CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

THE ZENGHOU Yl
TOMB AT
LEIGUDUN,
SUIXIAN,
HUBEI PROVINCE
The tomb of Zenghou Yi — Marquis Yi of Zeng — constitutes the most important single archaeological
discovery relating to the Eastern Zhou period (770-221 BCE). 1 Its significance lies not
only in its remarkable bronzes (whose tonnage far exceeds that of any ancient tomb anywhere
in the world 2 ), lacquerware, and other objects, but also in the excellent preservation of the
tomb itself, which allowed the disposition of its contents to be documented.
Situated around 1.5 kilometers northwest of the city of Suizhou in northeastern Hubei
province, close to a hillock called Leigudun (Drum-beating Mound), the tomb was discovered
in September 1977 and excavated during May and June of the following year. Originally sunk to
a depth of around 13 meters, the wooden tomb structure was encased on its top and four sides
with packed charcoal; a layer of sticky clay, another of stone slabs, and a topping of earth filled
the shaft. The combination of its encasement and the waterlogged conditions of the site preserved
the tomb and the majority of its contents (textiles are a notable exception).
Constructed of 171 large squared timbers of Chinese catalpa, up to 10.6 meters long, and
averaging over half a meter in width, the tomb covered 19.7 meters from east to west and 15.7
meters from north to south. The tomb was composed of four chambers of different size but
of a uniform height of approximately 3.3 meters. The distribution of the objects through these
chambers suggests that they correspond to sections of the palace occupied by the marquis
during his life. This represents the earliest known attempt to re-create the palace as a tomb
and anticipates the multichambered tombs of the Western Han period (206 BCE -24 CE).
The eastern chamber represented the private quarters of the marquis and contained his
double coffin, eight coffins of concubines (ranging in age from thirteen to twenty-four), a dog
in its own coffin, and numerous items that were clearly personal possessions. The marquis'
double coffin is the largest lacquered wooden coffin to have survived from antiquity. The outer
coffin, measuring 3.2 meters in length by 2.1 in width and 2.19 meters high, was framed with
massive bronze H-section pillars and L-section beams remarkably similar to the sections used
in modern architecture. The structure was held together through a sophisticated use of pegs
and mortise and tenon, anticipating the joinery used in later Chinese furniture. An opening
at the base of one end of the outer coffin was echoed by small openings in the wooden walls
that divided the chambers; these have been plausibly interpreted as passages to allow the marquis'
soul to wander within his underground palace. The inner coffin contained silk and jades,
evenly distributed over the skeleton of the marquis, a jade-handled knife by his side, and gold
belt-hooks near his waist. The sides of the inner coffin were decorated with an elaborate iconographic
program comprising windowlike panels flanked by guardian figures holding halberds
and by friezes densely packed with hybrid creatures that evoke the descriptions of strange and
supernatural creatures found in the Shan hai jing (Classic of mountains and seas), a text of the
Late Eastern Zhou or Early Han period.
The outer coffin was surrounded by weapons, a chariot and chariot fittings, and personal
items: clothes chests decorated with cosmological and mythological scenes, gold vessels (see
275 ZENCHOU YI TOMB AT LEICUDUN