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Yongling Museum
Yong Ling (also known as the Royal Tomb of Wang Jian), is the mausoleum of Wang Jian. Wang Jian founded the Kingdom of Former Shu (907-925) during the period of Five Dynasties, and held his court in Chengdu. Yong Ling was built in 918 after Wang Jian died, excavated in 1942, and announced in 1961 as national major cultural relic protection department. Yong Ling Museum was first open to public in 1979.
Yong Ling mausoleum is the only royal tomb that has been built on the ground, not like other "underground palaces".
There are 24 musicians and dancers carved around the coffin platform including 23 pieces for 20 kinds of instruments, showing the graceful court music and dance in the period of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties.
The Twelve Warriors stand at the west- and eastside of the coffin platform, about to lift it up. This design is so special that nowhere else has the same example. Through the lifelike stone statue of Wang Jian, we could know the appearance of this Emperor over 1000 years ago. But Yong Ling had been invaded by tomb robbers soon after Former Shu Kingdom perished. A large number of grave-goods were stolen; rainwater and mud flowed into the tomb; wooden Gates, wooden coffin have gone away and the archaeologists didn't find the skeleton.
Fortunately, those robbers couldn’t grab everything. Many important treasures have been still preserved: jade belt, jade seal, and stone carvings and so on. These finds are very impressive and offer some most valuable data for the study of the culture of Sichuan area around the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties.
Source: Yongling Museum
Image source: Yongling Museum
Edited by Guo Jiamei
