Western Jin Tombs at Lion Mountain

Western Jin Tombs at Lion Mountain

The Western Jin Tombs at Lion Mountain are located at the eastern foot of Lion Mountain in Wuxian County, west of Suzhou city. They were discovered in March 1976 during land leveling by the Fengqiao Forest Farm. Excavated in two separate campaigns by the Wuxian Cultural Relics Management Committee in 1976 and 1979, a total of four brick-chambered tombs from the Western Jin Dynasty were unearthed.

The four Jin Dynasty tombs are distributed from north to south along a hillside nearly 100 meters long and rising 3 to 5 meters above the ground, each with an earthen mound covering an area of nearly 100 square meters and standing about 2 meters high. Tomb No. 3 had been looted in ancient times and its burial chamber was destroyed; Tomb No. 2 was also robbed but its chamber remains intact; Tombs No. 1 and No. 4 are well-preserved. The structures of the four tombs are largely similar, consisting of a sealed door wall, passage, front chamber, corridor, and rear chamber. Tomb No. 4 is the largest, measuring 9.18 meters in total length, with the front chamber being 1.72 meters long, 2.84 meters wide, and 2.28 meters high; the rear chamber is 4.12 meters long, 2.16 meters wide, and 2.13 meters high. The passage, chambers, and corridor all feature arched ceilings formed by corbeling wedge-shaped and knife-edged bricks along the upper edges of the brick walls. However, Tomb No. 1 has an additional side chamber on the left side of the rear chamber, while Tomb No. 2’s rear chamber uses a four-corner vaulted dome structure. The floor tiles in all tombs are laid in herringbone patterns. Burial objects and skeletal remains have all decayed without a trace.

A total of 126 funerary objects were unearthed from the four tombs, primarily celadon ware, including stacked figurine grain storage jars, gui vessels, flat pots, rabbit-shaped water droppers, incense burners, food trays, three-legged plates, cosmetic boxes, shallow-bellied bowl-shaped ding vessels, spittoons, jar-mouth pots, fluted jars, lidded bowls, urns, censers, dippers, perforated incense burners, wine cups, wash basins, four-handled jars, stoves, winnowing baskets, cooking stoves, cowsheds, chicken coops, pigsties, and dog kennels. In addition, there were also bronze items such as lamp stands, ding vessels, basins, and irons, as well as iron swords, and gold ornaments such as hairpins, rings, hoops, and finger rings.

Based on inscribed grain storage jars and the dates “Yuan Kang 2nd Year,” “Yuan Kang 3rd Year,” and “Yuan Kang 5th Year” found on tomb bricks, the tombs are dated to the reign of Emperor Hui of the Western Jin Dynasty, around the late 3rd century AD. Judging from the inscriptions, the tomb owners were likely members of the local prestigious Fu family.

The unearthed celadon ware, according to inscriptions reading “Yuan Kang 2nd Year... Kuaiji,” was produced southwest of present-day Shangyu, Zhejiang. The collection features a rich variety of types, exquisitely unique shapes, glossy and vibrant glazes, and relatively high firing temperatures, demonstrating that the craftsmanship of Yue kiln celadon production in China had reached a mature stage at that time—an impressive achievement.