Surprised to surprise! The Tomb of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms, the storm clouds rose again

Eastern Wu Tomb, the storm is rising again! Recently, a news about the "discovery of the tomb of Sun Ce of the Three Kingdoms in Suzhou" has not gone away, causing a wave of heated discussion on the Internet. The tomb pointed to by the online information is the Tomb of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period discovered by the Suzhou Archaeological Department in 2016 at a construction site on the west side of Huqiu Road.

Through archaeological excavations, combined with objects and materials, some experts speculate that the tomb is the tomb of a member of the royal family in the late Eastern Wu Dynasty, and as to whether the owner of the tomb is Sun Ce, there are different views. However, there is no doubt that this discovery has greatly enriched the genealogy of Suzhou's cultural heritage.

M1 overlook

After two years of excavation

The Tomb of Eastern Wu shows its true appearance

"From shock to surprise, twists and turns!" Recalling the excavation process of the ancient tomb 6 years ago, Zhang Tiejun, a researcher at the Suzhou Archaeological Research Institute, still remembers it vividly.

Zhang Tiejun

This ancient tomb is located at a construction site on the west side of Huqiu Road in Suzhou. In July 2016, the Suzhou Institute of Archaeology organized an archaeological team to enter the site, and the excavation was completed in April 2018, which lasted nearly two years.

"At the time of the initial excavations, everyone did not realize the particularity of the tomb and thought that the burial chamber may have been built during the Six Dynasties period." Zhang Tiejun said that after gradually excavating downwards, the tomb gradually revealed its true appearance, and everyone found that the ancient tomb was a masonry tomb, and the scale was very large, so he invited archaeologists in the province to investigate the field and exchange experience.

"Aren't you afraid of the tomb exploding?" At that time, what an archaeologist said surprised Zhang Tiejun.

Zhang Tiejun recalled that the outside of the masonry tomb is generally sealed with thick mud, and the pressure inside and outside the tomb is balanced, but when it rains, the rainwater seeps in and causes the soil to expand, which will destroy this balance and produce the possibility of explosion.

Under the reminder of experts in the province, the archaeological team in Suzhou reinforced and supported the excavation site, ensured safety, and then carried out excavation work.

"At first, only some celadon porcelain pieces from the Six Dynasties period were found, but when they were dug close to the bottom of the burial chamber, some stone components began to appear."

What surprised the archaeologists the most was that as the burial chamber was revealed little by little, some small beads of pure gold began to appear in the dirt, which made everyone realize that although the burial chamber had been stolen, some precious cultural relics were still preserved.

After two years of excavations, archaeologists found a number of tombs here from the Western Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.

M5 excavation scenes

Among these tombs, What impressed Zhang Tiejun the most was that on the archaeological site of more than 1,000 square meters, from east to west, there were No. 2, No. 1, No. 5, No. 8, No. 6, a total of 5 tombs of the Six Dynasties. Among them, the first 4 are from the Sun Wu period, while the 6th is from the middle and late Six Dynasties.

From the shape of the tomb, the decoration of the tomb bricks and the way of masonry, it can be concluded that these 4 tombs are from the Sun Wu period. It should be a family tomb, and the status is noble. "

Excavation of 219 artifacts (groups).

Some utensils are among the best in China

A total of 219 artifacts (groups) were unearthed in this excavation. There are three tombs with main excavated artifacts, namely M1, M2 and M5. Among them, the tomb M1 is 14.2m long, more than 9m wide, and 4.2m high, including wooden doors, corridors, front rooms, back rooms and other parts.

Zhang Tiejun introduced that the volume of M1 tombs can rank third in the current large-scale tombs of the Three Kingdoms Sun Wu period.

A total of 66 pieces (groups) of artifacts were unearthed in M1, including celadon porcelain, pottery, gold, silver and other different materials. Among them, the gold ware is more exquisite, including 6 pieces of eight-sided melon-shaped charms, 2 pieces of rings, 1 piece of plain abacus-shaped strings, child-shaped strings, fangsheng-shaped strings, and step-shake peach-shaped pieces.

M1 unearthed gold ware

The peach-shaped pieces and rings are female ornaments, and these gold objects are owned by the M1 female tomb owner. The Fangsheng-shaped charm was tested and had a gold content of 96.02%. This batch of gold artifacts is the "survivors" after the excavation, and the theme involves animals, plants, characters, mythical beasts and other images, with exquisite workmanship and vivid transmission. It is conceivable that the M1 female tomb owner who owns this batch of gold objects is very honorable.

The tomb M2, located next to M1, shares a seal with M1 and is on the same level. M2 is smaller than M1 and only 9 m long.

"M2 unearthed the most artifacts." Zhang Tiejun told reporters that the roof of the M2 tomb had collapsed, and after the collapse, the bottom was covered with bricks. Perhaps because of this, M2 luckily escaped the "poisonous hands" of tomb robbers, and was not stolen and excavated or disturbed.

M5 is a brick chamber tomb in an earthen pit, built in the M1 sealed soil, which has suffered serious theft and destruction, and a large number of bricks in the interior have been broken. Only 2 restorable fragments of celadon bowls and 1 gold ring were unearthed.

The artifacts excavated have certain historical, scientific, artistic and economic values.

"Taking the excavated gold noodles as an example, looking at the artifacts of the Three Kingdoms or the dynasties that have been excavated so far, it belongs to the best, and the workmanship is very realistic. Many techniques are used in the production, such as beading, filigree, welding, and draping, and the feathers and bones of the phoenix, the eyes of the dragon, the horns, etc., are very vivid. ”

Zhang Tiejun said that a silver frame was also found during the excavation, which is currently the only one of the same type in China.

