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Men face court for tomb raiding
By Li Xinran |
February 6, 2009, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FOUR suspects are awaiting trial in Beijing for allegedly digging up an ancient tomb and sweeping it for treasure, using skills they learned from a popular series of novels.
The four allegedly confessed to police they learned about tomb raiding from a series of fantasy novels called "Ghost Blows Out the Candle Light" by Tianxia Bachang.
A man surnamed Li, 45, was accused of being the ringleader and of stealing relics on numerous occasions in Beijing's Fangshan and Shijingshan districts in 2007, according to the Beijing Morning Post.
Li allegedly found a tomb of a eunuch from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Shijingshan in April last year and gathered the other accomplices to plunder it. They dug down into the tomb and discovered treasures including pieces of a jade belt and a bronze mirror.
Police caught them on April 23 when they allegedly visited the tomb for the third time.
The writer Tianxia Bachang later said most of the plots in his books were fictitious after his stories were criticized for helping the suspects.
He told Chengdu-based Tianfu Morning Post that his stories were all about adventures. He told the newspaper he never thought details in his stories could be put into practice as 80 percent of the content was fabricated.
The author also clarified that he hadn't participated in any archaeological excavation and had never been to the Ming Tombs in Beijing.
The Ming Tombs - mausoleums of 13 Ming Dynasty emperors - are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The four allegedly confessed to police they learned about tomb raiding from a series of fantasy novels called "Ghost Blows Out the Candle Light" by Tianxia Bachang.
A man surnamed Li, 45, was accused of being the ringleader and of stealing relics on numerous occasions in Beijing's Fangshan and Shijingshan districts in 2007, according to the Beijing Morning Post.
Li allegedly found a tomb of a eunuch from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Shijingshan in April last year and gathered the other accomplices to plunder it. They dug down into the tomb and discovered treasures including pieces of a jade belt and a bronze mirror.
Police caught them on April 23 when they allegedly visited the tomb for the third time.
The writer Tianxia Bachang later said most of the plots in his books were fictitious after his stories were criticized for helping the suspects.
He told Chengdu-based Tianfu Morning Post that his stories were all about adventures. He told the newspaper he never thought details in his stories could be put into practice as 80 percent of the content was fabricated.
The author also clarified that he hadn't participated in any archaeological excavation and had never been to the Ming Tombs in Beijing.
The Ming Tombs - mausoleums of 13 Ming Dynasty emperors - are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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