Page 552 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

excavations prior to the Mancheng excavations, their significance as components of burial
shrouds was unknown until the discovery of the tombs of Liu Shang and Dou Wan. 5
The Western Han dynasty reached its height under the reign of Emperor Wu Di; though
he reduced the power of the imperial princes and other nobles in order to enhance the sover-
eignty of the central government, he did not deprive them of their wealth, and the tombs of
Liu Sheng and his consort, filled with exquisite and luxuriousness burial objects, reflect these
circumstances.
The most important of the Han royal tombs is that of the King of Nanyue in Guangzhou.
Following the demise of the Qin dynasty, a Qin military general named Zhao Tuo (from Zhend-
ing in present-day Hebei province) proclaimed himself the emperor of the Lingnan region
(Guangdong province). Zhao's kingdom was subjugated by the Han in in BCE. On the basis of a
gold seal inscribed Wendi xingxi and a jade seal inscribed Zhao Mo, the tomb at Xianggang has

been identified as that of the second king of Nanyue — Zhao Mo, who died around 122 BCE)
The tomb, situated on top of a hill, is built on a north-south axis. An entrance passageway
at the southern end leads into an outer storage room; behind the storage room is chamber
flanked by two side rooms, a rear chamber (which contained the coffin), and another chamber
behind it (which served for storage); the coffin chamber and the rear chamber were also
flanked by side rooms. All were constructed with sand and stones. The tomb, which dates
slightly earlier than that of Liu Sheng, measures 10.68 meters in length from the front door of
the front chamber to the northern end of the rear storage chamber, and 12.24 meters in width,
measured from the outer walls of the side rooms. The King of Nanyue's tomb lacks the circum-
ferential corridors of Liu Sheng's chamber, and his jade shroud is pieced together with silk
rather than gold, features that suggest that Zhao Mo was a king of lower rank than Liu Sheng
(who bore the imperial surname).
The burial accouterments of the King of Nanyue's tomb comprise more 1,000 objects in a
dazzling variety of materials — bronze, iron, silver and gold, pottery, jade, glass, lacquered wood,
bamboo, and silk and hemp; bronzes and jades compose the vast majority of the tomb objects.
The bronzes include niu andyong bells, 36 ding vessels, and 32 mirrors; the 280 jade objects
include the jade shroud, 11 sets of pendants, and 58 sword ornaments, and Zhao Mo was buried

with no fewer than 23 seals made of gold, bronze, jade, and hardstone. The tomb objects testify
to a variety of artistic influences. The jade suit, jade pendants, and bronze mirrors echo the
style of the Central Plains; some of the bronzes and ceramics clearly evoke the Wu, Yue, and
Chu styles. Some objects display motifs often seen in cultures of the northern grasslands (such
as gold apricot-leaf ornaments); a silver box decorated with petals was likely imported from
Western or Central Asia, while flower ornaments (pao), ivory, and perfume testify to trade with
lands to the south. 6
Imperial mausoleums of the Tang dynasty were centered in the area near Xi'an, in the
Guanzhong region of Shaanxi province. The princess of Jinxiang was the granddaughter of Li

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