Baiji Han Tomb

Baiji Han Tomb

Baiji Han Tomb is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Baiji Han Dynasty Stone Relief Tomb was excavated and cleared in 1965 by the Nanjing Museum. It is the best-preserved Eastern Han Dynasty stone relief tomb in the Xuzhou area. The tomb is relatively large in scale, featuring richly carved stone reliefs with exquisite and superb craftsmanship. It holds extremely important reference value for studying the social systems of the Han Dynasty, particularly in examining the politics, economy, and culture of the Han Dynasty in the Xuzhou region.

The tomb was constructed using the raised mound method, featuring a large earthen burial mound on top. The overall structure consists of two parts: the shrine and the burial chambers. The burial chambers are divided into front, middle, and rear sections. The middle chamber has left and right side chambers, while the rear chamber is rectangular and partitioned by stone slabs, serving as the burial space for a couple and the placement of funerary objects. The entire tomb chamber features a corbelled ceiling.

The tomb’s stone reliefs are carved on the shrine as well as the front, middle, and rear chambers. The imagery is highly diverse, covering themes such as social life, mythology, celestial realms and auspicious symbols, and historical stories. Examples include depictions of real-life scenes like processions of chariots and horses, banquets and ceremonies, board games, music and acrobatics; mythological figures such as the jade rabbit grinding medicine, the Heavenly King Father, the Queen Mother of the West, Fuxi, and Nuwa; and auspicious motifs like rare birds and animals, and sacred trees and crops. These carvings vividly reflect the real social life of the Han Dynasty, as well as the religious, philosophical, and aesthetic values of the people at that time.