The Qu Village–Tianma Site

The Qu Village–Tianma Site

The Qu Village–Tianma Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Qu Village–Tianma Site is located in the northeast of Quwo County, Linfen City. It lies against Chongshan Mountain to the north and stretches 3,800 meters from east to south and 2,800 meters from north to south, covering an area of approximately 11 square kilometers. The site is divided into four major cultural layers, including the Yangshao and Longshan cultures of the Neolithic Age, the Xia culture layer, the Western Zhou to Warring States culture layers, and the Qin, Han, Yuan, and Ming culture layers. Its core part is the Jin Marquis Cemetery, which covers an area of over 15,000 square meters. It was ranked among China’s Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries for two consecutive years in 1992 and 1993, and was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1996. The Qu Village–Tianma Site is not only vast in scale but also has a long duration, flourishing particularly from the late Western Zhou to the early Spring and Autumn period.

The Tianma Site in Quwo

The core of the Qu Village–Tianma Site consists of the tombs of nine generations of nineteen Jin marquises and their consorts, along with ten accompanying chariot and horse pits. Sima Qian recorded in Records of the Grand Historian, “The House of Jin”: “Chu Yu, the son of King Wu and younger brother of King Cheng, was enfeoffed in the ancient Tang state — historically referred to as Tang Shu Yu. After Chu Yu’s son, Xie Fu, succeeded his father, he renamed the ancient Tang state ‘Jin’ because there was a river called the Jin River to the south of the ancient Tang. This is the origin of the name Jin, and Xie Fu was also the first Marquis of Jin.” These nine generations of Jin marquises were: Xie Fu, Marquis Wu, Marquis Cheng, Marquis Li, Marquis Jing, Marquis Xi, Marquis Xian, Marquis Mu, and Marquis Wen. Their era spanned from the early Western Zhou to the early Spring and Autumn period. Starting from 2000, a number of accompanying tombs were excavated, unearthing bronze ware inscribed with texts. These invaluable materials not only confirmed that the Quwo area was the original fief of the Jin state, but also elevated the archaeology and research of Jin culture to new heights. They provided scholars with a clearer understanding of the full picture, characteristics, and periodization of “Jin culture.” In particular, the identification of the Jin marquises and tomb owners played a significant role in dating the kings of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

A wealth of artifacts have been unearthed from the Jin Marquis Cemetery, totaling over 10,000 pieces. These include tens of thousands of bronze ritual vessels, musical instruments, and sets of jade artifacts. More than 280 bronze items were excavated from over 60 bronze ware tombs, nearly 100 of which bear inscriptions. In addition to bronze ritual vessels, the unearthed relics also include a large number of bronze weapons, predominantly halberds; a substantial quantity of chariot and horse fittings; and tens of thousands of jade, stone, bone, shell, clam, and lead objects. One set of shell bead ornaments contains over 2,000 beads, while another set of finely strung beads — each about 2 millimeters in diameter — demonstrates astonishing craftsmanship. In the cemetery, nearly all marquis tombs contain a combination of ding (tripod cauldrons), gui (food vessels), and you (wine vessels), whereas almost all consort tombs have combinations of ding and gui but lack you. The bronze ware unearthed from the nine tomb groups in the Jin Marquis Cemetery bears the names or titles of six Jin marquises, serving as valuable material for studying the lineage of the Jin marquises. The Jin Marquis Su Bell bears an inscription of 355 characters, detailing a military campaign in the 33rd year of King Li of Zhou, personally commanded by the king with the participation of the Jin Marquis. This text is arguably the most significant inscribed material unearthed in the past half-century and is of immense historical value due to its absence in written records.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units