The Zhaoling Tomb of the Southern Han Dynasty

The Zhaoling Tomb of the Southern Han Dynasty

The Zhaoling Tomb of the Southern Han Dynasty is located in Shimacun Village, Dongpu, Guangzhou. It was excavated in 1954. The tomb site is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and originally featured stone horses, stone elephants, and other stone figures in front of the tomb. The tomb is a brick chamber with a vaulted ceiling and has a sloping entrance passage. It measures 11.64 meters in total length and is divided into three sections: the main chamber, the passageway, and the front chamber. On the left side of the front chamber, there is a compartmentalized artifact box (divided into 8 compartments), buried underground, with the burial objects still preserved in their original arrangement; on the right side, there is a semicircular side chamber. The tomb has been looted, with multiple robbery holes found in the burial chambers. Only ceramic items remain among the burial objects, including over 30 celadon-glazed porcelain jars and more than 100 gray pottery jars. Among them, four celadon jars with side handles are uniquely shaped—their lids have crossbeams that fit into side handles on the jar shoulders, with holes allowing a string to be threaded through. This prevents the lid from slipping off when lifted. The jars are glazed both inside and out; when unearthed, the glaze was a vibrant green, though it has since aged to a yellowish-green. Some of the tomb bricks bear carved or inscribed characters on their surfaces or edges. These include “Chen Huai Fu,” “Zhang Hui,” “June 13th, Zhang Kuang,” and “16th Year of Qianhe, 4th Month, Xingning Army” (the brick is broken, and the text is incomplete). The first three are likely the names of the brick makers. “Qianhe” was the reign title of Liu Sheng, the Middle Emperor of the Southern Han Dynasty, and the 16th year of Qianhe corresponds to 958 AD, the year Liu Sheng died. Research indicates that this tomb is the Zhaoling Tomb of Liu Sheng.