΅΅
Travel in China > Protected Sites > Class Άσ > Tombs
Advanced Search
E-Mail This Article Print Friendly Format
Tomb Group of Cixian County of Northern Dynasty

The Tomb Group of Cixian County of the Northern Dynasty Period (386-581) is located in Cixian County, 10 kilometers south of Zhangye City, Hebei Province.

The tomb group covers a large land area. Complete tomb explorations and excavations by the Museum of Hebei Province conducted in 1971 connected the tomb group with nobles of the Northern Dynasty. A total 134 tombs, including several coffin chambers of the tomb of Gao Run, minister of the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577).

The tomb of Gao Run conforms to the typical character of the Northern Dynasty. The brick tomb consists of a tomb passage, rain sewer and coffin chamber. The passage, which is 50 meters long and 2.96 meters wide, is connected by a corridor of 5.62 meters long and 1.86 meters wide. At the end of the passageway is the square coffin chamber, 6.4 meters wide on each side. The coffin is located at the center of the chamber. The four chamber walls and two sides of the passageway were adorned with colored paintings, and the mural on the north wall is well intact. A wall painting 6 meters wide and 2.8 meters tall depicts the owner of the tomb who is about to die. The middle-aged man, who is sitting in a tent with a scarf on head, is surrounded by many female and male servants. The painting vividly recreates the sad moment. In addition, wall paintings of cart and horse outings are also represented in the unique style of the Northern Qi.

Over 300 pottery figures and more than 100 pieces of chinaware were also unearthed. Inscription steles from the Eastern Wei (534-550) and Northern Qi were discovered in the tomb yard, which were famous during the Northern Dynasty.

All rights reserved. Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and a notifying email is sent to us.