Emily Chan
On May 22, 1968, a team of Chinese soldiers was blasting rock near the top of Lingshan Mountain in Hebei province when they discovered the 2,000-year-old tomb of Liu Sheng, a king of the Western Han dynasty, and his wife, Dou Wan. They both died in the second century B.C.E.
The soldiers had been clearing space for the construction of an air-raid shelter as part of a series of national defense projects that China began during the Cultural Revolution.
The tombs were elaborate and resembled grand underground palaces. Since they were isolated, they had remained undisturbed and safe from looters. More than 10,000 cultural relics, including weapons, incense burners, and drinking vessels, were preserved in the tombs.
But the most exciting artifacts were two jade burial suits. These objects were described in classic Chinese literature; however, no one had ever seen them in real life before. Some people weren’t sure they even existed.
Clearly, the nobles of the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) preferred to be buried in luxurious attire. The jade burial suits were certainly lavish enough.
They were made entirely of jade pieces stitched together with gold, silver, or copper threads. These suits symbolized high status and served as a type of armor to protect the deceased in the afterlife.
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, “the ensemble of jades protected the body and the soul in their entirety, enabling the deceased to attain immortality.”
Ancient Chinese believed that jade could preserve the body. If jade is placed in all bodily orifices, the dead would be immortal.
Liu’s jade suit consisted of 2,498 jade pieces and 1,100 grams of gold thread, while his wife’s had 2,160 jade pieces and 700 grams of gold thread. It is estimated that Liu’s suit would’ve taken 10 years to create.
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