When Chinese archaeologists opened a large multi-chambered Han Dynasty tomb in southern Beijing last week they made some remarkable finds. In particular they discovered a bronze sword notable not only for its excellent workmanship but also for being the first of its kind actually intended for practical use ever to be discovered around the area of the capital.
The brick-built tomb faces south and has one front, two side and two rear chambers. There is a passage to the front. It is some 7 meters long, 5 meters wide and has an overall height of 3.7 meters. Its bricks carry a rope pattern. Above the passage linking the front and rear chambers, two arched “boat roofs” are still well preserved. The archaeologists said that the front chamber would probably once have had a vaulted roof, but grave robbers had destroyed it.
The tomb was the final resting place of perhaps four people with the main occupant in the front chamber. One of the side rooms held skeletal remains with a relatively small cranium, thought to be those of his wife or concubine. However there were just a few bones left in the rear rooms, which were in a state of disorder.
In all the archaeologists recovered nearly 30 burial items from the tomb. There were exquisitely made and well-preserved pottery items with dogs, buffalos, cockerels and human figurines. Judging from the five-zhu coins (the zhu was a unit of weight used in antiquity) that were also found, the tomb can be placed in the later years of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD).
Of all the artifacts, the most attractive is the bronze sword. It is 69 cm long and 2-3 cm wide, with a handgrip extending to about 12 cm. Experts from the Beijing Cultural Relics Research Institute explained that the sword would likely have been worn at the waist on an every-day basis. This was no mere ornament but was clearly intended for use in hand-to-hand combat as can be seen today from its length and keen edge.
The size and style of the tomb together with the quality of the grave goods all point to the conclusion that this was no ordinary person but rather a wealthy individual who had occupied a prominent position in the society of the day. Perhaps he was a warrior.
Previous finds of knives buried alongside the dead in other areas of Beijing were usually just 10 cm long and intended for use in the preparation of bamboo writing slips. They could really only be classified as "stationery items". This is the first time that a useable fighting sword has been found here.
The Han Dynasty witnessed frequent chaos and many wars. In those far-off days the vast north of China was sparsely populated and the common people eked out a living under poor conditions. Their tombs normally had just one or two rooms. A find of such a large tomb with five rooms has rarely been seen before.
(China.org.cn by Li Jinhui, April 8, 2004)
