Ideal Leisure Trip to Tomb of Wang Jian

It was deserved to visit this atypical tomb which was located in the northwestern suburbs of Chengdu city. When I was on my business to this city, I arranged a Sunday to visit it with my workmates. We visited the tomb in the company of the local bilingual tour guide, she told us all details vivid and interesting and I knew more about the history of this city.

It covered an area of 50mu, was a bit smaller than Beijing Ming Tomb and was believed that this tomb was built during Five Dynasty and Ten States Period, at that time, Wang Jian was an emperor of ancient Shu State, the reign lasted 12 years and he was buried in this tomb after his death. His legendary life started as a rascal when he was young, later he joined the army, became a troop officer, and then he presided over emperor’s guards, years later, he took office as a governor of Li Zhou. Step by step, he became the king and ruled Shu state. He did great efforts to local people and the state, cut the heavy tax and did campaigns to encourage famers to speed up the development of agriculture, and the Shu State kept thriving and prosperities for years.

Once upon a time, this tomb named Yongling Mausoleum in history. The original tomb had been destroyed by various disasters, and the remaining part was discovered until War of Resistance against Japan, many archeologists excavated this tomb in 1942. In 1970s, the tomb was opened to its visitors.



Because Chengdu was embraced by hills and it was a low terrace, thus caused flooded easily, hence this tomb was built above the ground. The chamber was braced by 14 huge double vaults and red sandstone walls. It comprised three chambers, the fore chamber, the center and the inner chamber. The fore chamber acted as a corridor and led to the center chamber where displayed an ornamental coffin platform, there were 12 carved men and reliefs of 24 musicians and dancers, they were striking and impressive. 20 musical instruments were in different shapes. The coffin platform was made of red sandstone, and there was a jade plate on it, on the plate, there was a three-tiered wooden terrace. The coffin was placed on the top. The carved musical instruments such as: Pipa, Zheng Drum and He Drum, Bili, Xiao, Shu Konghou etc. The inner part includes a vividly statue of Wang Jian, distinctive high nose bridge and sunken eyes, he was in a relaxed gesture, wore a head kerchief and informal clothes, on the top of the third vault, there were still some not in integrity paintings.

The tomb was highly valued both in culture as well as in artistic field, and it was regarded as precious historical treasures and long lasted for centuries. Particularly, these rare relics provided valuable information for archeologists and those scholars who study history. It attracted visitors from all walks of life.