The Jiaole Tomb Cluster

Jiaole Tomb Cluster

The Jiaole Tomb Cluster is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Jiaole Tomb Cluster is located in Jiaole Village, Yuzhang Town, southwest of Xingren County.

In early 1987, public security authorities cracked a case involving the theft of Han Dynasty tombs at Longshujiao in Jiaole Township. Cultural relics management departments conducted clearance and excavation on four tombs, including Tomb No. 10 and Tomb No. 14. They discovered that these were joint burial tombs for couples—the male chamber had been looted, but the female chamber remained intact. A total of 45 types of cultural relics, nearly 100 items in all, were unearthed. Among them, Tomb No. 14, a multi-chamber tomb, is the largest Han Dynasty tomb excavated in Guizhou to date. It has been described by experts as “rare nationwide and unique in Guizhou.”

The Guizhou Provincial Museum excavated five of these tombs, which included brick-chambered tombs, stone-chambered tombs, and tombs that combined both brick and stone chambers in a single mound. Tomb No. 2 was a brick-chambered “big” character-shaped tomb, consisting of a passageway, main chamber, left side chamber, and right side chamber. Tombs No. 1 and No. 4 were brick-chambered “convex” character-shaped tombs. Tomb No. 3 was a square stone-chambered tomb, and Tomb No. 5 combined both brick and stone chambers within the same mound. The five looted tombs yielded relics such as bronze plates, bronze bowls, bronze belt hooks, ring-handled bronze knives, broken bronze knives, bronze chickens, and money tree pedestals. Other finds included wuzhu coins, huquan coins, bronze trays, silverware, amber, lion ornaments, glassy ear plugs, small bone-and-bronze bead necklaces, and jade plaques. The tombs date back to around the reign of Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty (89–105 AD), and as late as the periods of Emperors Huan (147–167 AD) and Ling (168–189 AD).

A “Ju Wang Qian Wan Yin” (Seal of the Great King of Myriad Wealth) was unearthed from Tomb No. 10. In the second phase of excavations, near a burial mound approximately 20 meters in diameter, located about 1 kilometer southwest of Jiaole Village, the tomb was oriented west to east, measuring 12.8 meters along the north-south axis and 8.75 meters along the east-west axis. It featured two separate chambers, north and south, each composed of a passage, main room, side chambers, and two rear chambers, arranged symmetrically. Except for the front chamber, which had a domed ceiling, the rest had corridor-style ceilings and brick chamber structures. The floor was paved with bricks forming a herringbone pattern, with diamond-shaped brick designs. The tomb showed signs of looting, with most burial objects stolen. However, a damaged bronze horse-drawn carriage was found in the northern passage, while several bronze and pottery artifacts were unearthed in the front chamber. A “Ba Jun Shou Cheng” (Governor’s Deputy of Ba Commandery) gold-plated bronze seal was discovered in one of the side chambers.

The excavation lasted one month and uncovered a total of 12 Eastern Han Dynasty tombs from the middle to late periods. To this day, the main relics unearthed from the Jiaole Han tombs include: bronze horse-drawn carriages, branched lamps, zither-playing figurines, the “Ba Jun Shou Cheng” seal, the “Ju Wang Qian Wan Yin” seal, a lidded engraved bronze cosmetic box, bronze figurines, a bronze bowl with wuzhu coin patterns, a money tree, an engraved bronze vase, a bronze steamer, pottery stoves, pond-and-farm models, and pottery money tree pedestals.

The relics unearthed from the Jiaole Han tombs hold significant research value. In 2006, the Jiaole Tomb Cluster, as a Han Dynasty burial site, was listed by the State Council as part of the sixth group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

Jiaole Village: Located southeast of Yuzhang Town, Jiaole Village is 5 kilometers from the town center. It is home to a nationally protected Han tomb cluster. Among the eight first-class relics excavated here, the “zither-playing figurine,” “money tree,” and “branched lamp” were once exhibited in Beijing at the “China Fine Cultural Relics Exhibition.” The village boasts a rich cultural heritage, simple and warm-hearted people, and is known for its hospitality.

-- Total population: 3,188 people Agricultural population: 3,098 people Non-agricultural population: 90 people

-- Administrative area: 10.44 square kilometers …… More details about Jiaole Village++

Further reading:

· Sixth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level