Archaeology in Nanjing found the tombs of Ding Feng, a famous general of eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms

Funerary equestrian figurines excavated from Ding Feng's tomb. Photographed by Wang Jieyu, a reporter from The Southern Daily Rong Media

In the Three Kingdoms era of Jin Ge Iron Horse, there were many heroes and famous generals, and after a thousand years, their stories may have been blurred, but with the recent archaeological excavation of a six-dynasty family tomb in Wubai Village, a shogunate mountain in Nanjing, Ding Feng, one of the Tiger Ministers, has become a hot spot. Yesterday, sponsored by the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Nanjing Institute of Archaeology and the Nanjing Six Dynasties Museum jointly hosted the "Exhibition of Cultural Relics Excavated from the Tomb of the Dingfeng Family of Eastern Wu" at the Nanjing Six Dynasties Museum, with an exhibition period of three months. The tomb of this famous general of Eastern Wu unearthed cultural relics for the first time, reproducing the historical style of the Three Kingdoms era. Because of its importance, the archaeological project of "Nanjing Wubai Village Sun Wu Dingfeng Family Tomb" was also shortlisted for the 2020 National Top Ten Archaeological New Discoveries Preliminary Evaluation Candidate Project at the beginning of the year.

As the capital of eastern Wu of the Three Kingdoms, Nanjing has a rich cultural heritage of the underground Three Kingdoms. Since the second half of 2019, the Nanjing Institute of Archaeology has found and cleaned 10 ancient tombs in the Wubaicun plot, of which 4 Dongwu brick chamber tombs (no. 2020NGWM2-M5) are well preserved, the shape is convergent, the era is clear, and the excavated artifacts are rich, which is rare in the tomb archaeology of the Six Dynasties in recent years. What is particularly important is that the M3 unearthed brick land coupons, and the tomb owner is clearly Ding Feng, a famous general of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms. Ding Feng defected to the Eastern Wu tent when he was young, and with his outstanding martial arts and courage, he bravely championed the three armies and had the brilliant performance of slashing and capturing the flag, and the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" recorded his popular "Ding Fengxue Short Soldier". Ding served as the monarch of the four dynasties of Sun Quan, Sun Liang, Sun Xiu, and Sun Hao, and was the official to the Right Grand Sima and the Left Army Division, and feng AnFeng marquis, and almost witnessed the rise and fall of the entire Three Kingdoms in his lifetime, and together with Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and other twelve famous generals of Eastern Wu, he was collectively known as the "Tiger Minister of Jiangbiao".

"The tomb of Ding Feng is the tomb of the famous general of eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms with the highest official position ever found. This important archaeological discovery not only provides new materials for the study of the tombs of the Six Dynasties in Nanjing, but also for the study of the tombs of the daguan nobles in the Eastern Wu Dynasty, and has important academic value. Zhou Baohua, deputy research librarian of the Nanjing Archaeological Research Institute and head of the archaeological excavation project, told reporters. This exhibition exhibits more than 230 cultural relics excavated from the tomb of the Ding Feng family, including gold, silver, copper, iron, pottery, porcelain, lacquerware and other different types. The exhibition shows the culture, social life, folk customs and cultural heritage of the ancient capital of Nanjing through multiple angles such as tomb customs, excavated artifacts, archaeological excavations, and cultural relics protection.

Author: Wang Jieyu

Source: Nanjing Daily