China Artifacts

ANCIENT CHINESE ARTIFACTS - Throughout China, you will find wondrous ancient Chinese artifacts of all types. Many of these represent the culture and the history of China through the ages. We start with the 13 Tombs of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Tombs would be the world’s largest collection of royal tombs. The Ming Dynasty was during the years of 1368 – 1644. In the tomb area, which is northwest of Beijing, and convenient to visit when returning from The Great Wall of China, the tombs are built at a cluster of hills. In front of them, is a small plain.

Each of the Ming tombs is at the foot of its own, separate hill. Each of the tombs is linked by the Sacred Way, a road that connected them all. At the south end of this road, you will find a stone archway, and this archway is one of the largest stone archways in the country. Along the avenue you will find 18 pairs of human figures and animals made from stone inside the gate of the Sacred Way. This Sacred Way is a wonderful experience as each of the figures are of a very immense size.

ForThere are many more ancient artifacts of China to look at as well. One of the largest discoveries of treasures and artifacts of ancient China was found in Dunhuang in the Cave of Manuscripts. In this area there are 492 caves, and the area covers 45,000 meters. It has 2415 statues that are painted and five more that are wood - but, that is not nearly all there is to see here. The Mogao Grottoes is filled with wonderful artifacts including paintings, Buddhist scriptures (50,000 of them!), as well as textiles, and many other historical documents. This evidence of the ancient Chinese culture is very impressive.

Another remarkable artifact that was found in China is the Chechen Man. For those that do not know about him, he along with 3 women and a small infant, were mummified and buried in a tomb along the Silken Road. What makes this story so unique though, is that through discovery and research it was found that this man and the others were not Asian or Eastern at all, but rather Caucasians. This is remarkable in that it was not known that people from Western culture had come to this area until almost a thousand years later. The Chechen Man is thought to be over 3,000 years old. Today, he rests, as if he has just fallen asleep. Eyes are closed and his hands lie in his lap. Buried in a heavily salted area, he was preserved remarkably well. Truly an amazing relic of Chinese history.

These are only a few of the ancient Chinese artifacts that are found throughout China. Learning of them is like unraveling a piece of time. On other pages you will find information on many other great Chinese treasures..