Tomb of Marquis Cai Zhao

Tomb of Marquis Cai Zhao

The Tomb of Marquis Cai Zhao is a cultural tourism attraction.

Although the artifacts of the State of Cai and the State of Chu originated from different states, their cultural characteristics were largely similar. This was mainly because during the Spring and Autumn period, the feudal lords in the Jianghuai-Han region, after prolonged warfare and frequent interactions, saw increasing cultural exchanges that gradually led to mutual influence and integration. Eventually, this fusion gave rise to the unique culture of Chu.

In May 1955, while reinforcing the city wall by digging earth near the north side inside the west gate of Shouchun City, workers encountered two bronze bell-chimes (yongzhong). Excavation revealed a tomb located about 40 meters west of the base of the city wall and approximately 280 meters south of West Avenue. The tomb was a nearly square vertical earthen pit without a tomb passage. Slightly south of the center of the pit, there was a trace of a lacquered coffin measuring 2.4 meters in length and 0.8 meters in width, covered with a layer of cinnabar about 2 cm thick. Beneath the cinnabar lay a set of jade pendants, along with jade bi discs and flat jade rings. Among them were arranged circular, hexagonal, triangular, and rectangular gold leaf pieces. To the east, there was a bronze sword with its tip pointing south. The skeletal remains of the tomb owner did not survive. Judging from the arrangement of the jade ornaments and gold leaves, as well as the position of the bronze sword, the layout resembled a human figure lying down, indicating a north-headed and south-footed orientation.

Burial objects such as ding tripods, bells, li tripods, dou stem-cups, square hu vases, jian mirrors, pans, zun wine vessels, and sets of bianzhong bells were placed in the northern part of the tomb pit. In the southeastern corner of the pit, besides chariot and horse fittings and weapons, there were also some small bronze and bone implements. The western part contained mostly weapons and chariot fittings, as well as some small bronze and bone items. At the bottom of the southern wall of the tomb pit, within a small rectangular pit, there were fragments of rope-patterned pottery, possibly intended for burial companions.

After sorting, a total of 584 burial items were unearthed, including 486 bronze objects, 51 jade artifacts, 12 gold ornaments, 28 bone implements, 6 fragments of lacquerware and pottery, and 1 whetstone. Among the bronze objects, there were as many as 44 large ding tripods, the largest of which stood 69 cm tall, with a mouth diameter of 62 cm and a belly circumference of 197 cm. Some bronze items bore inscriptions, the content of which reflected the difficult position of the small State of Cai caught between the two major powers of Wu and Chu. The inscriptions on the Cai Marquis’ Pan and Zun each had 92 characters and were cast when the Marquis married his sister to the King of Wu. The Wu King Guang’s Jian bore an inscription of 52 characters, given as a dowry when the Wu king’s daughter married into the State of Cai. Among the 82-character inscription on the Cai Marquis’ Bells were phrases such as “assisting the King of Chu.” From this, it can be inferred that the State of Cai formed marital alliances with the State of Wu for external support, while also trying to appease the State of Chu, but was ultimately conquered by Chu.