Wuyi Mountain Cliff Tomb Cluster

Wuyi Mountain Cliff Tomb Cluster

The Wuyi Mountain Cliff Tomb Cluster is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Wuyi Mountain Cliff Tomb Cluster is located within the Wuyi Mountain National Scenic Area in Fujian Province, on the peaks along both sides of the Nine Bend River and in the North Mountain scenic area.

There are nearly 20 surviving sites with around 20 coffins. The Wuyi Mountain cliff tombs are wooden coffins shaped like black-canopied boats from the Jiangnan region, also known as "Jiahe Boat," "Fairy Oar," "Fairy Boat," "Open Skiff," "Immortal’s Dwelling," "Golden Coffin," "Fairy Ship," "Sinking Incense Boat," "Boat Coffin," etc. They served as a type of burial vessel for the ancient Minyue people of Wuyi Mountain. The shape of the boat coffins resembles a dugout canoe, consisting of a base and a lid, with a total length of 3–5 meters. Carved from a single piece of wood, they are assembled in upper and lower sections, higher and wider at the front, lower and narrower at the rear, with both ends raised like a boat. The burial method of the Wuyi Mountain cliff tombs involves placing the coffins on cliffs and precipices rarely visited by humans. Some were placed inside natural caves, while others were set on slabs mounted between natural rock fissures or between two adjacent cliffs. From a distance, they appear intermittently, giving the impression of “immortal burial sites,” hence the general term “cliff tomb.” Due to their seemingly unreachable, suspended-in-air placement, they are also referred to as hanging coffin burials.

According to records from ancient chronicles and data from modern scientific surveys, the majority of the cliff tomb coffins are boat-shaped, with fewer being rectangular or round. Regardless of their shape, all were made from high-quality, hard woods such as nanmu. Burial objects include bamboo, wood, ceramics, and bronze ware. However, due to the long passage of time or historical damage caused by human activity, these artifacts are not easily found. The number of coffins stored depends on the size of the cave or fissure—ranging from one to several coffins, sometimes hidden or extending into crevices, with elevations above the stream or ground of about 20–50 meters.

Since the 1970s and 1980s to the present, cultural relics archaeology departments in Jiangxi Province have successively discovered over 200 cliff tomb clusters here and have cleared 18 of them, unearthing 37 coffins and discovering a large number of cultural relics dating back more than 2,600 years to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Over 20 experts from China, the United States, and South Korea conducted scientific research on the cliff tomb clusters in Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi Province, newly discovering over 10 cliff tombs. In one of the cave tombs, they found two coffins, two skeletons, and burial items such as pottery, wooden swords, wooden hammers, and textiles. Experts believe that the cliff tombs in the Wuyi Mountain region, including those in Longhu Mountain, are among the earliest datable cliff tomb clusters in China. However, how the ancients managed to place the coffins in these cliffside caves remains a mystery to this day.

In 2006, the Wuyi Mountain Cliff Tomb Cluster, as an ancient burial site from the Bronze Age, was included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units