Ar Horqin Banner Museum

Ar Horqin Banner Museum

The Ar Horqin Banner Museum houses 2,122 cultural relics, including 148 first-grade relics and 8 second-grade relics. The Baoshan Murals are among its precious artifacts.

Epitaph of Yelü Cite

It was carved in the eighth year of Dagang (1082) during the reign of Emperor Daozong of the Liao Dynasty. In the summer of 1997, it was stolen by tomb raiders from a Liao tomb in Sharbaote Gacha, Baiyinwendusu Sumu, Ar Horqin Banner, Inner Mongolia, and later recovered by local authorities in August of that year. The central part of the lid is inscribed with seal script in Khitan small characters, while the stone tablet bears 28 lines of the epitaph in Khitan small characters. The deceased passed away in the seventh year of Dagang (1081) at the age of 38. As their life achievements were not particularly notable, the epitaph dedicates significant space to detailing their family history, beginning with the seventh-generation ancestor of the deceased. The original stone is now housed in the Ar Horqin Banner Museum. For more information, see Liu Fengzhu’s “An Overview of Khitan Script Research in the Past 20 Years” (Yanjing Journal of Studies, New Series Vol. 11, November 2001). The epitaph has not yet been published.

Baoshan Murals

The Baoshan Murals are striking and highly valuable cultural relics. These murals were discovered in Dongshabu Township, Ar Horqin Banner. In 1994, they were listed as one of the “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China.” With its beautiful landscapes and lush forests and grasslands, the site has attracted experts and scholars from across China, as well as cultural relic experts from Japan, the United States, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, who have conducted specialized investigations and held academic seminars here, giving high praise to the Baoshan Murals.

Jade Axe, 8.5 cm in length, 2.5–5 cm in width, 1.5 cm in thickness, collected in 1978 from Bayannur Team, Bayan Tara Sumu, Ar Horqin Banner.

Hook-cloud-shaped jade pendant, handed over by the Public Security Bureau of Ar Horqin Banner!!! Dimensions unknown!!!