Tomb of the King of Nanyue

Tomb of the King of Nanyue

The Tomb of the King of Nanyue is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Tomb of the King of Nanyue is the largest and richest Han Dynasty stone-chamber painted tomb discovered so far in the Lingnan region. Together with later discoveries such as the ruins of the Nanyue Kingdom palace complex and the Nanyue wooden sluice gate, it forms the most significant archaeological remains from the Nanyue Kingdom period. It was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1996 and became one of the first Maritime Silk Road heritage sites in Guangzhou to be nominated for World Cultural Heritage status in 2012.

The Tomb of the King of Nanyue was excavated in 1983. Its occupant was Zhao Mo, the second king of the Nanyue Kingdom (reigned approximately 137–122 BCE). The main burial chamber was constructed using a vertical shaft method, with east and west side chambers hollowed out from the rock. The overall layout is shaped like the Chinese character “士” (scholar), covering a floor area of about 100 square meters, and built with over 750 roughly processed red sandstone blocks. The tomb consists of seven chambers: the front chamber, east side chamber, and west side chamber at the front; and the main coffin chamber, east lateral chamber, west lateral chamber, and rear storage chamber at the back. At the southern end of the stone door in the front chamber lies an outer coffin chamber measuring 4.12 meters, with a sloping ramp-style tomb passage to the south of the coffin chamber.

The tomb is well-preserved, with over 1,000 funerary artifacts unearthed (in sets), including items made of jade, pottery, bronze, iron, gold, silver, glass, and other materials. The structure of the tomb and the variety of burial objects reflect a blend of cultural elements from the Chu, Qin, Han, Bashu, Wu-Yue, and the indigenous Nanyue peoples, demonstrating the cultural exchange and integration between Lingnan and the Central Plains as well as surrounding regions. Among the relics, the “Seal of the King of Wen” gold seal, jade horn cup, gold-inlaid inscribed tiger tally, engraved bronze printing plate mold, and flat glass copper plaque ornaments are of great historical, scientific, and artistic value, collectively reflecting various aspects of Lingnan’s politics, economy, and culture from two thousand years ago.

Location

No. 867, Jiefang North Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City, within the Museum of the Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum of the Nanyue King

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