow out? What's so special about coffins?
At that time, I saw this coffin covered with a reed mat. After uncovering the reed mat, I saw a complete coffin, very complete, just like new. Everyone is very happy.
Hou Liang organized the excavation at that time, and witnessed a large-scale excavation with many people in the Hunan Provincial Museum.
Some old masters take some young people, twist and hang them half manually, where they command to twist and hang them with poles. It's hard, about a week.
It is a typical tomb with two coffins and four coffins. It is a model of ancient reburial. The huge coffin shows the identity and dignity of the tomb owner. Burial utensils for coffins and funerary objects are called coffins. When the lid of the coffin was opened, a series of dazzling objects were displayed. A large number of funerary objects, such as silk, wood, pottery, Chinese herbal medicine, agricultural and livestock products, etc. In the side box, it is preserved completely, which vaguely reproduces the scene of the tomb owner before his death, just like an exposition of ancient social life.
As the cultural relics in the coffin are gradually cleaned up, people once again focus on the inner coffin in the coffin. Three colorful inner coffins were sealed with paint and tightly nested together.
This is a coffin for corpses and funerary objects. Of course, it's just a model. It's really on display in the Hunan Provincial Museum. More than three meters high, the wood grain is dense and not easy to rot. The structure inside the coffin is very complicated, because in ancient times, cremation was not carried out as it is now, but burial was carried out. It is a very idealistic idea to expect to continue to enjoy prosperity after death. The higher the status, the more complicated the coffin structure. The earliest record of the coffin level is the Book of Rites, which records that "the emperor is four, the vassal is three, and the doctor is one." Of course, when Mrs. Xin Zhui lived in the Han Dynasty, the richer the family, the more complicated the coffin. The outermost coffin is called a coffin, with one floor and two floors. It is surrounded by funerary objects. We see that there is a core in the coffin, which is the outermost layer of the coffin, called the outer coffin. There is an inner coffin. Mrs. Xin Zhui's inner coffin is divided into three layers, which is the outermost layer. All these have played a role in preserving the body of Mrs. Xin Zhui. Mrs Xin Zhui has been unearthed and the environment has changed. Bacteria in the air will corrode quickly and make the body rot.
Mrs Xin Zhui has been unearthed for many days.
How to protect this old lady will not change after it is unearthed. At that time, she must have realized that the environment had changed, and the quick measure was to cool down and protect her with ice.
If there is no modern antiseptic treatment, in this case, the corpse will be rapidly eroded and rotted by corrupt bacteria in the air.
After this situation was reported, Premier Zhou was very happy. He said that the ancients could keep their bodies for more than 265,438+000 years, so we modern people should keep them for at least 200 years.
An expert group of nearly 100 people gathered in Changsha, Hunan. They used the best instruments and equipment at that time to carry out a physical examination on this thousand-year-old body discovered. Because internal organs are the most perishable, Mrs. Xin Zhui's appearance is complete, and no one knows what her internal organs are preserved. Finally, the expert decided to dissect.
Peng Longxiang, a medical expert, made that special dissection.
This corpse is also soft, but after one or two thousand years, many of its internal organs have shrunk.
For example, the stomach, we all see that the stomach wall is very thick, while her stomach wall is as thin as paper. The shape of the stomach is there, and the shape of the intestine is there, but it is very thin.
As for the problem that the early corruption stopped at the new chase, it can be understood this way. Before burial, the body was threatened by autolysis and automatic protease of corrupt bacteria, showing signs of corruption. Bacteria are divided into aerobic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria. After burial, aerobic bacteria died because of lack of oxygen, and anaerobic bacteria died because of lack of nutrition. In a constant temperature, humidity and sealed environment, Xin Zhui's body was preserved. More importantly, this tomb has not been stolen since 2000. The ancients have successfully preserved the body of Mrs. Xin Zhui for 2000 years. Should modern people preserve this found thousand-year-old corpse?
After many studies and consultations by experts from all over the country, it also provided a storage environment for the unearthed Mrs. Xin Zhui.
It is very important that they simulate the environment in which we ancient people preserved the body, such as giving her a constant temperature and humidity environment. In this case, how to prevent protein, especially protein, from denaturing and dissolving after being unearthed? According to the conditions at that time, it should be said that formalin is a solution of formaldehyde, or it is the best medicine for fixing corpses.
In this way, Xin Zhui was preserved in chemicals such as formalin and alcohol. These potions are called fixatives in medicine and have the function of disinfection and sterilization. Reasonable preparation can inactivate protein, thus achieving the purpose of anticorrosion.
After re-appearance, Xin Zhui and other cultural relics were gathered in the exhibition hall with relatively high standards at that time, which lasted for 30 years. However, in the eyes of scientists, the body found 2000 years ago is not only a specimen, but also a lot of information is obtained while continuing the ancient anti-corrosion miracle with modern anti-corrosion technology.
From this female corpse, we can learn about ancient anti-corrosion technology, funeral system and human evolution, which are very valuable.
