The Sanzhuang Han Tombs Cluster

The Sanzhuang Han Tombs Cluster

The Sanzhuang Han Tombs Cluster is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

There are many Han tombs in Siyang, especially the clustered Sanzhuang Han Tombs. Legend has it that there were “forty-nine mounds in all,” though the verified number is 47. These tombs are scattered across villages such as Xiangshu, Sanli, and Fumiao, stretching over ten li from north to south and six to seven li from east to west. They are distributed in five groups, each centered around a large tomb with an area of over 5,000 square meters. In the 1960s, field archaeological surveys initially suggested that the large tombs in these Han tomb clusters were the royal mausoleums of the Kings of Sishui, while the surrounding earthen mound tombs were the burial sites of nobles and officials, forming a vast and numerous royal mausoleum district. These Han tombs are regularly distributed along a north-south axis, with the southern end connecting to the ruins of the capital of the Sishui Kingdom—the Cheng Site.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Nanjing Museum, the East China Cultural Relics Work Team, and archaeological experts from various cities and counties have conducted comprehensive surveys of Han tombs within Jiangsu and excavated a large number of them, including the Chu King’s Tomb at Lion Mountain in Xuzhou, the Guangling King’s Tomb at Shenjushan in Gaoyou, Yangzhou, and the Han Tomb No. 2 at Ganquan in Hanjiang County. These efforts have yielded a series of important results, clarifying the tomb structures, funeral customs, artifact contents, and cultural characteristics of the kingdoms of Chu and Guangling. However, knowledge about the Sishui Kingdom remained limited due to scarce historical records and the lack of prior archaeological excavation of its tombs and sites. In March 1998, with approval from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the Institute of Archaeology at the Nanjing Museum conducted a rescue excavation at Xiaodun in Wangli Village, unearthing a jade suit sewn with gold thread. In November 2002, also with approval from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, another excavation by the Nanjing Museum produced over 660 artifacts, including lacquerware, bronze ware, ironware, pottery, and jade artifacts. Together with 100 artifacts unearthed from the Chendun Han Tomb, these provide extremely valuable first-hand materials for the study of the Sishui Kingdom and Han Dynasty artifacts and spiritual culture. Among the 100 artifacts (sets) unearthed from the Chendun Han Tomb were bronze ware, pottery, lacquerware, jade ware, coins, and more. Notably, a 1.2-meter-long, nearly 0.5-meter-wide ancient se (a plucked string instrument) was discovered in the side chamber. Its surface was decorated with black lacquer, featuring four knobs and several string holes. Because ancient se instruments were made of soft wood and are thus extremely rare to survive to this day, the unearthing of this se filled a gap in archaeological history. The large Qingdun Tomb, on the other hand, featured a predominance of lacquerware, totaling 549 pieces, accounting for approximately 83% of the total artifacts. This tomb is a large wooden-chambered burial mound, with its burial pits also constructed mainly from wood. An outer coffin chamber yielded a large wooden architectural model, and over 80% of the unearthed artifacts were lacquerware, highlighting the tomb’s defining characteristic of being “wood-centric.” Among these, a silver-inlaid and gold-washed bronze crossbow mechanism was highly praised by archaeologists as the “No. 1 Crossbow Mechanism of the Western Han.” The confirmation of the royal tomb identity came from the excavation of the Daqingdun Han Tomb, which is a large pit-style wooden-chambered burial mound.

The tomb chamber consists of a main burial chamber and outer chambers to the south, east, and west, as well as an interlayer between the main chamber and the southern outer chamber. On the western side of the tomb passage is a two-tiered large burial pit. The earthen mound is approximately 8.5 meters high with a base diameter of about 90 meters. The tomb chamber itself is 9.60 meters long from north to south, 8.80 meters wide, and 2.70 meters high. The main burial chamber is 5.70 meters long, 4.40 meters wide, and 1.70 meters high. Based on the tomb structure, the unearthed artifacts, inscriptions (including the phrases “Royal Residence” and “Sishui King’s Tomb” carved on the coffin chamber boards), and other research, this tomb is undoubtedly the mausoleum of a king of the Sishui Kingdom from the Han Dynasty.