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Site of Zhongshan Ancient City
The Site of the ancient Ancient City of Zhongshan（中山） is located on the western banks of Hutuo River in Pingshan County（平山县）, Hebei Province（河北）. Zhongshan City was the capital of Zhongshan Kingdom in the mid Warring States era (476-221BC). Between 1974 and 1978, a Hebei excavation team carried out comprehensive studies at the site.
The city is shaped like a scalene triangle and covers an area of about 60 square kilometers. It comprises an eastern and western city. The former city was the site of a palace area and workshops, while the northern city and western part of the latter was the mausoleum of the imperial family. The southern part was residential area.
Two huge tombs were unearthed at the mausoleum which was arranged from east to west. The No. 1 tomb in the west was where King Zhongshan's coffin once rested before burial; the No 6 tomb in the east was built on a small scale, its owner being still unknown. The earth mound in the first tomb is 92 meters wide from east to west, 110 meters long from south to north and 15 meters high, with three flights of steps. It was believed to be a three-storeyed pavilion-style building surrounded by winding corridors and covered with tiles. There are two sacrificial tombs on either side of the main tomb. Located in front of the earth mound are symmetrically arranged sacrificial pits of carts and horses, boats, and other objects buried with the dead. The coffin chamber is shaped like the character 中, with a square outer coffin at its center. The chamber is 14.9 meters long from south to north and 13.5 meters wide from east to west.
Articles unearthed in the mausoleum, include more than 19,000 funerary articles made of bronze and pottery, and sacrificial and lacquered wares. Most of these relics are of great artistic value, such as a bronze lamp with 15 holders. The tree-shaped lamp is 84.5 centimeters high and has groups of monkeys playing in the tree with two onlookers below. King Zhongshan and his successor had 1,101 carved words in the bronzed pots which gave an exact explanation of the tomb owner, the genealogy of the Zhongshan Kingdom and other related facts. To study about Zhongshan history these relics helps by providing essential information.
The city is shaped like a scalene triangle and covers an area of about 60 square kilometers. It comprises an eastern and western city. The former city was the site of a palace area and workshops, while the northern city and western part of the latter was the mausoleum of the imperial family. The southern part was residential area.
Two huge tombs were unearthed at the mausoleum which was arranged from east to west. The No. 1 tomb in the west was where King Zhongshan's coffin once rested before burial; the No 6 tomb in the east was built on a small scale, its owner being still unknown. The earth mound in the first tomb is 92 meters wide from east to west, 110 meters long from south to north and 15 meters high, with three flights of steps. It was believed to be a three-storeyed pavilion-style building surrounded by winding corridors and covered with tiles. There are two sacrificial tombs on either side of the main tomb. Located in front of the earth mound are symmetrically arranged sacrificial pits of carts and horses, boats, and other objects buried with the dead. The coffin chamber is shaped like the character 中, with a square outer coffin at its center. The chamber is 14.9 meters long from south to north and 13.5 meters wide from east to west.
Articles unearthed in the mausoleum, include more than 19,000 funerary articles made of bronze and pottery, and sacrificial and lacquered wares. Most of these relics are of great artistic value, such as a bronze lamp with 15 holders. The tree-shaped lamp is 84.5 centimeters high and has groups of monkeys playing in the tree with two onlookers below. King Zhongshan and his successor had 1,101 carved words in the bronzed pots which gave an exact explanation of the tomb owner, the genealogy of the Zhongshan Kingdom and other related facts. To study about Zhongshan history these relics helps by providing essential information.
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