Show robbers of tombs in china must face a firing squad according to edict curio dealers who trade wi t h tomb robbers are liable to immediate execution upon discovery according to an edict issued by the political council states a neiping united press correspondent although this may seem extreme to outsiders it reflects the traditional chinese attitude of veneration lor for the dead al a tradition that is being fostered at present by the old style officials of this part of the country grave robbers reads the edict are the cruelest cruel cst most utterly despicable people in china in disturbing the bones and flesh of the dead they violate not only the statutes but all the moral laws of humanity merchants who buy curios from grave robbers and then sell them for a profit are engaged in a depraved and horrible traffic they are inhuman lunatics thus to enter into complicity with such men and hence deserve to be shot for years the robbing of tombs has been a lucrative trade near neiping Pei ping in whose suburbs princes and members of the imperial clan were buried for centuries many of the genuine and valuable curios for sale at various dealers shops in neiping have come from such tombs torr ibs persons of rank and wealth were always buried with fortunes in jewels el jade porcelain and gold in the tombs the most famous tombs have been b een rifled by minor military commanders stationed in the areas around the city many of these men have laid the cornerstones of fortune and subsequent fame with this the wealth from this semiofficial banditry there are also professionals and amateurs farmers driven to economic desperation through poverty when caught the professionals and amateurs are shot almost without t trials trial so greatly i is their crime abhorred |