The Zao Garden Han Tombs

　　In 1959, the Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee excavated a brick-chambered tomb in the Han Dynasty tomb area south of Zao Garden Village, Zhangdian Town, Pinglu County. The murals inside the tomb caused a great sensation in the domestic historical academic community. This is detailed in the "Encyclopedia of China · Archaeology Volume."

　　The tomb is a Han Dynasty burial site with a square brick chamber and a vaulted ceiling. It measures 4.56 meters in length from east to west, 2.25 meters in width from north to south, and 2.1 meters in height. It consists of one main chamber and one side chamber. The main chamber is fully painted with murals divided into two major sections: the sky and the human world. The celestial scenes are painted on the vaulted ceiling, featuring animal figures such as the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise, with drifting clouds and over a hundred stars. The ceiling also depicts the sun, moon, and other patterns.

　　The sun is positioned on the east, adorned with a black crow. The moon is on the west, depicted with a toad. Among the celestial bodies and colorful cloud motifs, white cranes with long necks and short tails are shown flying. The human-world images are painted on the four walls of the main chamber and include landscapes, houses, carts, horses, and figures. On the western part of the southern wall, there is a four-wheeled cart with one person in front and another on the left side. The person on the left is naked with bare feet, turning to look at the cart while dancing with a long silk ribbon. The western wall shows a house, with a farmer beside the path in front. Dressed in short clothes and barefoot, he holds a plow with his right hand and whips with his left, driving two black oxen to till the land, with the plowshare exposed. Behind the farmer stands a person in a long black robe, arms akimbo, standing watchfully. The northern wall has two groups of paintings: the eastern group depicts lofty mountains and ridges, at the foot of which there is a courtyard-style architectural complex, likely the stronghold of a powerful local landlord; the western group shows two carts near a river—the upward-bound cart has someone seated holding a whip; the downward-bound cart has a cover, with its double shafts touching the ground. The driver squats by the riverbank holding the ox reins, seemingly taking a brief rest. Further west, a farmer is seen driving yellow oxen and using a seed drill to sow seeds, with three legs visible beneath the drill.

　　The seed drill was invented by Zhao Guo during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, based on the production experiences of laboring people, and played an important role in advancing agricultural production at that time. Judging from the "ox-plowing murals," these depictions are not only earlier than those found in Suining, Jiangsu; Mizhi, Shaanxi; and Helinge’er, Inner Mongolia, but also demonstrate a certain level of technical advancement. Moreover, the single person cracking a whip to drive the ox and plow shown in the Zao Garden tomb murals surpasses the “two-oxen yoke” and “coupled plowing by two oxen and three men” depicted in other locations. Though the tomb is not very large, the murals depicting ox-plowing and seed-drilling authentically illustrate the agricultural production scene of the early Eastern Han Dynasty with strong life-like details. These are among the earliest surviving paintings in China depicting agricultural activities. They provide important material for studying agricultural development and the manorial economy of powerful landlords at the time. The Zao Garden Han Tomb Cluster is a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit.

　　Tel: 0359-3522900

　　Address: Pinglu County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province