Jin Dynasty Tomb

Jin Dynasty Tomb

The Jin Dynasty Tomb is a protected cultural heritage site of Hunan Province.

Jin Dynasty Tomb

Dating back to the Western Jin Dynasty. Located on Huangshantou in Anxiang County, Hunan Province, this is one of the best-preserved and richest Western Jin tombs in terms of unearthed artifacts.

The tomb consists of a passage, a corridor, and a burial chamber. The passage has a remaining length of 6.2 meters, the corridor features a brick-vaulted ceiling, and the sealing bricks consist of three layers. The burial chamber is nearly square, with each side measuring 3.6 meters. A coffin platform runs horizontally across the center, and the tomb ceiling is built in a four-corner vaulted style, forming a dome shape with a height of 4.2 meters. Inside the tomb, there is an iron canopy frame, suggesting that there may have originally been a canopy. A total of 81 burial objects were found, including 7 gold items, 17 jade items, 1 silver item, 8 bronze items, 7 iron items, 37 celadon items, 1 lacquerware item, and 6 other objects. Among the gold items are a turtle-shaped knob “Seal of Xuan Cheng Gong” and a turtle-shaped knob “Seal of General Who Pacifies the South,” each approximately 2.5 cm square, weighing 165.8 grams and 131.5 grams respectively. There is also a double-sided jade seal inscribed with “Liu Hong” and “Liu Heji.” Jade items include jade zun vessels, jade bi disks, and jade pendants. Bronze items include gilded crossbow mechanisms, knives, swords, boxes, and bottles. Iron items include daggers, knives, swords, and halberds with gold inlay. Celadon items feature motifs such as phoenixes, lotus flowers, human figures, as well as pigs, dogs, sheep, and rabbits.

Among them, the “Liu Hong” seal and the “Seal of General Who Pacifies the South” match the records in the Book of Jin, Biography of Liu Hong. Liu Hong died in the autumn of the first year of Guangxi during the Western Jin Dynasty (306) in August at the military camp in Xiangyang. This is one of the most intact and richest Western Jin tombs of high-ranking nobility that has been excavated to date. It represents another major archaeological discovery in the province.

On January 4, 1996, the People's Government of Hunan Province designated it as a provincial-level cultural heritage site, with the serial number 53-8.

Source: Overview of Cultural Relics in Hunan