Judging from the history of medicine, the development of medicine is still very interesting. At that time, when we dissected her, we paid attention to whether she had any trauma and whether she had any wasting diseases such as malignant tumors.
Commentary: With the further analysis after the autopsy, scientists also uncovered the cause of death of this noble lady.
After testing, there are some sweet melon seeds in the esophagus and stomach, indicating that the old lady died not long after eating this melon seed.
Meanwhile (narrator): You see Mrs. Xin Zhui, who is lying quietly in a plexiglass coffin. At that time, she was a beauty in Changsha. Let's look at her hair first. Look carefully, she has real hair, sparse sideburns, some yellow hair, blood type A, thick and black wig at the back, and blood type B. Medical experts found that there were 138 half melon seeds in her stomach. It is speculated that she suffered from biliary colic after eating melon, and then died of myocardial infarction. Look at her carefully. Is she the same as Mrs. Xin Zhui you imagined?
In the summer of 2002, in order to better preserve cultural relics, the new Hunan Provincial Museum was put into use. This time, Mrs. Xin Zhui's new fresh-keeping place has added modern constant temperature and humidity equipment. But experts worry about whether they can move.
What happened to the old lady herself, because she has been (preserved) for 30 years after all. At that time, medical experts did their best and used better protective measures. But what happens after lying there? We are also worried about whether we can move. This is indeed an unavoidable problem.
Reporter: You can't just say whether you can move. We must have a physical examination for her.
In August 2002, an appraisal team composed of experts from Xiangya Medical College of Central South University conducted the second physical examination after the excavation of the female corpse of the Western Han Dynasty, which had been preserved for more than 2,000 years.
Buried in a sealed environment, the found body will not rot for more than 2000 years. Now, Mrs Xin Zhui sleeps in the basement of the museum, which is a closed environment with constant temperature and humidity. In order not to affect Mrs. Xin Zhui's appearance, they brought special surgical tools to extract a small amount of tissue from the corpse. Body preservation solution is also within the sampling range of this physical examination. Samples extracted from Xin Zhui's body and preservation solution were sent to different laboratories of Xiangya Medical College for testing.
This is the specimen of liver, skin and muscle that we extracted from the corpse found this time. This is the specimen of liver, muscle and skin that we dissected when the body was found 30 years ago. After a series of treatments, we made these specimens and observed them under light microscope or electron microscope, and compared them before and after.
They observed the ultrastructure of the body found by electron microscope. Compared with the data left 30 years ago, they found that the preserved cells had basically no obvious changes, indicating that the body shape was well preserved. This news made the experts in the evaluation team full of confidence in the actions of the female corpse.
Next, bacteriological tests found no bacteria, which means that the body showed no signs of corruption.
Interview: This time, she had an X-ray examination again. According to the report of our radiologist, her skeletal condition is not much different from that of modern people in their fifties and sixties. This is a very happy thing for us.
However, the next test made it difficult for everyone.
We analyzed the chemical composition of the liquid preserved 30 years ago and found that there were calcium ions in the liquid.
This shows that the substance in Xin Zhui's bones is oozing out at a small speed. In this way, her bones will become soft and the consequences will be unimaginable.
In view of the existing problems, we must take some countermeasures.
Luo tried to find a better way to preserve Xin Zhui's body through animal experiments again and again.
There is a phenomenon that bones are not hard after being soaked in dilute sulfuric acid, but become very soft, because calcium in bones will be dissolved in sulfuric acid solution. Formalin soaked corpses, the scientific name of formaldehyde, will generate a formic acid substance after oxidation, and calcium will penetrate outward in an acidic environment, making Xin Zhui's bones soft. Luo decided to add some alkaline substances to prevent decalcification of cardiac vertebrae through acid-base neutralization. When the problem is solved, Mrs Xin Zhui can move.
I gave the old lady a physical examination to prove that she can move.
June 2003 65438+1October 65438+June
Mrs Xin Zhui moved to a new home.
The preservation solution was changed for the first time in 30 years.
For Luo He, there is still a long way to go to preserve this body that spans two thousand years. They began to test the preservation solution of the corpse regularly.
At the same time, we also opened a small hole in the coffin, extracted a part of the stationary liquid from the small hole, and made a re-inspection. The results so far are satisfactory.
Mrs. Xin Zhui, who lives in luxury, never imagined that after 2000, she and the funerary objects of Chihou's family will move into a modern new house together, and many scientists will carry out research in different fields accordingly. Although the luxurious life before 2000 is gone forever, and her desire to ascend to heaven is only a dream, she and her long-lost family have provided a lot of information for modern people and helped people touch the distant society 2000 years ago. How long can this 2000-year-old survive under the protection of modern people
Today, we are very honored to see an ancient man separated by more than two thousand years. So many people choose to visit the Hunan Provincial Museum after they arrive in Changsha, and feel the society and its people two thousand years ago. Now Mawangdui Han Tomb Research Center has been established. In order to better protect the cultural relics in 2000, many scientists are doing research. With the development of science, I believe many unsolved mysteries will be made public.
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