See Haihunhou Again
A year later, I met Haihun Hou again.
Wei Zifu had a miserable end, while Lady Li lived a glorious life, but their descendants had the opposite lives.
Liu Xun, the great-grandson of Wei Zifu, was imprisoned due to the "Witchcraft Incident" when he was 5 months old and spent the first 5 years of his life in prison. However, he completed a great counterattack from a prisoner to a commoner, and then to an emperor, and even ushered in the most prosperous period of the Western Han Dynasty. During his reign, the economy, territory, and international influence all surpassed those of his great-grandfather Emperor Wu of Han.
Liu He, the grandson of Lady Li, inherited the throne of King Changyi from his father at the age of 5. He should have lived a life of ease and comfort, but he experienced a life of ups and downs from king to emperor, from emperor to commoner, and from commoner to marquis.
In 2011, the tomb of Marquis Haihun finally saw the light of day after lying dormant for more than 2,000 years. It is currently the largest, best preserved and most richly endowed Han Dynasty marquisate settlement site.
Its owner, Liu He, Marquis of Haihun, was the grandson of Emperor Wu of Han and Lady Li. Liu He inherited the throne of King Changyi from his father at the age of 5, and could have lived a life of ease and comfort. However, he experienced the ups and downs of life from king to emperor, from emperor to commoner, and from commoner to marquis.
In addition to a large number of exquisitely crafted gold and silver wares, jade wares, and lacquered wooden wares, the tomb of Marquis Haihun also unearthed a jade seal used by Liu He himself, more than 5,000 bamboo slips recording a large number of precious texts, and the "Confucius Lacquer Clothes Mirror" (Figure 9), which has the earliest portrait of Confucius discovered to date. These are of great significance for the study of related historical and cultural issues.
The two major exhibition areas of "Golden Haihun - History and Culture Exhibition of Haihun Kingdom in the Han Dynasty" and "Bookish Haihun - Haihun Bamboo Slips Exhibition" in the Han Dynasty Haihun Kingdom Ruins Museum in Nanchang not only cover a large number of exquisite cultural relics that have been unearthed, but also ingeniously restore the life scenes of the Han Dynasty. Walking through them is immersive, as if you have traveled through time and space to the Haihun Kingdom of that year, and admire the rare treasures collected by Haihun Hou Liu He.
Figure 1 is a wooden slip of memorials from the wife of the Marquis of Haihun. These are memorials written by the wife of the Marquis of Haihun to the Empress Dowager. These memorials are generally related to matters such as "court tribute", "autumn request" and "cold money".
Figure 2 "Liu He Jade Seal" is the most direct and powerful evidence to prove that the tomb owner is Liu He. When the coffin was opened, the tomb owner found this seal at the waist of the remains. The seal button was a toad-shaped seal made of jade.
Figure 3 Gold cakes. As many as 1,000 gold cakes were unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Haihun.
There are 187 pieces (in two boxes in the northern part of the west chamber of the main coffin chamber), 48 horseshoe gold pieces, 25 unicorn gold pieces, and 20 gold plates, totaling 280 pieces of gold artifacts, with a total weight of 115 kilograms. This is the most complete and most concentrated discovery in the history of Han tomb archaeology.
Figure 4 shows Wuzhu coins. The Wuzhu coins in the tomb of Marquis Haihun can be described as "piled up like a mountain". There are about 3 million Wuzhu coins, weighing more than 10 tons. According to the measurement system at that time, it is equivalent to about 50 kilograms of gold. It is worth mentioning that when counting the Wuzhu coins, another major discovery was made, namely the discovery of the currency measurement method of "one thousand coins for one string". Before this, it was generally believed that the measurement method of "one thousand wen for one guan" appeared after the Tang and Song dynasties.
Figure 6 is a bronze tiger toy of Liu He’s eldest son Liu Chongguo, and Figure 7 is a bronze Danglu inlaid with gold and silver.
Figure 9 shows the "Confucius Lacquer Mirror" which has the earliest portrait of Confucius discovered so far.