Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng facts for kids

The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (Chinese: 曾侯乙墓; pinyin: Zēng Hóu Yǐ mù) is an amazing ancient burial site found in Suizhou, Hubei, China. It dates back to around 433 BC. This tomb holds the remains of a ruler named Marquis Yi of Zeng. It is one of the few ancient Chinese royal tombs found completely untouched. It was then carefully dug up using modern methods. Zeng was a small state in ancient China. The tomb was made at the end of a time when people buried many large bronze objects in important tombs. It is also special because it has many musical instruments, especially a huge set of bells that it is famous for.

Discovery and Layout of the Tomb

One of the human-like posts holding up the musical instruments.

The tomb was found by accident in 1977. Soldiers were clearing a hill to build a factory when they stumbled upon it. The tomb was built with large wooden timbers. It covers an area of 220 square meters, which is about the size of two tennis courts. A special date, "jiayin 3rd day," was found on a painted chest inside the tomb. Experts believe this date, which translates to the evening of the 3rd day of the third lunar month of 433 BC, was when the Marquis died or a very important day in his life.

The tomb is split into four separate rooms. These rooms look a lot like the layout of a palace from that time.

• The northern room is the smallest. It held military items like weapons.
• The eastern room held Marquis Yi's coffin. He was buried in a wooden coffin that was placed inside an even larger one. This room also had eight other coffins. These held the remains of eight women.
• The western room contained thirteen more coffins. These held the remains of thirteen other women.
• The central room is the biggest. It held a large collection of musical instruments. This included a set of 64 bianzhong (bronze bells).

In 1981, another smaller tomb was found about 100 meters away. It belonged to a woman who was related to Marquis Yi. This tomb had a smaller set of 36 bronze bells and other musical instruments.

Amazing Things Found Inside

A bronze statue of an "antlered crane" found in the tomb.

Musical Instruments from the Tomb

The most famous discovery is the huge set of 64 bianzhong bells. They were hung on a fancy wooden frame. It took five people to play them by hitting them with wooden mallets. These bells are special because they can make two different sounds. One sound comes from hitting the center, and another from hitting the side. This is because the bells are shaped like almonds. The bells can play a range of five octaves, which is a lot of notes!

One bell in the collection doesn't quite match the others. It was a gift from King Hui of Chu to remember Marquis Yi. The writing on this bell says that King Hui rushed from the west to make the bell and attend the Marquis's funeral. This happened in 433 BC. The bells also had music notes carved on them. These notes showed how the musical pitches of Zeng, Chu, and Zhou states were related.

Other musical instruments found include stone chimes. Many string instruments were also discovered. These included se, qin, and zhu. The tomb also had pan flutes (paixiao), flutes, and special sheng. Each sheng was made from a single piece of wood. A gourd was placed inside a mold to grow into the right shape for the instrument.

Ritual Bronze Vessels

A Zun pan (尊盘) vessel, used for wine.

The Tomb of Marquis Yi has one of the largest collections of ritual bronze vessels ever found and properly recorded. These bronze objects were used in important ceremonies. Most of the ancient bronze pieces we have today were found alone. But this tomb shows that many pieces originally came from large sets buried in important tombs.

The tomb had 88 bronze vessels and tools. Many were matching sets of the same type of vessel. The decorations on these vessels are very detailed. The largest vessel is a unique pan wine vessel. It is made of two pieces and is about 33 centimeters tall. There are two different sets of ding cauldrons. These were usually a key part of bronze sets. There were 9 matching open sheng ding, 5 matching ones with covers, and seven single ding, two of which were very large. There was also a matching set of 9 smaller li cauldrons. Other vessels included 8 covered gui for holding grain, 4 fǔ (簠) square vessels for sacrifices, 10 cups with legs, four fou, and many other pairs or single pieces.

Other Interesting Finds

A simple yi ewer, likely used for washing hands during ceremonies.

Besides beautiful art, the tomb also held many weapons. These included arrowheads, dagger-axes, spear tips, and parts of chariot wheels. This tomb is also important for the history of ancient Chinese glass. It contained 173 glass beads that looked like eyes. They were made in a style from western Asia, similar to some found in Iran.

The oldest examples of Chinese ink writing on bamboo were found in this tomb. These bamboo slips show the writing styles of the Chu or Zeng states. They listed the people who came to the Marquis's funeral. This included officials and royalty from the Chu and Zeng states. They also gave details about their transportation, like how many horses pulled their chariots. These bamboo slips give us important information about how Chinese brush writing developed.

See also

• List of Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad