Looting of the Eastern Mausoleum

In the early hours of June 8, 1928, warlord Sun Dianying led his army into the Eastern Mausoleums of the Qing dynasty in Malanyu, northwest of Zunhua, Hebei.

This was the final resting place of the Qing emperors and empresses, and was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Forbidden City of Peking.

Tan Wenjiang placed policemen all around, denying access to the area and signs declared the army was "protecting the Tombs" to prevent interference.

[1] The robbers first took the large treasure objects placed around the remains of Empress Dowager Cixi, such as jadeite watermelons, grasshoppers and vegetables, jade lotus and coral.

[1] While Tan Wenjiang was robbing Cixi's tomb, Han Dabao, a brigade commander under Sun Dianying, led another group to the Yuling Mausoleum and declared his intention to conduct a war exercise.

The coffins of the Qianlong Emperor and his empress and four concubines were pried open, all the valuables looted and the skeletons thrown into the mud.

The imperial Eastern Qing tombs of the Eastern Mausoleum complex, photograph c. 1900–1903
Sun Dianying , the Chinese warlord who perpetrated the 1928 demolition and mass looting of the imperial tombs of the Eastern Mausoleum complex
Map showing the burial chamber locations of the Eastern Qing tombs that were completely looted in 1928