Ancient 'Defense Minister' Tomb Uncovered in China

Shades of xiang qi! 
Tomb of ancient China's "defense minister" unearthed in northwest China
English.news.cn 2010-01-29 18:08:32

XI'AN, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The family tombs of an high-ranking general of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-220 A.D.) was unearthed in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, providing evidence to China's military history, archaeologists said Friday.

The tomb in Weiqu Town of suburban Xi'an, provincial capital of Shaanxi, belonged to Zhang Anshi (?-62 B.C.), a major general of Han Dynasty and he was conferred the titled of Liehou, top level of entitled officials of the dynasty, after helping Liu Xun (91 B.C.-49 B.C.) to become the emperor, said Zhang Zhongli, vice president of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology.

The identification of the tomb owner was confirmed by the archaeologists based on the discovery of the official seals and the seal carved with the family name Zhang from the tomb, which is only six kilometers away from the emperor's tomb, Zhang Zhongli said.

The main chamber of ancient Zhang's tomb, surrounded by more than a dozen of tombs, is 35 meters long and 24.5 meters wide, and has been robbed before, Zhang Zhongli said.

The whole tomb faces the direction of the emperor's tomb, which shows the respect of the general toward his king, Zhang said.

More than 2,000 pieces of cultural relics, including exquisite bronze and ceramics decorations, bronze seals and appliances which represent the high rank of the general, had been unearthed over the past year.

However, the body of the owners had not been unearthed in terms of better protection, Zhang said, without revealing the schedule.

The structure and size of the tomb and the large amount of unearthed appliances are all significant to archeological researches, Zhang said.

The military appliances and the carriages might be the remarkable discovery of the Chinese military history, as the general was considered the "national defense minister" of the Han Dynasty, he said.

Although the tombs of Zhang Anshi's and his wife's had been robbed and burnt before being discovered by the archeologists, they had provided abundant evidence to the research of the Han Dynasty history, he said.

Editor: Lin Zhi