Some of the excavated artifacts are exhibited in the West Hall of Suzhou Museum and listed as permanent exhibitions for the public to enjoy.

The owner of the tomb is Sun Ce?

Expert opinions are mixed

After careful excavation, the archaeologists found that although there were few artifacts excavated from the tomb M5, an important archaeological information was found:

A number of text bricks were unearthed, among which textual information such as "WuHou" and "22 July of the second year of Jianxing" provided an important basis for determining the age of the tomb and the identity of the tomb owner.

"Wuhou" bricks and rubbings

"At that time, everyone was very happy, saying that they might be able to deduce the identity of the tomb owner immediately." Because during the Three Kingdoms Sun Wu period, Wu Hou had 5 people. In the second year of Jianxing, that is, in 253 AD, plus the chronology, there is a double clue. Zhang Tiejun recalled.

According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, there were six "Wu Hou" from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, namely Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Sun Shao, Sun Ying, Sun Ji, and Sun Yi. And this "Wu Hou" of M5 should be one of them.

M5 "Jianxing 2 july 21st Wuwangkou" brick and

It is understood that Sun Shao is the son of Sun Ce. Sun Ce was assassinated in the fifth year of Jian'an, when he was only twenty-six years old. According to common sense, Sun Shao was born around 193 AD. In the second year of Jianxing, Sun Shao was about 60 years old. Sun Shao is more consistent with M5's "Wu Hou" and "Jianxing Second Year".

In addition, Sun Shao's grandson Feng Feng was killed by Sun Hao for false rumors of rebellion, and Sun Shao was likely to be destroyed by his son Zhu Lian, which coincided with the situation of M5 broken bricks.

"At the beginning of the excavation work, we found a joint Epitaph from the Southern Song Dynasty on the mound, saying that the pier was named 'Wu Tianzhi Dun' during the Southern Song Dynasty."

Zhang Tiejun explained that although Sun Ce was only a "Wu Hou" at the time of his death, he was the supreme leader within the scope of his initial unification of "Jiangdong", and it is likely that he regarded himself as "Tianzi", and his death era coincided with M1.

After Sun Ce's death, Sun Quan succeeded him, and the center of his rule was in present-day Suzhou. In addition, after Sun Ce's death, Zhou Yu and Lü Fan both came to Suzhou to be buried by Sun Ce.

In this way, Sun Ce should be buried in Suzhou. M1 is located just northwest of Suzhou. ”

Although Sun Ce was "Marquis of Wu" at the time of his death, the other "Marquis of Wu" in later generations were all enfeoffed by Sun Quan as empress dowager, and his political status was under the supreme ruler of Sun Wu's clique. As a result, the political treatment enjoyed by Sun Ce was naturally higher than that of other "Wu Hou". Compared with M5, M1 happens to have the characteristics of earlier era, larger scale, and higher grade of burial artifacts.

"Although M1 has found no direct evidence to indicate the identity of the tomb owner, there are various indications that M1 and Sun Ce's tomb should have highly similar characteristics." Zhang Tiejun said.

Zhang Zhaogen, director of the Suzhou Archaeological Research Institute, said that next, the archaeological department will do further research, assuming that sun ce's tomb can be finally determined, it is of great significance to Suzhou, which can mean that Suzhou is the political center of "Wu" in the Three Kingdoms period, and it also has far-reaching significance for archaeological and historical research in the Three Kingdoms period.

Since the excavation in 2016, it has been 6 years, and although the Tomb of Eastern Wu is a little "silent". However, due to an academic exchange, it once again aroused everyone's attention. On the eve of this year's "May Day" festival, the Department of Literature and Bo of the School of Social Development of Nanjing Normal University held a series of lectures, and Cheng Yi, researcher and deputy director of the Suzhou Museum, delivered a speech with the theme of "Re-examination of the Identity of the Tomb Owner of the Three Kingdoms tomb on Huqiu Road, Suzhou". Among them, the claim that the tomb owner is Sun Ce was disputed.

Cheng Yi believed that Sun Ce crossed the river to attack Xu (present-day Xuchang, Henan), negating the possibility of an army stationed in present-day Suzhou, and proposed that Qu'a (present-day Danyang, Zhenjiang) was Sun Ce's primary stronghold after crossing the river, and that Qu'a already had the meaning of zu for Sun. According to the custom of the Han Dynasty family burial, Sun Ce should be buried near the nearest Sun JiangaoLing. And now Danyang's Sun Linggang should be named after the tombs of Sun Jian and Sun Ce.

As for the biography of Zhou Yu and Lü Fan in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cheng Yi proposed that Qu'a was also called "Wu County Qu'a" in Sun Ce's Xie table. According to the principle that the big can unify the small, Qu'a at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty can also be called "Wu".

On this basis, Cheng Yi further denied the possibility of Sun Ce's tomb in Suzhou. On the one hand, it is believed that in the early jian'an period, the Sun group did not pay attention to Suzhou, so it can be excluded that Sun Ce's tomb was in Suzhou; on the other hand, according to the excavated cultural relics, the three Eastern Han tombs of Suzhou Silk Factory in Qingxuandi outside Panmen were denied as the second burial or crown tomb of Sun Jian and Sun Ce.

Among them, the excavated five-piece tank should be the Hui II type tank divided by Tong Tao, and the age of the Hui II type tank is the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the era of the tomb may be as early as the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The era of the five-tank is earlier than the time of the death of Sun Jian and Sun Ce, so the so-called secondary burial or crown tomb cannot be supported by excavated cultural relics.

So, Sun Ce, is he buried in Suzhou? Among the eastern Wu tombs found, is there a tomb of Sun Ce... A series of mysteries to be examined! See Suzhou reporters will continue to track, stay tuned!

(Part of the information comes from Nanshi Wenbo)