Jiangkou and Shunhe Han Cliff Tombs

Jiangkou and Shunhe Han Cliff Tombs

Jiangkou and Shunhe Han Cliff Tombs are cultural tourism attractions.

Jiangkou and Shunhe Han Cliff Tombs. Jiangkou Town is located 4 kilometers northeast of the county seat, with the entire area consisting of shallow hills made of red sandstone, hosting 4,107 cliff tombs. Shunhe Township (now Jiandu Township, commonly known as Banbian Street) lies 5 kilometers north of Jiangkou Town and contains 218 cliff tombs. Among the tombs in both locations, those with dated inscriptions include one from the 13th year of Yongping (70 AD), one from the 2nd year of Jianchu (77 AD), two from the 3rd year of Jianchu, one from the 14th year of Yongyuan (102 AD), all dating back to the early Eastern Han Dynasty. In 1956 and 1980, the People's Government of Sichuan Province designated them as provincial-level key cultural relics protection units on two separate occasions.

The cliff tombs are carved into mountains and consist of tomb passages, tomb gates, and tomb chambers. Their scale varies depending on the political status and economic power of the tomb owner. The tomb passage is the open channel outside the tomb gate, varying in length, with some extending over 20 meters. Clay drainage pipes are laid along the passage, well-preserved, creating the ambiance of a small alley or deep courtyard. The tomb gate resembles the “Dragon Gate” of rural houses, with some decorated with upturned eaves, brackets, double watchtowers, and floral patterns, resembling an official government gate. Tomb chambers usually have a main room and side chambers, arranged in the layout of a front hall and rear sleeping quarters, with left and right wing rooms. There are also designs with halls, inner and outer rooms, suites, complemented by pillars, windows, kitchens, stoves, and niches. Some have unique structures such as courtyards carved into the tomb chambers resembling traditional quadrangle courtyards, or boat-shaped or vertical-shaft earthen caves. Others integrate brick chambers with rock chambers.

　The carvings in the cliff tombs feature diverse materials, rich content, a mix of complexity and simplicity, complete techniques, and vivid, archaic shapes. Mythological and religious themes include carvings of the Queen Mother of the West with jade ornaments, immortals playing liubo (an ancient board game), immortals riding deer or dragons, Laozi’s image, and Buddha statues. Auspicious themes feature carvings of phrases like “divine blessing” and “longevity,” as well as images such as dragons and tigers playing against walls, kneeling sheep, swimming fish, crouching bears, celestial deer, vermilion birds, lotus flowers, immortal plants, and persimmon calyxes. Everyday life themes are also depicted. The exploration of cliff tombs started relatively early. After 1908 (the 34th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty), British scholar David Crockett Graham (referred to as Tao Ran), French scholar Victor Segalen, American scholar David Crockett Graham, and Chinese scholars such as Liang Sicheng, Liu Dunzhen, Yang Zhihao, Shang Chengzuo, and Liu Mingshu successively conducted excavations and research in the Jiangkou area. Between 1941 and 1942 (the 30th–31st years of the Republic of China), the Sichuan-Kangding Historical Relics Exploration Team, under the leadership of scholars such as Wu Jinding, Zeng Zhaoyu, and Xia Nai, excavated 76 tombs. Research findings were published in journals and books such as the Journal of the North China Union Theological Seminary, Western China Archaeological Records, Journal of the West China Border Research Society, The China Monthly Magazine, Bulletin of the China Cultural Research Association, and Journal of Jinling University. Artifacts unearthed were taken to the United States by Tao Ran, to France by Segalen, and given to the West China Union University Museum by Graham. The Sichuan-Kangding Exploration Team took away 22 tons of relics, most of which are now housed in the Nanjing Museum. Artifacts unearthed after the liberation period, aside from those stored in museums, were partly transferred to the National Museum of Chinese History and the Sichuan Provincial Museum in Beijing. The Eastern Han bronze money tree stored in the provincial museum was exhibited in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1985, causing a sensation in Japan.