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[Photo provided to China Daily]

"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.

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