Page 340 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

BRONZE EJUN Ql Shouchun, at present-day Shouxian on the middle course of the Huai River, was an important
political center for brief periods on two occasions during the Eastern Zhou period (770-221
)IE TALLY FROM BCE). The last capital of the state of Cai was situated in this area at the turn of the fifth century
BCE; later, in 241 BCE, Shouchun became the last capital of the once mighty kingdom of Chu,

QIUJIAHUAYUAN, which had suffered a series of crushing military defeats. During the 19308, a large Chu tomb at
Zhujiaji, in Shouxian, was repeatedly looted, yielding plentiful bronze vessels, including some
SHOUXIAN, of the largest and heaviest found in China up to that time. The inscriptions on some of these
bronzes indicate that this tomb belonged to a Chu king, who has been tentatively identified as
ANHUI PROVINCE either King Kaolie (r. 262-238 BCE) or King You (r. 237-228 BCE). ] In 1955, the tomb of Mar-
quis Zhao of Cai (r. 518-491 BCE) was discovered by farmers inside the west gate of the modern
town of Shouxian, followed by rescue excavations that yielded more than five hundred objects
of bronze, jade, bone, and gold leaf. The inscriptions on many of the bronzes found in the tomb
show that, during the reign of Marquis Zhao, Cai had become a client state of Chu, whose royal
capital was then located at Ying in the Middle Yangzi region. The inscriptions on other bronzes
from the same tomb attest to intermarriage between the rulers of Cai and those of the emergent
southeastern kingdom of Wu. 2
Because of these important discoveries, an archaeological survey team was organized
in 1957 to explore the surrounding region. Members of the survey team obtained four bronze
tallies (jinjie) that had been found by farmers during an irrigation project at the locality of
Qiujiahuayuan. According to the initial report, an iron hammer, a small piece of Chu gold cur-
3
rency, and sherds of pottery were discovered at the same time. The sherds were thrown away,
the gold piece was sold to the county bank and the hammer was lost later; the bronze tallies
were kept by two local people. An additional bronze tally carrying the same inscription as

one of the four tallies from Qiujiahuayuan was acquired at Xinji, Mengcheng county, Anhui
4
province, in K)6o. It was said that this tally had also been found in Shouxian, and scholars
have commonly assumed that it came from Qiujiahuayuan, but this is by no means certain.
Since the tallies are dated to 323 BCE, they predate the removal of the Chu capital to this
region by almost a century. At that time, the state of Cai had already ceased to exist, and the
Shouchun area had come under the direct administration of the Chu kingdom. In all probabil-
ity, the discovery of the five tallies attests to the activity of Chu merchants and the commercial
statutes of the Chu court in this region during a period when the Shouchun area was still
located at the periphery of the Chu realm. XY

1 Most of the looted bronzes are now in the collection of 3 Yin and Luo 1958, 8. The postscript to this article reports
Anhui Provincial Museum. Anhui 1987, pis. 80-94. that during a follow-up visit local people denied that a
2 Anhui 1956; Anhui 1987, 62 - 78. gold piece had been found. See Yin and Luo 1958, n.
4 Anhui 1987, pi. 79 caption.

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