Workers fixing stormwater drains in northern China unearthed a beautiful brick tomb said to be over 800 years old. The tomb was erected between 1190 to 1196 A.D. when the state was ruled by the Jurchen Jin or "Great Jin".

They found three bodies in the tomb, wherein two were adults and one was a kid, as well as many ceramic objects. One of these, a writing-inscribed "land coupon," supports the hypothesis that it was from the Jurchen Jin era.

What Is Inside the Tomb?

The Shanxi Institute of Archaeology revealed in a press release that workers in mid-2019 near the village of Dongfengshan in Yunqu County discovered the brick tomb. Archaeologists from the institute then excavated to document the tomb. A full report was then released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in February.


As per Live Science, the newly unearthed tomb consists of a "tomb road" to a staircase that leads to a door down below in the inner chamber, which is about 6.5 feet long, under the elaborate octagonal spire made of stepped bricks.

The entire room is covered with bricks fashioned to resemble carved wood, which was not painted as per the archaeologists. The walls of the tomb are also ornately decorated with lions, sea anemones, flowers, and two figures assumed to represent guardian spirits.

Archaeologists from the Shanxi Institute believe the three remains discovered were those of two people between the ages of 50 and 60 and one kid between the ages of 6 and 8.

Julia Schneider, a professor of Chinese history at University College Cork in Ireland, said that the tomb in Dongfengshan could be a Chinese tomb based on its location in the southern part of the Jurchen state.

It was a region mostly populated by Han Chinese instead of the Jurchen. Although, Schneider also said that the Jurchen dead had been entombed there in Chinese style.

According to the CASS statement, the land coupon meant the structure could be reliably dated, which would give a foundation for dating other Jurchen Jin structures and artifacts discovered in the vicinity.

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Great Jin A.K.A. Jurchen Jin State

Professor Schneider, who is not part of the study, said that the "Great Jin" was the second Chinese state of that name and is also known as the Jurchen Jin State.

Jurchen Jin appeared about the year AD 1115 despite rebellions against the Liao Dynasty that ruled the region before them. It fell to the invading Mongols in 1234, following the insurrection. Nonetheless, it was one of China's key powers throughout the next century.

As per World History, the Jurchen Jin state which means Golden ruled parts of China, Mongolia, ad northern Korea. It is different from the Chinese Jin dynasty that ruled China between 266 to 316 CE.

The Jurchen originated from Manchuria, conquering the neighboring Liao empire of the Khitan and some parts of Song China, ruling the Great Plain of Asia from 1127 CE until it fell to the hands of the Mongols.

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