Jade wares unearthed from the Wuwangdun Tomb in Huainan City, east China's Anhui Province Photo: XINHUA

The Wuwangdun mausoleum, located in Huainan, Anhui Province, is the largest [covering an area of approximately 1.5 million square meters], highest-level, and most complex structured royal tomb of the Chu state ever unearthed through systematic archaeological excavation. Despite evidence of looting, it remains remarkably well-preserved and has yielded over 10,000 artifacts. Historical records align closely with the dating of the tomb, its artifacts, and inscriptions, confirming that the occupant was Xiong Yuan (290–238 BCE), known posthumously as King Kaolie of Chu, who ruled during the late Warring States period.

Reconstructing ritual practices

The discovery fills a critical gap in the archaeological study of high-status Chu tombs, enriching the typological sequence of Chu burials and offering valuable insights into regional funerary customs, social stratification, ritual and musical systems, and religious beliefs. The coffin and outer enclosure are both massive in scale and intricately engineered. Each timber plank is marked with a position number, and the multiple wooden walls and cover boards are tightly joined using mortise-and-tenon techniques. The immense volume of timber and the complexity of the structure not only reflect the wealth and authority of the tomb’s occupant but also point to the existence of specialized and highly organized institutions overseeing its planning and construction.

To the south lies the Lisangudui site, long believed to be closely connected with the Wuwangdun mausoleum. Looted in the 1930s, Lisangudui has remained shrouded in mystery. Among the relics recovered were numerous bronze vessels inscribed with the names of various Chu kings and princes. The site is widely thought to be the burial place of King You of Chu, son of King Kaolie. The excavation of Wuwangdun has helped resolve many of the longstanding questions raised by the earlier plundering at Lisangudui, including the structure of the coffin and the arrangement and function of funerary items. The discovery of the tombs of the two most important monarchs of late Chu—King Kaolie and King You—dating from the period when the Chu capital was located in Shouchun [modern-day Shou County, Huainan], vividly reveals the political and cultural contours of the state’s final chapter, showcasing the last glory of Chu civilization.

The Wuwangdun mausoleum yielded 44 bronze ding vessels, including the largest ding ever found from the Chu state. Among these, a set of nine ding, eight gui [bowl-shaped ritual vessels], and eight fu [another type of bronze vessel] reflects the exclusive ritual system of a king, symbolizing the highest status. The site also produced 20 sets of chime bells, 50 sets of zithers and drums, and other musical instruments—sumptuously crafted, finely preserved, and ceremonially significant. This complete assemblage of ritual and musical instruments represents the pinnacle of Chu ceremonial culture and illustrates its deep roots in, and inheritance from, the Western Zhou ritual-musical systems. After the Han Dynasty, bronze ritual and musical instruments ceased to function as symbols of status and power. As such, the complete set from Wuwangdun stands as a final testament to the grandeur of ancient China’s bronze ritual tradition.

Filling gaps in historical records

Beyond illuminating ritual practices, the newly unearthed materials have filled numerous gaps in historical records, expanding our understanding of Chu culture and history. For example, botanical and faunal remains found alongside the bronzes provide crucial evidence for reconstructing the diet, sacrificial practices, and ritual life of Chu’s high-ranking nobility. Previously, scholars believed that oracle bone divination was largely confined to the late Neolithic and Shang periods, peaking at Yinxu in the late Shang. By the early Western Zhou, oracle bone inscriptions had nearly disappeared. Yet the discovery of drilled and scorched oracle bones at Wuwangdun proves that this divinatory practice persisted into the late Warring States period.

The excavation also offers vital clues about the structural layout and political significance of Shouchun, the final capital of Chu. In 241 BCE, King Kaolie relocated the capital to Shouchun to escape the mounting threat posed by the rising Qin state. Though it served as the capital for less than two decades, archaeological evidence—including findings from Wuwangdun and Lisangudui—confirms that Shouchun retained all the essential features of a royal capital.

King Kaolie, once a political hostage in Qin, later married Li Huan, sister of Li Yuan, a Zhao native who served in the Chu court. His life was marked by frequent diplomatic exchanges among rival states. The diversity of artifacts found in his tomb reflects the multicultural fusion of the era: bronze vessels from the Han, Zhao, and Wei states; lacquerware from Qin [whose shape and inscriptions link them to the Qin Eastern Mausoleum, a royal mausoleum of the Qin state during the Warring States period]; bronze items from the Baiyue culture [a collective term for certain ancient ethnic groups settled in China’s southern regions]; artifacts from the Zhongshan Kingdom in the north [an ancient kingdom in the northern part of modern-day Hebei Province]; and nomadic-style bronze belt ornaments from the Eurasian steppe. Together, these items illustrate a rich tapestry of political, economic, and cultural interaction during the twilight years before China’s unification under Qin.

Xu Lianggao is a research fellow from the Institute of Archaeology at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.