"Forum of Xuzhou Museum" / Archeological Discovery and Research of the Imperial Tombs of the Western Han Dynasty

      Introduction:

      Speaker: Jiao Nanfeng (Distinguished Professor of Northwest University, Researcher of Shaanxi Institute of Archeology)

Lecture Topic: Archaeological Discovery and Research of the Imperial Tombs of the Western Han Dynasty

      Lecture time: 14:00, Friday, November 29, 2019

      Lecture location: Academic Lecture Hall of Xuzhou Museum

      Introduction

      The Western Han Dynasty was an important period for the consolidation and development of ancient feudal society in China, and the first heyday of our feudal empire. It profoundly influenced the direction of the formation and historical evolution of China's cultural traditions for the next two thousand years.

      From the founding of Han to the Wanmang Dynasty, the Western Han dynasty had eleven emperors, lasting 214 years. Except tombs of Emperor Liu Heng and Liu Xun are located in Xi'an, others’ are in Xianyang. The tombs of the Western Han Dynasty followed the highest funeral ritual of the society at that time. Researching them can help us have a more comprehensive and profound understanding of the history of the Western Han Dynasty.

Map of the Imperial Tombs of the Western Han Dynasty

Since the 1960s and 1970s, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and others have successively carried out archeological work on the Imperial Tombs of the Western Han Dynasty. Starting from the Mao tomb, some Tombs have been surveyed and measured for preliminary understanding of forming characteristics. From the late 1970s to the 1990s, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences carried out large-scale drilling and scientific excavations on the hidden pits, lintels, and sleeping garden sites of the Du Tomb of the Emperor Xuan. After a long-term survey of Mao Tomb of Emperor Wu, a series of research results were published. In 2006, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology carried out a comprehensive and systematic investigation and excavation of the Imperial Tombs of the Western Han Dynasty. They achieved major results, and obtained the top ten archeological discoveries in China in 2009. Since 2017, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology has carried out excavations on the hidden pits of Ba Tomb ...

Exterior of Yang Tomb of Emperor Jing

Yang Tomb excavation site

Chang Tomb of the First Emperor Han

  An Tomb of Emperor Hui

Exterior of Mao Tomb of Emperor Wu

      This time, Jiao Nanfeng, a professor at Northwest University, will take the archeological discoveries and excavations as clues to analyze the various relics of the Western Han and explain the Imperial Mausoleum System of the Western Han Dynasty, showing you the magnificent Imperial Tombs of the Western Han Dynasty.

      Speaker profile

      Jiao Nanfeng graduated from Northwest University with a major in archeology in 1982. He has been engaged in the excavation and research of Qin and Han archaeology for more than 30 years. He has been the director of the Archaeological Museum of Hanyang Mausoleum, the director of Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, and the dean of the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology. In October 2008, he was elected as an executive director of the Chinese Archaeological Society. In 2014, he was elected as the deputy director of the Qin-Han Professional Committee of the Chinese Archaeological Society. In April 2017, he was hired as a distinguished professor and doctoral tutor by Northwest University and a visiting researcher at Harvard-Yenching Institute.

      He has presided over the archaeological work of the ancient sites such as Yongcheng, Yang Tomb. They were named as the top ten archeological discoveries in China in 2009 and the first prize of national field archeological excavations in 2009-2010. He has written and published about 100 archeological reports, papers and monographs.