On the 14th, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held a press conference on "Archaeological China" online, announcing three major archaeological achievements in the Han and Tang Dynasties. Among them, after years of archaeological investigation and demonstration, the Tomb of emperor Wen of Han was officially identified.
Let's first understand the specific location of this Western Han Emperor Mausoleum. This ancient mausoleum, formerly known as the "Great Tomb of Jiangcun", is located on the east side of Jiangcun on the White Deer Plain, east of Xi'an, Shaanxi, and was discovered in the early 2000s. At first, archaeologists believed that this was a noble tomb of the Western Han Dynasty, but with the continuous deepening of archaeological work, it was found that the scale and shape of the tomb were far beyond the general aristocratic tombs.
Emperor Wen of Han Liu Heng was the founder of the "Rule of Wenjing" in the Western Han Dynasty, and according to historical records, Emperor Wen was buried in Baling after his death and could not afford to seal the land. So how did archaeologists determine the specific location of the Tomb of emperor Wen of Han?
Jiangcun Tomb: Large scale uncalmed soil Excavated Han Dynasty cultural relics
On the east side of Jiangcun on the White Deer Plain in Xi'an, Shaanxi, there is a large tomb called Jiangcun Tomb. Archaeologists have discovered that the Gangchon Tomb is a very large "Ya" shaped vertical cave wooden tomb with four tomb passages, such a large tomb does not have any sealing soil.
Around the Jiangcun Tomb, archaeologists explored and found 115 outer pits, which were distributed radially around the Jiangcun Tomb. With the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, since 2017, archaeologists have carried out archaeological excavations of 8 of the outer pits, unearthed a large number of Han Dynasty cultural relics such as clothed pottery figurines, pottery, iron, bronze, etc., and also discovered cemetery facilities such as "Stone Boundary" and Gate Que Foundation Site.
What particularly surprised the archaeologists was that they found the Ming organ seal in these outer pits, and the words on the official seal were "Chefu" and "Zhongsikong Seal".
Formed a complete mausoleum area with empress Dou The academic circles finally recognized the Baling Tomb
Archaeological findings point to the identity of the owner of the Jiangcun Tomb to the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, but was he actually Emperor Wen of Han? To the northeast of the Gangchon Tomb is another "Ya" shaped tomb, which is about 800 meters away from the Gangchon Tomb and has a tall seal on the ground. This is the mausoleum of Empress Dou, the wife of Emperor Wen of Han, which has been confirmed by historical materials and archaeology.
Jiangcun Tomb, Empress Dou Mausoleum and its surrounding ruins form a relatively complete mausoleum area. Based on relevant historical documents and archaeological research data, the archaeological community unanimously believes that the Jiangcun Tomb is the tomb of the Han Emperor.
Archaeologist Jiao Nanfeng: The text on the excavated cultural relics proves that its era is the early Western Han Dynasty. After a discussion among the experts, the experts unanimously agreed that this conclusion was no problem, and it was the Han Emperor's tomb.
The 6 pieces of pottery figurines stolen from the Western Han Dynasty have attracted attention to the Jiangcun Tomb
Since the Yuan Dynasty, relevant records and research have generally believed that the Tomb of Emperor Wen of Han is two kilometers north of the Jiangcun Tomb at the Mouth of the Phoenix. But without conclusive evidence, no one dares to say that the Jiangcun Tomb is the tomb of the Han Dynasty Emperor, especially at the site of the Jiangcun Tomb, and there is no tall sealed mound. At the archaeological site, whether you look up from the ground or from the sky with a drone, you can't even see that there is a large tomb here. So how did it get into the eyes of archaeologists? This also starts from a tomb robbery case many years ago.
In 2002, an auction in the United States pushed the Jiangcun Tomb to Chinese archaeologists for the first time. Six Pieces of Western Han pottery figurines stolen from here appear on the auction catalogue of Sothby Auction House in the United States and are about to be auctioned. Through diplomatic channels, my Government has made timely representations.
Archaeologist Jiao Nanfeng: Before the auction, these 6 pottery figurines were taken out of the auction list. I was commissioned by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and I answered 11 questions from Sosby Auction House, why is it Chinese? Why is it Shaanxi? Why do you say it's from the Western Han Dynasty? And then how many such terracotta figurines have been unearthed in that place? And so on.
After many efforts, the six figurines returned to Xi'an in 2003. Subsequently, the relevant departments investigated the origin of these 6 pottery figurines, and it was finally determined that the tomb robbers excavated them from the ancient tomb in Jiangcun.
Zhang Xiangyu, vice president of the Xi'an Archaeological Research Institute: At that time, the two robbery holes, the wheat was harvested, very clear, and later they could see it on satellite pictures.
In 2006, after determining that the figurines were from the ancient tombs of Gangchon, archaeologists conducted an archaeological survey here. The results of the exploration surprised the archaeologists, and there was a hidden "Sub" shaped tomb with four burial passages.
How to determine that the Jiangcun Tomb is the tomb of the Han Emperor?
How to determine that the Jiangcun curtain is the tomb of the Han Emperor? What is the significance of the conclusion since the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty? How to protect in the future? Listen to the interpretation of Cao Long, an associate researcher at the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute.
Source: CCTV news client