Archeology is always full of surprises. Once excavations begin, the team never knows what the next artifact will be before it comes to light. Many times the finds are mundane – pottery shards, inconclusive artifacts and ancient refuse. But there are rare cases when an excavation proves to be the one of a lifetime and is sure to make a splash. That’s the story of an incredible archaeological dig in China, when 10 tons of stunning ancient coins were unearthed in a single burial chamber. There’s no doubt that ancient Chinese history is filled with wonder and extravagance, but this discovery really raised the bar. It was Liu He’s tomb filled with two million coins and other luxury items.
Afterlife wealth: Explore Liu Hac’s tomb of 2 million coins
In the Xinjian district of Nanchang, East China’s Jiangxi province, archaeologists have uncovered one of the most important discoveries of our time and certainly one of the most unprecedented of all. China. The discovery was made unexpectedly. Hearing reports of several minor tomb robberies in Xinjian District, Chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archeology, Mr. Xu Changqing, quickly contacted Yang Jun and the Jiangxi Institute of Archeology.
On March 24, 2011, the team visited the reported “hole” and discovered their lives. A large tomb complex was gradually excavated and the importance of the site was quickly confirmed. It will take years to fully excavate the mausoleum, which covers an area of 3,700 square meters (40,000 square feet) and has walls up to 900 meters (nearly 3,000 feet) high.
Although the team quickly concluded that part of the tombs had been looted in ancient history, around China’s Five Dynasties period (907-960 AD), the amount of treasure unearthed still amazing. The level of preservation and number of discoveries are both related to the complexity of the tomb complex – the tomb resembles an underground “city”, with many rooms connected by corridors and sloping passages.
This remarkable site has yielded some of the finest archaeological discoveries in modern history and certainly in China. This is considered the best-preserved royal tomb from the Han Dynasty and is home to the most important finds. The number of discoveries is staggering and certainly provides an important insight into the royal funeral customs of ancient China, as well as the wealth of the country’s nobility.
Objects of gold, bronze, jade, amber and brass were unearthed – more than 20,000 of them. And each piece is sumptuously crafted – the finest craftsmanship, astonishing details and immense wealth can be seen at a glance. The complexity and extravagance are so elaborate, in fact, that they are innovative even by today’s standards. From exquisite gold pendants, statues and ornaments, to jadeware and bronze vessels, to swords and mirrors, beautiful amber statues, bronze bells and terracotta soldiers, royal seals and scripts , chess boards and kitchen utensils – the number of artifacts is unbelievable.
Some particularly important discoveries were also discovered here. One example is a large bronze mirror with an intricate painting on the back of Confucius, the famous philosopher. Later known as “The Dressing Mirror of Confucius,” it is the earliest known surviving portrait of the ancient Chinese philosopher.
The back of the Confucius Makeup Mirror. Earliest surviving portrait of Confucius (top left). 1st century, Tomb of Marquis Haihun BC, Jiangxi province. ( Liu Zi Liang )
“You can’t take it to your grave”
Another groundbreaking discovery was the lost Qi Lun version of the Analects of Confucius (Selected Sayings). The Analects were formed into three distinct versions in ancient times – Lu Lun, Gu Lun and Qi Lun. The second was thought to be lost for 1800 years, until it was discovered in this very tomb in Xinjian. Like most works of that period, Qi Lun was written on thin strips of bamboo – about 5000 strips of bamboo – and its rediscovery is a major milestone in modern archaeology.
Another important discovery was the burial of horses and chariots. The ancient Chinese of the Han Dynasty had strict regulations regarding these types of burials, and this was the first type of burial discovered south of the Yangtze River. The burial pit contained the remains of five sumptuous wooden chariots and the skeletons of 20 horses, all accompanied by approximately 3000 pieces of extremely elaborate bronze and gold chariot decorations and chariot decorations.
Golden horseshoe ornaments from Liu He’s tomb. (Photo: nocoev.com)
Combined with all the remaining finds – over 500 pieces of exquisite jade, 5000 pieces of gold (over 150 kg or 330.69 lb), silver and bronze, 500 pieces of ceramics and 3000 wooden lacquerware – local The site at Xinjian eclipses all other archaeological discoveries from the Han Dynasty in China.
But the most exciting discovery is certainly unique anywhere in the world. In the northern part of the tomb, archaeologists discovered an astonishing find – about 2 million wu zhu coins. They totaled more than 10 tons and are worth about 50 kg (110.23 lbs.) of gold today. All the coins were piled up, forming a mound two meters (6.56 ft.) high.
They were originally stacked on wires or sticks, a thousand on each wire. The wu zhu coin, like the majority of coins throughout most of ancient Chinese history, was round and had a square hole in the middle. This hole was made so that the coins could be strung and thus transported and counted more easily.
A jade beast deity ( CC BY SA 4.0 ) and gold ingot ( CC BY SA 4.0 ) were found in the tomb of Marquis Haihun and former Han emperor Liu He.
It is speculated that these 2 million coins would have been highly valuable at the time – equivalent to one million US dollars. These coins are the largest finds of their kind in our time and are remarkably preserved, some of them even have remaining staves and the original “strung” layout. The ancient Chinese buried their noble deceased with all the goods needed in the afterlife – and based on their wealth and lots of coins, the deceased had big plans for after death.
