On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the excavation of Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs, the Suzhou Museum and the Hunan Museum jointly presented the exhibition Looking Back Fifty Years. Selected Cultural Collections Unearthed from Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs at the Suzhou Museum from October 18, 2022 to January 29, 2023. The exhibition displays more than 160 cultural relics excavated at Mawangdui, including lacquerwares, woodwares, painted potteries, silk paintings, bamboo slips and silk fabrics, to present a majestic and colorful material and spiritual picture of the Western Han Dynasty.
Three Western Han Dynasty tombs have been successively excavated at Mawangdui, Changsha in China’s Hunan Province since 1972. As an important archaeological discovery in Chinese and even world archaeological history, the tombs have drawn worldwide attention. More than 3,000 rare cultural relics of various categories, ranging from lacquerwares, woodwares, silk, bamboo slips to silk paintings, were unearthed from the tombs, including the rarely seen remains of Xin Zhui that has remained unputrefied for thousand years. To well preserve the remains, the body of Xin Zhui was covered with 22 burial clothes made of splendid and soft silk, revealing marvelous textile technology in the Han Dynasty. Fancy woven silk fabrics and brocades with colorful printings and embroidery patterns of Chinese character “Shou” (Longevity) and clouds fully reflect the elaborate and ingenious workmanship of weavers in Changsha Kingdom. The discovery of Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs not only unveiled the luxurious life of Marquise Dai’s family, but also revealed the tomb owner’s imagination of the heaven and pursuit of eternal life.
Source: Suzhou Museum