今夕是何年
20 世纪 70 年代初,为了备战,全国城乡都在建筑防空掩体,俗称“防空洞”,以防空袭或核武器的打击。
南方景象多雨而湿润,以是防空洞一样平常选在山丘之下较为得当,马王堆这个十多米高的土丘成了当时一所驻地部队医院(三六六医院)建筑防空洞的首选。
钢钎凿通旧时空
1971 年冬,三六六医院的一队官兵来到了马王堆,在那座土丘的两个土包
下方,开始了防空掩体的挖掘,并同时沿水平方向挖出了两个 20 多米深的洞穴。就在此时,土质有了变革,原来用锄头能挖动的泥土忽然变得坚硬又有黏度,特 别是东头的那个洞穴,在褐赤色的泥土中涌现了白色而坚硬的土块。
一天,一位首长陪着两个士兵用钢钎在东边洞内坚硬花白的土层上往下凿, 想打个探眼看看这白色泥土究竟有多厚,两个士兵在坚硬又有黏度的白土层上 “叮叮当当”地凿了约半个小时。一个士兵把刚打入探眼中的钢钎拔出,还来不及做下一个动作,即把钢钎再一次往下凿,就在这时,一个意想不到的情形涌现了,在钢钎拔出的一瞬间,伴随着清晰的“扑哧扑哧”的声响,一股气体从探眼中一个劲地往外喷。这两个战士对这突如其来的气体惊异不已,便是想象力再丰富的人,面对这荒野之地的洞内,平白无端地冒出一股气体,还没有停下来的迹象,也只能是木鸡之呆。这两个战士哪里知道,便是他们刚才的那末了一凿,将当现代界与一个两千多年前的地来世界联通在了一起。
自从爱因斯坦的相对论问世以来,人们就抱负出了各种各样的韶光机器,这 种机器能使人们通过韶光隧道回到迢遥的过去,与古人对话。谁也没有想到,一 根最大略、最原始的工具,一根锈迹斑斑的钢钎,居然还真打通了一条韶光隧道,使我们和两千多年前的人对话成为现实。就在这个探眼的下方,是一个等待着我们去探索的二千年前的西汉社会,接待我们的自然是西汉长沙国的名门 王谢。
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墓火嘶嘶报安然
附录:参考中文
自从防空洞碰着白色黏土,挖掘进度受阻后,那位现场指挥的首长很是着 急,这两个战士用钢钎打探洞时,他在一旁发急地陪伴,并从烟盒中挑出一支喷鼻香 烟,叼在嘴上,随手从口袋里取出一个打火机,把打火机伸到烟头前,习气性地 用右手的拇指拨动了打火机上的齿轮。“咔嚓”一声,打火机的火石在齿轮的摩 擦下冒出了星星点点的火花。在火花冒出的同时,也是地下那种神秘的气体扑哧 冒出的瞬间,说时迟,那时快,洞内发出了“啪”的清脆响声,只见从打火机到 探眼间划出了一道几米长的弧形闪电。那位首长的烟未点着,却把眉毛烧了个精光。他凭军人本能的敏感发出命令:“撤出”,三人火速撤出了防空洞。
洞内涌现了神秘可燃的气体在工地上传开了,大约半小时后,有些胆大的士兵试探着钻进洞内看个究竟,他们看到一股高约十厘米的蓝色火焰在地面上如蛇 信一样晃动着,发出“嘶嘶”的响声。
为了安全起见,工程停了下来,并把情形向上级首长申报请示。上级立即派来了 工兵对现场进行探测,除了创造洞下面有两块巨大的阴影外,并未创造任何危险 隐患。部队初步认定是创造了古墓,并终极把这个情形报告了地方文物部门,文物部门闻讯后立即派来了专业职员,他们还带来了从医院借来的氧气袋,准备 网络那些可燃的气体回去研究。在民间,早有“墓火”一说,能开释可燃气体的 墓叫“火坑墓”。如挖到了火坑墓,民间传说那个墓一定是完全而未被盗掘过的, 这当然是个好。文物事情者想取回这种气体去化验,这时这种气体已冒了三 天三夜,由于气体的压力已太弱,网络终极没能成功。实在,这种气体据预测其 紧张身分便是墓坑中动植物腐败后产生的甲烷之类,由于密封无缺而没泄露,这便是“墓火”代表未被盗过的缘故原由。
气体虽然没收集到,但两个洞都涌现的白色的黏土便是南方古墓葬常用的白 膏泥,特殊是西头的那个洞,还挖出了少许白膏泥覆盖下的木炭。木炭是墓葬中 用来吸水防潮最常用的材料,也便是说,探眼的位置与古墓棺椁的间隔在咫尺之内内了,马王堆下有两座古墓已确定无疑。
实在,早在 1956 年,省文物部门就在马王堆的土丘下竖了“湖南省文物重点保护单位”的石碑,只因年久无人扼守,石碑被破坏。否则,绝不会涌现官兵 们误打误撞,将防空掩体挖到古墓里去这戏剧性的一幕。
3 A Time Tunnel to the Han Dynasty
A Time Tunnel to the Han Dynasty
In the 1970s, Chinese armies constructed air-raid shelters around the country during the Cold War. To avoid humidity damage, The 366-Hospital’s troop selected Mawangdui, a 15-meters height elevated platform with two hillocks on top, as their prime choice for an air-raid shelter location.
In the winter of 1971, the soldiers began to dig two shelters in the mound of Mawangdui under each hillock. When the eastern cave reached about 20 meters deep, the soil suddenly became hardened, and the color gradually turned into white. A chief officer asked two soldiers to continue digging a little hole inside the white soil to investi- gate further. With the chiseling, a stream of gas abruptly spurted out from the spot. Three of them dashed out of the cave immediately.
The archaeologists at the excavation site
While the news of discovering the unknown gas spread around, a group of bold sol- diers tried to go back to the cave; they saw a stream of blue fire with the flame wavering as a snake hiss.
The shelter project had to pause for safety concerns, the military and the Hunan Provincial Museum appointed engineers and experts to Mawangdui for further inspection and research. According to folklore, the Fire Pit Tombs, which are tombs with flammable
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中国马王堆 MAWANGDUI TOMBS
gas, generally contain relics in superb condition. When the archaeologist arrived three days later, the wildfire was too low to collect for chemical composition analysis.
Fortunately, experts found white clay, charcoal and waterproof materials that used to cover the coffin. Moreover, it was only about 2-meter from the tunnel to the tomb chamber.
As early as 1956, the his- torical preservation department had built a stone sign at the foot of Mawangdui, with the inscrip- tions —Hunan Province Major Historical and Cultural Preser- vation Site—on the stone. Due to unknown reasons, the billboard broke down. Otherwise, soldiers would not dig into the tomb and link with an ancient world estab- lished 2000 years ago as a time tunnel by accident that never did Einstein would dream of.
We can visit the mysterious Western Han Dynasty with a Mar- quise of Changsha State through
this little tunnel.
A general view of how the coffins are buried beneath the ground8
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