Jitang Tomb Cluster

Jitang Tomb Cluster

The Jitang Tomb Cluster is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Jitang Tomb Cluster is located on Pengshan in Jitang Village, Dashatown, Guangzhou. In 1994, three tombs were discovered and cleared.

Tomb No. 1 is situated to the east. It is a single-chamber vaulted tomb, measuring 5.15 meters in length, 1.52 meters in width, and 1.43 meters in height, oriented north. Both sides of the inner vaulted walls feature lamp stands, and there is a rear niche built into the back wall. The coffin and skeletal remains have completely decayed, leaving only iron coffin nails. A total of 51 burial objects were found, including gold bracelets, bronze bracelets, bronze rings, gilded silver hairpins, bronze hairpins, a bronze mirror, as well as celadon pottery items such as basins, jars, stemmed cups, plates, and buckets.

Tomb No. 2 is located to the west of Tomb No. 1. It has a middle-character-shaped layout, with a total length of 7.18 meters. It is divided into three parts: a corridor, an antechamber, and a coffin chamber, and features a rear niche. Multiple tomb bricks between the sealing wall and the inner vaulted walls bear inscriptions in relief, such as “Bricks made by Zhang Xiushi’s family on the fifteenth day of the first month of the first year of Yongjia” and “Nine Hundred.” Burial items include celadon jars, printed pots, cauldrons, bowls, trays, food dividers, cups, chicken coops, horse stables, stoves, grain bins, rice paddies, and other model utensils, as well as fragments of iron swords, bronze coins, and bead ornaments.

Tomb No. 3 is located to the west and is well-preserved. The tomb is divided into five sections: a corridor, an antechamber, a west side chamber, a passageway, and a coffin chamber. It has a total length of 8.52 meters, all featuring vaulted ceilings. The west side chamber is constructed with bricks from the Jin Dynasty (the same as those used in Tombs No. 1 and 2), while the other chambers use old bricks from the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The sides of these bricks are stamped with coin patterns and geometric designs, and several bear inscriptions in relief such as “Fourth Year of Xiping,” “Fourth Month of the Fourth Year,” and “Official Use Brings Great Fortune.” Each chamber contains burial objects. The corridor area includes models of rice paddies, cattle pens, wells, and pens for pigs and sheep. The antechamber is 2.03 meters long and 2.62 meters wide, with lamp stands at each corner. Inside are celadon vessels such as food dividers, earring plates, cups, bowls, and four-eared jars. The eastern wall features a small niche housing a small jar. The west side chamber, located to the left of the antechamber, is 1.76 meters long and about 1 meter wide, containing an iron-legged bronze cauldron, an iron-legged bronze steamer, as well as celadon jars, bowls, and basins. A passageway connects the antechamber to the coffin chamber. The coffin chamber is 3.48 meters long and 1.86 meters wide, with a rear niche. The wooden coffin and skeletal remains have completely decayed, scattering numerous copper coffin nails. Near where the tomb owner’s head would have been, there are gold hairpins, a bronze mirror, a small bronze stemmed cup, an iron knife, tweezers, scissors, an inkstone, and an ink stick. There is also a soapstone nameplate inscribed with “Xuanwei General, Martial Brave Commandant, Guan Nei Marquis, Zengcheng County, West Qing (Township), Liang Gai, sixty years old, may he hold an honorable position,” and a soapstone visiting card inscribed with “Xuanwei General, Martial Brave Commandant, Guan Nei Marquis, Liang Gai pays his respects.” In the middle section, there is a silver seal with a turtle knob inscribed “Seal of the Xuanwei Official,” a soapstone seal inscribed “Guan Nei Marquis Seal,” a soapstone pig, a bronze belt hook, and a bronze crossbow trigger. At the rear are an iron ring-pommel dagger, ring-pommel swords, and a complete set of gilded bronze belt ornaments. Next to the rear niche is a celadon tiger-shaped vessel and a bronze basin.

The celadon and pottery items unearthed from these three tombs share similar shapes, glaze colors, and craftsmanship characteristics. The bricks of Tomb No. 2 bear the date of the first year of Yongjia (307 AD), while those of Tomb No. 3 bear the date of the fourth year of Xiping (175 AD), placing them in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. This is 132 years apart from the first year of Yongjia, indicating that the builders of Tomb No. 3 reused a large number of old bricks from an Eastern Han tomb to construct its burial chamber.