"Changsha Prime Minister" bronze seal, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Li Cang Tomb,  Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

The official seal of the tomb owner. Gilt, turtle button, seal engraved with Yin script "Prime Minister of Changsha". According to "Historical Records", the prime minister's seal of the vassal states in the early Han Dynasty was made of gold. This is a gilt copper seal, which is obviously not the original seal. "Changsha" is the name of the province of the Changsha Kingdom in the early Han Dynasty. The prime minister of the vassal states was second only to the vassal kings in the government agencies. He not only commanded the civil and military officials in the small court, but also controlled the kingdom's army. He was actually the highest administrator of the kingdom.

Bronze"Seal of Marquis Bian", Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Li Cang Tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

The seal of the tomb owner. Gilt, turtle button, seal engraved with Yin script "Seal of the Marquis of Pi". According to the "Book of Han" records, the princes of the early Han Dynasty had "gold seals and purple ribbons", that is, the "seal of Biaohou" should be gold seals, and this seal is a gilt bronze seal with random inscriptions. It was obviously made for burial. A visible weapon rather than a practical item. The fiefdom of Bianhou was in Bian County (about between present-day Guangshan County and Luoshan County in Henan Province).

Silk painting "Carriage and Horse Guards of Ceremony", Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Excavated from Li Xi's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

Silk paintings hanging on the west wall of the coffin chamber. The whole painting has a horizontal composition, divided into four arrays according to different contents: two rows of guards are painted on the upper left, surrounded by the tall tomb owner with a long crown on his head and a long sword on his waist, who is slowly walking forward; Square formation and drumming and bell ringing scenes; the upper right is a neat car formation; the lower right is 14 columns of cavalry. All the characters, vehicles and riders on the silk painting are facing the tomb owner, as if they are holding a grand ceremony, which may be a large-scale event such as military sacrifice or review. This silk painting is one of the earliest realistic paintings seen in China.

Painted Crossbow, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Excavated from Li Xi's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

Excavated from Li Xi's tomb. Wooden utensils. The crossbow is a long-range weapon. The length of crossbows before the Qin Dynasty was only about 52 centimeters. This crossbow is greatly lengthened and has a longer range. Crossbows of the Han Dynasty had advanced aiming devices, and their firing range was generally between 120 and 200 steps, which is approximately 167 to 278 meters. In the Han Dynasty, both the crossbow and the waist-drawn crossbow were common.

"Crown Man" male figurine, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Xin Zhui's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.  

He is tall, wearing a long crown and a silk robe, with the word "Crown Man" engraved on the soles of his shoes. "Guan Ren" refers to "Guan Ren", and is the leader of the slaves in Bianhou's family.

Dressed female maid figurine, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Xin Zhui's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.  

She should be Mrs. Bianhou's personal maid, and her clothes are torn. Because of its high status, it is very particular about production and packaging. The wooden figurines are dressed in embroidered robes with brocade trimmings, with ink-painted eyebrows and red-painted lips. They have a beautiful face, a quiet demeanor, a slender figure, well-proportioned, and meticulous carvings.

Cloud-dragon lacquer screen, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Xin Zhui's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

In  Xin Zhui's tomb, there are indoor furnishings.

Lyre Qin, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Li Xi's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

Play an instrument, either as an accompaniment or as a soloist. This Qin is the first Han Qin specimen discovered in China, and it is also the first time people have seen the actual "half-box" Qin. It is a Chu-style Qin popular in the south. There are seven string marks on the surface of the instrument, and the most severely worn parts are at the strings, indicating that this is a practical instrument that the tomb owner played for a long time during his lifetime.

Twenty-five-stringed harp, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Xin Zhui's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

 It was wrapped in silk clothes when it was unearthed. It is composed of a panel and a base plate and is hollow. There are movable tuning posts under the strings and resonance windows at both ends of the bottom. This zither is one of the most complete ancient zithers from the Qin and Han Dynasties discovered so far. It provides very valuable material for studying the history of ancient music, the methods of playing musical instruments in the Han Dynasty, and the development level of music culture in the Han Dynasty.

