Ancient Chinese Tomb Traps, Stone Door Locks and Other Mechanisms

The ancients fixed a silver coin in place, with the other end inserted into a candle.

When it burned to a certain point, the coin fell and the candle went out.

The principle behind the black- and- white stone ball doorstop at an ancient underground tomb’s entrance: First, the stone door was shut.

The workers pushed a black stone ball into a groove to hold it shut.

Beside the final door, they made a sloping ramp and placed a white stone ball beside the door.

After everyone inside had come out, they pulled the stone door shut, and the stone ball rolled into a circular groove to hold the door shut.

This is the famous quicksand tomb of Duke Mu of Qin.

Tomb robbers never succeeded. Inside was a quicksand trap.

Once triggered, the quicksand would pour down, and grave robbers could only sleep here forever.

The tomb of the King of Yue had three doorstop stones.

As the workers left, they stepped on the stones to close the tomb door.

The three stone slabs tilted up, sealing the stone door shut.

The King of Yue’s jade burial suit was kept safe.

Legend has it this is a treasure box handed down from the Shang dynasty.

I use it to hide my rice scoop. If anyone tries to steal it,

A trap often set at the entrance to ancient tomb passages: Once someone opened the passage, the trap would drop and block the entrance, striking intruders and serving two purposes at once.

Legend has it this is an ancient underground tomb’s spiked- board anti- theft trap.

The ancients hid the mechanism behind the door.

After hanging the spiked board, they shut the tomb door.

All you had to do was push the tomb door open.

A common mechanism in underground tombs is the self- falling stone.

As the door closes, the stone drops and wedges it shut.

The cleverest way to defeat it is to use a hooked nail key to push the self- falling stone aside.

Open the stone gate.

They say this trip-stick trap was invented by Zhuge Liang.

Pull down the vertical bar, and the stick in the middle trips them.

If enemy troops attack, few will make it back.

When Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times in the wilderness, he gave every soldier a伸縮结, also called the Three- Not- Fall knot.

In ancient warfare, to slow the enemy's advance, pitfall traps were often used.

Build it this way, and a thousand troops can cross.

This is an automatic fishing trap left behind by Jiang Ziya.

Once a fish pulls the line, the bamboo rod below drops and triggers the mechanism.

This is a counterweight trap passed down from ancient times.

Stack two short sticks and weigh them down with a stone, then wedge a wooden slat between them to hold them apart.

Legend has it this is the Tang Sect's hidden spike trap.

Once a martial arts master falls into the pit, they can't escape. The more they struggle, the tighter it gets.

This is how the old- timers' model of a Northeastern Chinese heated wall works.

The candles are like firewood, and with the chimney effect, the entire heated wall can warm the room.

That's the wisdom of the older generation.