Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State

Leigudun is located in a hilly area 2km northwest from Suizhou City, a famous historical and cultural city in China. Leigudun is of lofty terrain, facing Jueshui River on the east and Yunshui River on the south. The area was the cemetery of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State in the Warring States period, occupying an area of 3.6 square kilometers and consisting of 8 tomb areas. Leigudun Ancient Tombs is one of the third batch of national key cultural relic protection units. The protection scope or the construction control zone has an area of 12 square kilometers.

The Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State was discovered in 1978. Marquis Yi of the Zeng State was the king of the Zeng State in early Warning States period. The Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State, located in the northeast of Leigudun Ancient Tombs, near the mountain and by the river, occupies a commanding position and is the largest tomb among the unearthed in Leigudun Ancient Tombs. The Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State is at the hill with red sandstone. The tomb pit is a polygon with 21m long from east to west and 16.5m wide from south to north, so the total area is 220 square meters. The top of the coffin chamber was covered with one layer of irregular stone plates and then yellow-cinnamon soil and green paste mud to be compacted layer by layer and finally covered with wood charcoals that weigh over 60,000 kilograms. The distance from the tomb bottom to the tomb mouth is 13 meters. The tomb chamber was built with 171 huge catalpas strips into four chambers: east chamber, middle chamber, west chamber and north chamber. The coffin chambers are connected between each other with a door opening at the bottom. According to human bone identification, Marquis Yi of the Zeng State was male, 1.62 meters high, around 45 years old. The Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State has over 15,000 precious cultural relics, among which 9 pieces (sets) are national treasures. The Chime of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State with 65 bronze bells is especially precious and still can be used to perform a variety of music. It is a crowning achievement of Chinese ancient music development and a wonder of the world. Therefore, the Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State is honored as the “underground musical hall” and “the underground palace full with treasures”. It is a major archaeological discovery in China in the 20th century.

After the Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State was unearthed, its coffin chamber was well protected and a museum was built on the site. Now the museum is open to the outside world as the Patriotism Education Base. The Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State is the main carrier for Suizhou City to polish the cultural name card of chime and to build a national archaeological park in Leigudun. The Tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State has been built for almost 30 years and has been well publicizing Suizhou and carrying forward the glorious Chinese civilization.