Those who have read "Ming Palace Ci" must be familiar with the first son-in-law of the Tang Dynasty. In history, Princess Taiping fell in love with Xue Shao at first sight, and their tragic and beautiful love story is also well known. It was such a legendary son-in-law who also left endless speculations for future generations after his death.

Unearthed from Xue Shao's tomb

To be a worthy ancient capital, Xi'an definitely has a name. It is true that you can dig a grave with just digging in Xi'an. In 2019, an ancient tomb was discovered during road construction in Xixian New Area. The construction team immediately went offline and the archaeological team came online. After more than four months of excavation, according to the unearthed epitaph, the owner of this tomb turned out to be Xue Shao, the son-in-law of the famous Princess Taiping in the Tang Dynasty. The emergence of Xue Shao's tomb has made countless Taiping Princess and Xue Shao's cp fans boil. What secrets did this tomb of the Tang son-in-law reveal for us more than 1,300 years later?

Xue Shao's life

Although Xue Shao himself was in the royal family, he was not famous in history except for his romantic relationship with Princess Taiping. Limited records show that Xue Shao's family, the Xue family, was the surname of Gaomen in the Tang Dynasty. It was granted the title of Duke Hedong for three generations. Her mother was Li Shimin's daughter, Princess Chengyang. There is a record on Xue Shao's epitaph: "He Bi is thick, flowers are like peaches and plums" is a description of Xue Shao's appearance. It is said that Xue Shao has a good demeanor and a handsome appearance. It was this appearance that won the heart of Princess Taiping. Xue Shao and Princess Taiping had four sons. After Wu Zetian declared himself emperor, he died of illness in prison when he was implicated in the crime of rebellion against Xue Shao's brother. There is no record in history whether Xue Shao really participated in the rebellion, and it is no longer possible to trace it.

Xue Shao's tomb

Xue Shao's tomb is a very typical Tang Dynasty tomb. It has a total of four courtyards and front and rear brick tomb chambers. Such dual-chamber brick tomb was very high in the Tang Dynasty. Currently, only 27 Tang Dynasty dual-chamber brick tomb have been found. There is no sign of Xue Shao's tomb on the surface. The interior of the tomb is seriously damaged, and there are very few buried objects stolen. The epitaph unearthed contains about 600 words, recording Xue Shao's cause of death, official position and other information. However, Xue Shao's remains and coffin in the tomb are long gone. The only remaining stone slabs of the sarcophagus bed show that the tomb is still of a very high level, because ordinary people can only use wooden boards to place the coffin bed, and various types of pottery figurines have also been unearthed in the tomb. About 120 pieces (groups) are also unearthed. A large number of remains of funerary objects were found in the patio and soil of the tomb chamber, which means that the tomb had been disturbed twice, and the epitaph found previously also showed signs of being moved. These disturbances were believed by experts after identification. It is not a modern act, and it is very likely that it was not caused by grave robbers. There are rumors that why Xue Shao's tomb was destroyed here and where his remains went may have been an official act during the Tang Dynasty, but there is no clear motive or evidence.

The existence of Xue Shao's tomb is of great significance for filling in its historical information gap, and also made a profound contribution to the study of tomb forms in the Tang Dynasty. Real history is actually far more cruel than what appears in TV dramas, but the romantic love story between Princess Taiping and Xue Shao has been passed down for thousands of years.