The Spring and Autumn Period Grand Tomb

The Spring and Autumn Period Grand Tomb

The Spring and Autumn Period Grand Tomb is a cultural tourism attraction.

During the spring and summer of 1988, a grand tomb from the late Spring and Autumn Period was excavated at the foot of Longshan Mountain, 3 kilometers northwest of the ancient city of Jinyang. The tomb’s burial system, scale, and the richness and exquisite craftsmanship of its funerary objects were rare in recent archaeological discoveries.

The tomb is shaped like an inverted bell (dou-shaped), with stones and charcoal laid above and below the wooden coffin chamber. The upper part of the coffin chamber shows clearly defined layers of charcoal, gravel, and rammed earth — this is what is referred to as a stone-and-charcoal layered tomb. The tomb owner was buried in a set of three nested coffins, divided into a head chamber, main coffin chamber, side chambers, and foot chamber to hold funerary objects, and included burials of three individuals. The grave goods were remarkably abundant, comprising 3,134 items across six major categories: bronze ware, gold, jade, pottery, shellfish, and other materials. Analysis from multiple perspectives indicates that the tomb was buried between 475 BC and 425 BC, before the Partition of Jin among Three Families, and the tomb owner was likely a high-ranking noble of the State of Jin.

The excavation of precious artifacts from the Spring and Autumn Period Grand Tomb provides strong evidence for studying the politics, military affairs, and culture of Jinyang during the Spring and Autumn Period. Due to Jinyang’s geographical location, it was influenced by northern bronze culture, and some artifacts bear a strong grassland character, also offering physical material for researching the political and economic relations between the Central Plains and northern ethnic groups in the late Spring and Autumn Period.