Former Mound

Located in Qianzhong Village, in the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, someone dug a hole into the side of the mound. Beneath the earthen covering was a one-meter-thick protective wall, and further inside was a tomb passage containing a 60-centimeter layer of charcoal, followed by another one-meter-thick protective wall. Deeper still was the burial chamber constructed with brick arches. The bricks were fan-shaped, 30 centimeters thick, and weighed twenty, twenty-four, or forty jin each. The passage was over six chi high and more than four chi wide, winding and surrounding the central main burial chamber, with a smaller chamber on each of the east, west, south, and north sides. In 1969, in response to the higher authorities’ call to “dig deep tunnels,” villagers reopened the mound. Artifacts unearthed included fragments of jade burial suits, bronze ware, and pottery, which caused further damage to the Former Mound. The southern half of the mound’s earthen covering has been removed, and the remaining part still stands about ten meters high, approximately nineteen meters wide from east to west, and around twenty meters long from north to south. Protective measures have now been put in place. There used to be a Bodhisattva temple on the mound, which housed an iron bell inscribed with the words “Reconstructed in the third year of the Daoguang reign.” The temple was demolished during the Cultural Revolution.

Former Mound