Reed mouth organ Yu, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Xin Zhui's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

Yu is a wind instrument with a wide range of sounds. The idiom "indiscriminate yu fills up the number" illustrates the popularity of yu at that time. Although the Yu tube is well preserved, there is no ventilation between the Yu tube and the mouthpiece, and there are no air holes, air grooves and reeds to control the pitch. It is a funerary model. A yu was also unearthed from the Lixi Tomb. Although the appearance is broken, the internal structure is complete. It is the earliest practical instrument discovered so far, which reflects that the tomb owner loved to play the yu for fun during his lifetime.

Lacquer Liubo chess set, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Li Xi's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

Gambling is an elegant intellectually competitive activity that has been popular since the pre-Qin Dynasty and was especially popular in the Han Dynasty. It was loved by officials from the emperor to common people. This set of gambling equipment includes 1 game board, six black and six white, a total of 12 large chess pieces, 20 small chess pieces, 42 counters, a sharpener, a scraper and a dice each, and is packed in a special lacquer box. The dice has a total of 18 sides, numbered one to sixteen.

Dinnerware on a lacquer tray with cloud design, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Unearthed from Xin Zhui’s tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum. 

Five small lacquer dishes containing food, 2 lacquer zhi and 1 eared cup were arranged on the lacquer tray at the time of unearthing. There was also a skewer used for holding pieces of meatand one pair of bamboo chopsticks, making it convenient to drink wine and eat food. It suggests that nobles ate their meals on individual tray in the Han Dynasty. A separate tray was placed in front of each person, with a set of dinnerware.

Painted two-tiered lacquer toiletry case with nine small boxes, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Height 20.8cm; diameter at mouth: 35.2cm. Unearthed from Xin Zhui’s Tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

The toiletry case contained the toiletry items, cosmetics and personal items of the tomb owner during her lifetime. In ancient time, both men and women had long hairs and hence all needed the costmetic box. It was wrapped in gauze with “Xin Qi embroidery” when unearthed. The body of the case is divided into top and bottom tiers. The upper tier contained three pairs of mitts, a soft silk scarf, a cord and a silk mirror bag with “longevity embroidery.” There are nine small boxes in the case, which contain makeup, rouge, a silk powder puff, two combs ( shu and bi), a hairpiece and a pack of needles. The exterior of the box is decorated with a painted cloud design.

Printed and painted gauze, Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Length: 59cm, width: 40cm. Unearthed from Xin Zhui’s tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

Clothing material. The design on it is a morphing pattern with vines, consisting of branches, tendrils, buds, flowers and leaves. Slightly lozenge -shaped in outline, the patterns are intricately arranged and connected with each other. The curving tendrils are printed on the fabric while the buds, flowers and leaves are painted. This is the earliest textile ever discovered that combines printing and painting methods, and is a masterpiece of printed and painted fabric from ancient China. Three silk-floss padded garments made from printed and painted gauze were unearthed from the same tomb. This gorgeous, fashionable material was evidently favored by female noblewomen of the time.

Embroidered cloud-riding pattern on qi silk with paired bird lozenge pattern, Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC).Length: 39cm, width: 34cm Unearthed from Xin Zhui's tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

Clothing material. Nearly 50 pieces of embroidered clothing were unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs. Needles and thread were used in place of brushes and ink to embroider the pattern, which had been outlined in ink. “Chain stitch”, “needle stitch” and other embroidery techniques were used. A chain stitch technique was used to portray phoenixes partially obscured by rolling clouds in three colors of threads: vermilion, reddish brown and olive green. The meaning here is “phoenixes riding on clouds”, so it is referred to as “Cloud-riding embroidery” in the tomb inventory of burial objects.

Plain unlined gauze gown, Early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Length: 128cm, overall length of sleeves: 190cm, weight: 49g. Unearthed from Xin Zhui’s tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

The gauze gown with a straight lapel has an opening at the right side. It weighs 49 grams. This fabric, which is as thin as a cicada’s wing, was described by the people of the Han Dynasty as “light as clouds and mist”. Most scholars think this translucent piece of clothing may have been worn on the outside of fancy clothing to enhance its beauty, giving it a gorgeous dreamlike quality. Others believe it was worn as underwear. This piece of clothing, the earliest, thinnest and lightest discovered to date, showcases Western Han weaving technology at its peak, and represents the highest standards in silkworm cultivation, harvesting and weaving techniques in the early Han Dynasty.

