CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

TOMB 2 AT
BAOSHAN,
JINGMEN,
HUBEI PROVINCE
The archaeological site of Baoshan is located to the northeast of Jiangling in the vicinity of
the ancient capital of the Chu kingdom. 1 Tomb 2 was the largest in a small burial ground of five
tombs dating to the Middle and Late Warring States period (475-221 BCE). Excavated between
late 1986 and early 1987, Tomb 2 remains the most important discovery to date in the Jiangling
area, not only for its size and content, but also for its historical value. Written records found
inside the tomb have enabled Chinese archaeologists to identify the tomb's occupant as Shao
Tuo, a high-ranking official in the Chu kingdom who died in 316 BCE.
At its mouth, the tomb shaft measured 34.4 meters long from east to west and 31.9 meters
wide from north to south. It was dug on a hilly site and covered with a mound 5.8 meters high
and 54 meters in diameter at the time of the discovery. The tomb shaft was sunk to a depth of
12.45 meters and shaped in an inverted pyramid, with fourteen descending steps on each
of its four sides. The middle section of the eastern side of the shaft opened onto a large ramp,
initially built to give access to the tomb itself during the funeral ceremonies. The tomb was
breached at some point prior to excavation, but the thieves were apparently interrupted in
the midst of their work, and the burial contents were nearly complete and well preserved when
the tomb was excavated. The integrity of the tomb's contents, as well as their condition, reflects
the care that the Chu devoted to protecting their dead; indeed the Chu, to a greater extent
than other Zhou cultures, unceasingly refined the art of burial over a period that began in the
eighth century BCE.
At the bottom of the shaft lay a large wooden structure (guo) that measured 6.32 meters
long, 6.26 meters wide, and 3.1 meters high, built entirely of heavy wood beams from the floor
to the roof. Eight bamboo mats were placed on top of the guo, and the entire structure was
enveloped with a thick layer of sticky fine clay. The shaft was then filled with layers of pounded
earth up to the mouth of the tomb. The tomb itself was composed of four chambers surrounding
a central burial room in which four graduated coffins were placed — one inside the other;
the remains of the deceased were placed in the last and smallest coffin. Each of the four chambers
was filled with furniture and objects — nearly two thousand items — situated according
to their function in ritual and daily life. The ritual bronzes and a large set of vessels that contained
food and probably beverages were placed in the main chamber, near the head of the
deceased. The southern chamber contained weapons and chariot fittings; the western chamber
contained objects for travel, while the northern chamber held the necessities of everyday life.
The contents of Tomb 2 reveal that important changes had taken place at the end of the
fifth century BCE in a tradition of burial practices that had been followed for centuries. Entire
categories of vessels that were commonly included among the set of ritual bronzes do not
appear in their usual complement; some are of low quality — defective in their casting, unimaginative
in their ornamentation, even undecorated. By contrast, objects for daily use display
superior craftsmanship and lavish decoration (cat. 144). Until the end of the fifth century,
tombs of high-ranking officials and members of the aristocracy contained a wealth of musical
329 | TOMB 2 AT BAOSHAN, JINGMEN