The Tomb of Wang Jian is located in
the western suburb of Chengdu City in Sichuan Province.
The tomb belonged to Wang Jian, and was
called the Yongling Mausoleum. Wang Jian was born in Wuyang County in Henan
Province. In early years, he was the Faithful Army general, and in 903 Emperor
Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty granted him the title of King Shu. In 907, the Tang
Dynasty (618-907) was destroyed, and Wang Jian ascent to the throne and set up
an independent regime, which was called Former Shu in the Chinese
history.
The site of Wang Jian's tomb had been
misrepresented as the musical instrument platform of the famous litterateur Sima
Xiangru in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD). During the excavation of bomb
shelters on the site in 1942, the Yongling Mausoleum was found, but it had
already been robbed empty. Wang Jian's tomb was first constructed in the
1st year (918) of the Guangtian reign, covering an area of 7
mu (1 mu = 1/15 ha.),
with the earthen heap of 45 meters high. The tomb was divided into the front,
middle and back chambers, with the total length of 23.6 meters.
The
whole grave construction is grand and luxury. The coffin was placed in the
middle chamber, and the stone bed was placed in the back chamber with the stone
statue of Wang Jian on the bed. The unearthed important cultural relics include
mourning brochures, jade belt, jade ring, silver bowls, silver pigs, silver
dish, copper and iron wares, pottery and so on. Three groups of refined stone
carvings were unearthed from the tomb: the first group in the middle chamber
depicts 12 Hercules uplifting and supporting coffin, the second group is 24
pictures about music performances, the third group includes the basso-relievos
in the front side of the imperial bed, and the sitting statue of Wang Jian. The
three groups of stone carvings are extremely precious materials for the research
into the music, dancing and carving art in ancient
China.