Beijing museum to display Haihunhou tomb artifacts

Photo taken on Dec. 13, 2015 shows a turtle-shaped jade stamp unearthed from the tomb in the Haihunhou (Marquis of Haihun) cemetery, East China's Jiangxi province. [Xinhua file photo]

More than 400 artifacts from a 2,000-year-old tomb in East China's Jiangxi province are set to go on display in Beijing's Capital Museum.

The exhibits on show from March 2 to June 2 were selected from 20,000 items unearthed from the tomb of "Haihunhou" (Marquis of Haihun) since the excavation began in 2011, said museum spokesperson Yang Dandan Sunday.

Yang said that the exhibition will prioritize group visitors and allow only 1,000 individual visitors a day in the first week, and increase the daily limit to 5,000 people after that.

This will be the first exhibition of the artifacts outside Jiangxi. Last year, a display featuring 120 items from the tomb attracted 180,000 visitors to the Jiangxi Provincial Museum.

The Haihunhou tomb, which dates back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD), covers roughly 40,000 square meters and contains eight small tombs and a burial site for chariot horses.

The best-preserved tomb of its age found in China, it is thought to belong to Liu He, grandson of Emperor Wu. Liu was given the title "Haihunhou" after he was deposed as emperor after only 27 days. Haihun is the ancient name of a very small kingdom in the north of Jiangxi.