Hunan Sheng Bowuguan (Hunan Provincial Museum)
Dongfeng Lu 50
About
Between 1972 and 1974, the family plot of the chancellor to the prince of Changsha (which was in the Chu Kingdom) was excavated at Mawang Dui in the eastern suburbs of Changsha. Of the three tombs -- one each for the husband, wife, and son -- only wife Xin Zhui's tomb was left undisturbed. Inside her tomb and her son's tomb (the chancellor's was looted) were thousands of funeral objects and hitherto lost classics copied on silk. Among them are the earliest known text of the Zhou Book of Changes and two important versions of the Daode Jing (The Laozi). But the bulk of the manuscripts concern the quest for immortality through meditation, exercises, sexual practices, drugs, and alchemy. These rare records attesting to one family's search for the Dao are invaluable for what they reveal about the actual practice of religion in the early Han dynasty. Perhaps the most astonishing object discovered in the tombs was the well-preserved corpse of Xin Zhui herself -- who, after all, did achieve immortality of a kind. At the time of her death, she was 50 years old, stood 1.5m (5 ft.) tall, and weighed 75 pounds. She suffered from a variety of illnesses and ailments that included tuberculosis, hardening of the arteries, and lead poisoning; and her death was probably from a heart attack induced by an acute episode of gallstones. Reading her litany of ailments and looking at the intact corpse, it would appear that 50 years of life took a far greater toll on her body than did 2,100 years of death. The new wing, completed in 2005, hosts the temporary exhibitions. English guides are now available if you book 1 day in advance; call tel. 0731/451-5566.