Floss silk padded robe with lozenge pattern on vermilion silk robe, Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Length: 140cm, overall length of the sleeves: 245cm, width at waist: 52cm. Unearthed from Xin Zhui’s tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

The robe with a cross-collar and a diagonal lapel was made of vermilion lozenge-patterned luo silk. It has an opening at the right side. With the lining and edges made of plain juan silk, the robewas padded with silk floss. Verminlion is a very bright color. The red dye mainly contains mercuric sulphide which isalso called cinnabar. Finely and evenly dyed, the gauze’s pores appear very clear without being blocked. It reflects a rather high level in making dyes, such as mercuric sulphide, and in dyeing techniques. Such kind of silk robes were presumably favored by Xin Zhui and it was also the fashionable clothes of the early Han Dyansty. Most of the clothes unearthed from Xin Zhui’s tomb were in very bright and gorgeous colors, with mysterious and romantic patterns weaved, printed or painted.

Book copied on silk, Divination Based on the Observation of Five Planets, Western Han Dynasty (206 BC -163 BC). Length 221cm, width 49cm. Unearthed from Li Xi's Tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

This is the world's oldest existing work of astronomy, and is made up of two parts, the divination text and the positional tables. The positional tables record the positions of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn for 70 years, from the first year of the reign of Qin Shihuang (BC246), to the third year of the reign of Emperor Wen of Han (BC177). Venus' synodic period was measured at 584.4 days, just 0.48 days more than today's measurement of 583.92 days. Saturn's synodic period was measured at 377 days, just 1.09 days less than today's measurement, and its sidereal period was measured at 30 years, 0.54 years more than today's measurement of 29.46 years. This information reflects the advanced astronomical achievements made at the time in China.

Book copied on silk, Divination by Astrological and Meteorological Phenomena, Early Western Han Dynasty (206-163 BC). Length: 58.5cm, width: 31cm. Unearthed from Li Xi’s tomb, Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

This manuscript concerns divination through the interpretation of astrological and meteorological phenomena. Around 250 images of various celestial phenomena, including clouds, gases, stars and comets were painted in red and black in this silk book, accompanied by short explanatory texts. The 29 pictures of comets have the highest scientific value. A name was given to each comet, which was depicted with a head and a tail. Except for the very last one, they are all facing downwards, with their tails pointing up, in line with the scientific principle that a comet’s tail always points away from the Sun. This is adequate evidence that China had made remarkable achievements in comet observation more than 2,000 years ago.

T-shaped painting on silk from Xin Zhui’s tomb, Early Western Han dynasty (206-163 BC). Length 205cm, width at top 92cm, width at bottom 47.7cm. Unearthed in 1972 from Tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui, Changsha city, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

The T-shaped silk painting is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. It was then laid on the innermost coffin at the burial. It was composed of three layers of fine silk, the top of which was supported by a bamboo rod wrapped with silk ribbons. The silk painting could be raised up. The middle and the four bottom corners are decorated with tassels made of hemp in dark green color. This was a banner carried at the front in the funeral procession, and it was then laid on the innermost coffin at the burial. With the ink drawing and heavy-coloured drawing techniques, the painting can be divided into the heavenly world, the human world and the underworld from the top to the bottom. In the part of the heavenly world are the sun with its crow, the moon with its toad and rabbit.

Coffin with painted designs on black lacquer coating, Early Western Han dynasty (206-163 BC). Length 256cm, width 118cm, height 114cm. Unearthed from Xin Zhui’s tomb at Mawangdui, Changsha city, Hunan province. © Hunan Provincial Museum.

Second outermost coffin. The inside of the coffin is painted in vermilion, and the outside has a black lacquer background painted with bold yet graceful cloud patterns. More than 110 designs of fantastical creatures are interspersed among the clouds, such as “fairy subduing leopard”, “sprite handling snake”, “giant bird carrying fish in beak” and “fairy strumming the guqin.” These fanciful designs are smoothly executed in a vivid style. The sprites, birds and animals all take different forms, and are painted in an incredibly lifelike way, with myriad variations, and have a strong romantic feel to them, highlighting the fertile imagination and well-honed skills of the artisans.