Han Ximin

TIEZISHAN ancient tombs, which contain more than 600 tombs from the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), are regarded as a time capsule of the city’s history.

Located in Bao’an’s busy Xixiang Subdistrict, the ancient tombs lying on the southern slope of Tiezishan Mountain, were considered by archaeologists as China’s biggest archaeological discovery in 2000.

“Tiezishan Mountain, which lies around 203 meters above sea level, is regarded as having divine powers by ancestors living in the area,” said Sun Min, archaeologist at the district’s cultural heritage management office.

“The tombs, especially those in the Eastern Jin period (317-420), are significant in helping us figure out the city’s history from about 1,700 years ago,” said Sun, who has worked in archaeology for 25 years.

The discovery and excavation of the Tiezishan tombs was scientifically, historically and culturally significant in studying Shenzhen and southern China’s history.

It has enabled archaeologists to study the politics, folk customs, economy and social structure of Shenzhen at that time.

Judging from the excavations, residents in the Bao’an area 1,700 years ago were mainly engaged in agriculture and trade, according to a report by archaeologists in 2000 which appraised the significance of the tombs.

“The cluster of tombs, around 600 in total, built with bricks, stones, tiles, and dating back to the Han to Qing dynasties, is one of the most spectacular in the country, in terms of its scale and timespan,” said Sun.

Excavation of the tombs started in 2000 when the government decided to build a flyover across the 107 National Highway.

“The discoveries in 2000 were only the tip of an iceberg. We know there are still many tombs lying under those litchi trees, but we cannot predict how many there are,” said Sun, pointing to the side of the excavation site, behind the Huabao animal feed factory.

“But we are sure the site represents a time capsuleof Shenzhen’s history, and still contains a lot of historical and cultural mysteries waiting for us to decode,” said Sun.

The tombs were first found when Pan Jinrong, a businessman, started his animal feed plant in 1983.

“I bought a land plot from the villages on the south and east slopes of the Tiezi Mountain to build my factory, but when we started construction, we found the tombs. We reported the find to the government and the archaeologists came,” Pan was quoted as saying in a Shenzhen Economic Daily report.

“In 2000, large-scale excavation began when the government planned to construct a flyover in the area, and archaeologists unearthed 248 tombs and more than 400 porcelain, bronze iron and jade utensils in an area of 2,300 square meters, dating back to the Eastern Jin through Qing dynasties.

“We were very lucky to find some bricks on which reign dates were marked, showing the years when an emperor was on the throne. We found the bricks of the second and fourth years of the reign of Emperor Jinyuan (276-322), and a brick showing the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Hanling (156-189) in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

“Most of the unearthed utensils have been removed and are kept at Shenzhen Museum, and the excavation site is protected and guarded,” said Sun, who thinks the protection is insufficient for such a large cluster of tombs, and hopes a museum can be established in the area.

According to Sun, since the excavation of the tombs in 2000, many deputies to the city’s people congress and local CPPCC members have called for the government to establish a museum to protect the site by relocating the feed factory.

But according to Liu Yaodong, director of the district cultural heritage management office, the process is slow because relocation of the factory will cost around 200 million yuan (US$25.65 million).

“The cultural heritage office appropriated around 830,000 yuan in 2004 and 2006 to protect the site, but that was not enough for such a precious heritage site. Money and land use are the two bottlenecks to progress in giving it greater protection.”

“Because the excavation site is on factory-owned land, we need the factory’s approval before setting up a museum there,” according to Liu.