3,000-year-old boat coffin to reveal mysterious Chinese Kingdom

Beijing(China)—With abundant cultural relics, a boat-shaped coffin dating back nearly 2,500 years has unearthed recently in southwest China's Sichuan Province, giving expectation to reveal true history of a mysterious kingdom in the area.
Located in a construction site in Feilong Village of Heshan Town in Pujiang County, the coffin was discovered on Dec. 5 by workers when they were conducting mud-digging 1.5 meters deep underground. The Pujiang County was part of the Shu Kingdom, which has kept mysterious because no written record about its history and culture left over in the past 2,500 years.
According to Liu Yumao, an expert of Chengdu Institute of Archaeology, the coffin, belonging to the Warring States period (475 BC - 221 BC), was made of a 7-meter-long rare wood material nanmu with a diameter of 1.6 meters. The wood was cut into halves and hollowed in the middle where laid the dead body and funerary objects. The archaeologists discovered two bronze kettles and "duns" beside the coffin, and a number of broken bronze wares which were believed to be the fragments of the bronze kettles and "duns".
Bronze kettles and "duns" are wine vessels in Warring States period and seldom unearthed before in Sichuan Province, said Liu. "Judging from the appearance, they bear obvious characteristics of the culture of Chu State and probably come from provinces of Hubei and Hunan." These bronze wares were impossible to be possessed by ordinary families, so the tomb probably belonged to a noble family in Shu kingdom, according to Liu. After lifting the coffin cover weighing several tons with the help of a crane, archaeologists found that much mud was deposited in the coffin due to a square hole cut by robbers in the cover,
Hundreds of funerary objects were found in the coffin, including bronze ware, lacquerware, pottery ware and wood ware, which are believed to be the largest in number ever found in China. "The pieces of lacquerware are amazing," said Jiang Cheng, deputy director of Chengdu Institute of Archeology. "Its wood and bamboo kinds are vivid in color and exquisite in figure." Only accessible to nobles with high status, the lacquerware are quite precious in the Warring State period, the value of which could equal to bronze wares, according to Jiang.
Archaeologists also discovered bronze spears, bronze knives, bronze rings and bronze swords inside the coffin. Large amounts of plant seeds and kernels were also unearthed. By putting plant seeds and kernels in the coffin, ancient people hoped the dead could enjoy an affluent life in the other world, said Jiang.
Botanists will conduct research to identify the kinds of the seeds, Jiang said. The historical relics also include a well preserved wood comb, a bridge-shaped coin, a black jade and a coin-sized seal of "Bashutuyu". The coin-sized "Bashutuyu", discovered when the archaeologists were cleaning up the silt under the coffin, was a bronze seal with symbols similar to "King" in seal character on both sides and bud-like veins on the top and bottom, said Jiang.

—Daily Mail, People’s Daily news exchange item