Xuzhou | Gushan Han Tombs.

The entire Gushan Scenic Area includes three main attractions: Gushan Han Tombs, Dianshi Garden, and the Imperial Edict Museum. The Gushan Scenic Area is centered around the Gushan Han Tombs. The Gushan Han Tombs are the joint tombs of Liu Zhu, the sixth generation of the Chu King of the Western Han Dynasty, and his wife. Liu Zhu may not be well known to the public, but his great-grandfather, Chu Yuan Wang Liu Jiao, was the brother of Han Gaozu Liu Bang. In 129 BC, his father Liu Dao died, and Liu Zhu succeeded him, reigning for twelve years. The joint tomb is built on a mountain, carved out of stone, and consists of two tomb passages, two corridors, and 15 tomb chambers, almost occupying the entire mountain. The Gushan Han Tombs are large in scale, with majestic and ingenious architecture, reflecting the rough and bold architectural style of the Han Dynasty. Before entering the corridor from the entrance of the exhibition hall, you will see a "sealing stone", which is used to block the corridor and protect the tomb chamber. This sealing stone is called "the hundredth stone", and it is the only stone with a long inscription among all the sealing stones. "The hundredth stone" was Liu Zhu's dying order, and he used the sealing stone to engrave a message to future generations. The general meaning of the inscription is - I am a generation of Chu King "Ke", I swear to heaven, there are no gold, silver and jade in the tomb, the wise and great men of later generations or those who want to find the tomb, there is no treasure here, give up digging my tomb! Isn't this "there is no silver here"? Interestingly, the tomb robbers did not enter the main tomb from this tomb passage, but another one. Walking to the corridor, you will find a straight laser beam running through the entire corridor. This is to allow us to intuitively observe the manufacturing accuracy of the tomb project. It is said that if the two corridors of the Gushan Han Tombs are extended, they will intersect in Xi'an more than 800 kilometers away. It is hard to imagine how the ancients dug such a high-precision corridor without modern surveying instruments. Let's take a look at the current coffin room of the Chu King. This is naturally the place where the Chu King's coffin is stored. Due to the long time and natural loss and damage by tomb robbers, the coffin we see is a replica. It is worth mentioning that there is a "mystery of cliff painting" here. On the north wall of the Chu King's coffin room, a life-size shadow is clearly displayed, wearing Hanfu, making a gesture of greeting. It is said that this shadow gradually formed after the tomb chamber was officially opened. Some people think it was caused by long-term water seepage, but there is no trace of water seepage outside the shadow. Perhaps it is really the Chu King's greeting, which allows us humans in later generations to better understand the history of the Han Dynasty at that time.