Tomb of the Zhu Ran Family

　　The Zhu Ran Tomb Park, situated in Yushan Township in the southern part of the city, is the burial site of Zhu Ran, a famous general of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. Excavated in June 1984, it yielded numerous valuable cultural relics. Some lacquerware pieces filled gaps in the art history of the Three Kingdoms period. It is also the highest-ranking, largest in scale, and earliest dated tomb among all excavated Eastern Wu tombs, and was listed as one of China’s top ten archaeological discoveries of the 1980s.

　　The tomb park houses a cultural relics exhibition hall. The hall is a mock-ancient building designed in the style of the Han Dynasty. Built around the tomb structure, it has a simple and solemn appearance. At the center of the main hall is the tomb chamber, which contains a wooden coffin. Surrounding it are exhibits of artifacts unearthed from the tomb, as well as photos and literature related to the research of the Zhu Ran Tomb, including both domestic and international materials. Visitors can get a glimpse of the social life during the Three Kingdoms era over 1,700 years ago. The tomb passage is located directly south of the burial pit, featuring a stepped design with 26 steps and a slope of 19 degrees. The passage is 9.10 meters long, with soil color matching that of the mound. The burial pit lies beneath the mound, with its upper opening 35 cm below ground level, and has an irregular shape. The bottom of the pit is slightly smaller than the opening, lying 3.60 meters below the upper edge of the pit. The walls are not very smooth, and the pit is filled with grayish-white soil.

　　The burial chamber is located in the center of the pit, constructed of bricks, and consists from south to north of a passageway, front chamber, connecting corridor, and rear chamber. Measured externally, it is 8.70 meters long and 3.54 meters wide. The floor is paved with herringbone-patterned bricks, and the walls are built using the “three stretchers, one header” method. The ceiling features a “four-corner vaulted” dome. On both sides, there are offering platforms made of two layers of bricks each. A lacquered wooden coffin is placed inside the chamber, serving as the burial vessel for Zhu Ran’s wife or concubines. The passage between the front and rear chambers is slightly off-center to the left, with a similar shape and construction method as the main passageway.

　　The rear chamber contains a slightly larger lacquered wooden coffin than the one in the front chamber, serving as the burial vessel for Zhu Ran himself. The inner and outer surfaces of the wooden coffin are lined with a layer of hemp cloth coated with lacquer putty. The exterior is painted black, while the interior is red. A total of more than 140 funerary objects were unearthed from the Zhu Ran Tomb, including lacquered woodenware, ceramics, pottery, and bronze ware, with lacquered wooden items accounting for about 57%. Many of the lacquerware pieces are adorned with colored paintings depicting figures, stories, and motifs of plants and animals.

　　Background Information: Zhu Ran, originally from Anji, Zhejiang, was adopted by his maternal uncle at the age of 13. As a youth, he studied alongside Sun Quan. During the power struggles of the Three Kingdoms, Zhu Ran resisted Cao Wei in the north and Shu Han in the west, captured Guan Yu, and became a general commanding the entire army of Eastern Wu. He rose to the rank of Left Grand Marshal and Right Military Advisor, and lived to the age of 68.

　　Ticket: 7 RMB. Opening Hours: 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM, 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM (summer), 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM (winter). Tel: 0555-2515857.

　　Transportation

　　Address: No. 3 Zhu Ran Road, Yushan District. City bus route 131 can take you there.