Xianyu Huang Tomb in Tianjin

　　      Introduction      Located east of Lancheng Village, Gao Village Township, Wuqing County, this is a medium-sized brick-chambered tomb. It consists of a passage, corridor, front chamber, central chamber, rear chamber, and side chambers, stretching 14.7 meters in length. In front of the tomb stands the “Stele of Xianyu Jun, Former Governor of Yanmen Commandery in the Han Dynasty.” The tomb was looted long ago, and the stele was buried underground.      The stele was discovered in 1972. The tomb was excavated in 1977, yielding over 70 artifacts. These include a bronze incense burner that opens and closes, a bone comb and bone comb case found together with a bronze mirror, a brown-glazed ceramic jar with four loops, and vividly colored lacquer ear cups. Among the burial objects were also early ceramics rarely seen in northern China, including an 85 cm high and 86 cm wide pottery granary tower, exquisitely crafted and recreating the grain storage scene from 2,000 years ago. The stele was erected in the eighth year of the Yanxi era during the Eastern Han Dynasty (165). It is now housed in the Tianjin History Museum. The stele is pointed at the top and square at the bottom, resembling a “Gui” shape. At the center of the front, in vertical seal script, is inscribed “Stele of Xianyu Jun, Former Governor of Yanmen Commandery in the Han Dynasty.” The characters are simple yet vigorous, with angular strokes and strong clerical script features. Dragons are engraved in line art on both sides, while a vermilion bird is depicted in line art on the reverse side. There is a hole at the base of the stele head. Both sides of the stele body are inscribed, totaling 827 characters. The clerical script is neat and rigorous, with bold and powerful strokes, making it unique among Han dynasty clerical scripts. Except for nine characters that are damaged and hard to discern, the rest are clear. The stele base is rectangular with rounded corners. The entire stele stands 2.67 meters tall, with the body being 0.83 meters wide and 0.12 meters thick. It is well preserved and is considered a rare treasure among Han steles, with significant historical value in its inscriptions.

　　 Wuqing District, Tianjin