Shibancun and Lingxicun Tomb Clusters

Shibancun and Lingxicun Tomb Clusters

The Shibancun and Lingxicun Tomb Clusters are a cultural tourism attraction.

【Shibancun and Lingxicun Tomb Clusters】

The tomb clusters are spread across approximately 5 square kilometers within the territories of Shibancun and Lingxicun in Linyang Town, Cili County. There are about 1,000 tombs, most of which no longer have their burial mounds. In 1987, 30 of them were excavated, all of which were vertical pit shaft graves. These date back to the Warring States period through the Western Han Dynasty. Artifacts unearthed include pottery, bronze ware, lacquered wooden items, silk fabrics, talc artifacts, and more. Among them, in the larger Tomb No. 36, nearly 1,000 Chu bamboo slips (with a total of 4,557 fragmented pieces) containing around 20,000 characters were discovered. Due to the decay of the coffin lid and the infiltration of soil, the bamboo slips were broken and displaced. Each intact bamboo slip is about 45 centimeters long and 4–6 millimeters wide, extremely thin, yet with clear inscriptions documenting historical events from the states of Wu, Yue, and Chu. Examples include “Attack on King Fuchai of Wu” and “The king said, ‘Wu has acted without righteousness.’” The unearthed bamboo slips and weapons were exhibited at the “Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Survey Achievements and New Archaeological Discoveries Exhibition.”