Chinese history buff uses feng shui knowledge to raid ancient tombs
Man and eight accomplices located ancient graves by day and plundered them by night
A man and eight accomplices have been arrested in northwest China after using his knowledge of history and feng shui to rob graves of nearly 20 cultural objects.
The man, a history buff surnamed Qiang, came up with an idea of stealing tomb relics after he found they could be sold at high prices, the Huashang Daily reported.
He told police that he knew since childhood there were many location of many historic sites and burial complexes around Fenggeling township in Shaanxi province, and used feng shui principles to find their exact location.
Qiang was quoted as saying that he learned how to locate and excavate ancient graves using principles of feng shui through popular online messaging apps including QQ and Wechat, then bought a specialist archaeological tool called a Luoyang shovel online.
He located the tombs by day and excavated them at night, using the special shovel, he said.