(Photo provided to China Daily)
Lost treasures
Three months after that the archaeologists opened the wooden coffins of the emperor and his two empresses, coffins that had lain in the innermost room of this five-room burial chamber. Some parts of the coffins had rotted away, or even collapsed. And the corpses had long been reduced to bones. But what was found inside the coffins, including brocaded fabrics and accessories made of silver, gold and jade, stunned the archaeological world in China and beyond.
However, due to a lack of adequate conservation methods, many precious objects, fabrics in particular, were exposed to the air and suffered irreversible damages.
"The luster retained for centuries thanks to the lack of oxygen inside the tomb was lost forever," says Yang, who married Zhao in the winter of 1957, a few months after the excavation was completed.
"The loss was genuinely mourned by everyone who had taken part in the excavation."
In fact, in 1956, before digging started, opinions had been divided on whether it should go ahead. Those who opposed it warned of the significance of the task and the gravity of the matter if anything went wrong.
But eventually, Zhou Enlai, the Chinese premier, gave the nod. After the warning had turned at least partly into reality, Zhou, petitioned by a group of saddened archaeologists, ruled that there would be no further excavation of any imperial tomb, neither in his lifetime nor before the Chinese archaeological world was become fully prepared. That decree still holds power today.
'Thrilled cry'
Zhao, who later earned his renown as a historian and archaeologist who was an expert on the history of Beijing, died in the winter of 2010.
"He suffered respiratory problems for nearby three decades before death," Yang says.
"I always felt that the disease had something to do with his time spent in the burial chamber. At the time, senior members of the team often reminded him to put on a face mask, but often he would overlook the precaution. He was so young and everything was so exciting."
Sun, who spent most of his time with the team carrying either a kerosene light or an electric generator, says the most memorable moment took place when he entered the tomb, through that slit of opening between two stone slabs.
"I was so scared. It was still and chilly, but eventually everyone let out that thrilled cry."
