马王堆汉墓英文讲解词

The exhibition of cultural relics from Mawangdui

Good morning/afternoon everyone. Welcome to the exhibition of the Han dynasty at Mawangdui in Changsha.

There are three tombs at Mawangdui. They were excavated from 1972 to 1974; it marks one of the major archaeological discoveries in the twentieth century. Over 3000 cultural relics and a well-preserved female corpse were unearthed, they attracting wide attention both at home and abroad.

First of all, let’s have a look at the location of Mawangdui. Mawangdui is located in the eastern of Changsha, about 4 kilometers to the center of Changsha. And this is the model of tomb pits. It is copied on the order of the excavation. But who are the owners of the tombs? Xinzhui, the female corpse is the owner of Tomb No.1, Xinzhui’s husband Licang is the owner of Tomb No.2, he is the chancellor of the prince of Changsha State, and their son is the owner of Tomb No.3.

Now, we can turn back to see the scene of the Han tombs at Mawangdui. The two mounds are the Tombs No.1 and No.2. They are linked from east to west in the shape of saddle, thus Mawangdui has also been called “Ma an dui”. (Saddle mound)

This is the illustration of the interruption between Tombs No.1 and No.3. The vertical line shows the sealing soil of Tomb No.3, and the parallel line shows the sealing soil of Tomb No.1. You can see, that of Tomb No.1 covered the sealing soil of Tomb No.3. This should serve as evidence that the burial date of Tomb No.1 was later than that of Tomb No.3.

This is a photograph taken on the spot during excavation. Over 1000 cultural relics, such as lacquer wares, textiles, painting on silks and a well-preserved female corpse were unearthed. This is the most well preserved tomb in the three tombs. Why the tomb can be preserved so well? Because the way of the burial was very special. At the bottom of the coffin, there were 15cm deep of white filling clay. The white filling clay is a kind of kaolin clay with impurities. It is an excellent sealant，has high plasticity and low permeability. At the top of the coffin and around the coffin, there were over 5000kg (40cm deep) charcoal. It can stop the moisture into the coffin.

The picture here shows excavation works in progress at Tomb No.2. This tomb had been robbed several times. Only around 200 cultural relics were left behind. This is a bamboo basket unearthed.

Just now we know the burial date of Tomb No.3 was earlier than that of Tomb No.1. But what was the burial date of the Tomb No.3? We had this wooden tablet unearthed with the burial date on it.

And this is a wooden spade; it was a tool for building the tomb.

We all know, Mawangdui is the family graveyard of the Marquis of Dai of the Western Han dynasty. Let’s walk into the family of the Marqui s of Dai and to know some other things about them.

There are three seals here unearthed from Tomb No.2. From the left to the right, the first is a bronze seal with the legend “Seal of the Marquis of Dai”, the second is a jade seal with the legend “Li Cang”, and the third is a bronze seal with the legend “Prime minister of Changsha State”. These seals should serve as evidence of Li Cang’s identity. This is a gold inlaid bronze crossbow trigger. It is one part of crossbow. It might have been used by Li Cang in the Peasant Revolution and the wars between the Chu and the Han.

The owner of Tomb No.1 is Xinzhui. From this tomb, there also had a seal with the “Qie Xinzhui” unearthed. “Qie” was a self-depreciatory term that a woman in ancient times used to refer to herself when speaking to her husband. Because of this seal, we know that Li Cang’s wife named Xinzhui. Before Xinzhui’s death, she liked dressing and making up very much. All these cosmetics