The Donglongguan Tomb Cluster

Donglongguan Tomb Cluster

The Donglongguan Tomb Cluster is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The "Fenyang Song-Jin Tombs" were discovered in June 2008. During the entire archaeological excavation, a total of 27 ancient tombs were unearthed, covering an area of 1,196 square meters. Among them, there were 16 brick-chambered tombs and 11 earthen cave tombs. The brick-chambered tombs are categorized by shape into octagonal (8), hexagonal (5), and quadrilateral (3). By area, they are divided into large tombs (8 over 5 m²), medium tombs (6 between 3–5 m²), and small tombs (2 under 3 m²). The earthen cave tombs are categorized by area into large tombs (2 over 5 m²), medium tombs (2 between 3–5 m²), and small tombs (7 under 3 m²).

Among the tombs excavated, seven brick-carved, painted, and mural tombs are particularly notable, belonging to two family burial grounds. The northern tomb owners are speculated, based on unearthed artifacts, to be the "Zhou or Wu family"; the southern tomb owners, inferred from textual materials such as the Mingtang (in some Song-Jin regions, the term "Mingtang" referred to the layout plan of a burial ground) and land purchase deeds, were the "Wang family," who lived in the early Jin Dynasty.

The relatively intact Mingtang of the No. 5 Wang family tomb is covered at the top with a single square brick—the "land purchase deed"—with its inscribed side facing down. Beneath it lies a square brick with the "burial plot map," inscribed side up, featuring cinnabar inscriptions of the earth’s core, the eight trigrams, the heavenly stems, the earthly branches, and the locations of the primary, secondary, and tertiary burial chambers. At the very bottom is a pottery jar, symbolizing the Mingtang. Inside the jar, after cleaning, archaeologists found one piece of Chengni inkstone, over 100 clay coins, and one carbonized ink block. The Mingtang of Tomb No. 5 serves as the core of the Wang family burial ground. The tombs and their associated Mingtangs discovered this time hold significant importance for the study of the burial system and customs (the Mingtang system) of the Jin-Yuan period in Shanxi, the circulation of ceramics, and the research of folk kiln ceramics—especially as the Mingtang, acting as the central axis of the burial ground, is the first of its kind discovered nationwide.

This Song-Jin burial ground, dating back more than 800 years, features clear arrangements and well-preserved brick carvings, paintings, and murals with rich content and exquisite craftsmanship, holding extremely high historical, scientific, and artistic value. It reflects the social life and other aspects of society during the Song-Jin period and is worthy of attention. For example, the murals in the Wang family tomb depict various scenes of daily life such as "a kitchen maid at work," "steaming buns," and "servants pressing wine," indicating that the tomb owners were people of relatively high status and wealth. Additionally, the mural content shows scenes such as a counter for "exchanging metal currency for paper money" and "debt collection," which, combined with historical records stating that "early Shanxi merchants included those from Fenyang," suggests that the tomb owners may have been involved in the bill exchange trade and were likely early Shanxi merchants.

Address: Northwest of Donglongguan Village, 4 km southwest of the Yangcheng Township Government, Fenyang City

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units