Yinqueshan (Yinque Mountain) Han Tomb and Bamboo Slips Museum opened to the public in 1989. It is a national historical and cultural preservation institute and the first one of its kind in China. It is characterized by classical palace-like architecture and gardens and covers an area of 10,000 square meters; its buildings cover 2,400 square meters.

The museum’s main building, the Han Tomb and Bamboo Slips Exhibition Hall, displays replicas of two ancient tombs. The tombs date back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and were found in Yinque Mountain in April 1972. 4,942 bamboo slips were unearthed in one tomb and 32 were found in the other.

Bamboo strips were used to record literature and scholarly writings in ancient China and comprised of strips of bamboo bound together to form a roll, which were then painted of carved.

Many ancient strips were found in the tombs, including two Chinese military classics, Sun Zi Bingfa (Sun Tzu: The Art of War) and Su Bin Bingfa (Sun Bin: The Art of War). The discoveries helped Chinese archaeologists confirm parts of Sun Tzu's classic which were already known and, more importantly, added new sections of Sun Bin's works which had been lost for more than 1,400 years.

The site was listed as one of the Top 10 Chinese archaeological discoveries since the founding of New China in 1949.

The 32 bamboo slips in the other ancient tomb are calendars from the time of during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. They are the oldest and best-preserved calendars in China.

The bamboo slips, along with miscellaneous buried objects such as pottery, lacquer, bronze ware, and relief stone sculptures from the Han Dynasty are all displayed in the Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall.

The hall exhibits a silk painting from the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24). It was unearthed on the lien of a coffin in a tomb in Jinque Mountain in May 1976. The painting is somewhat similar to the silk painting found in the Mawangdui Tombs (Han Dynasty) in Changsha city, Hunan province. Both represent the great skill of folk painting in the Han Dynasty.

Many Chinese leaders, including Jiang Zemin, Qiao Shi and Liu Huaqing visited the museum, as did Romanian and American ambassadors to China.

In 2004, the museum expanded its area to 20 hectares, forming a military cultural base and a tourism attraction.

Add: 219, Yimeng Road, Lanshan district, Linyi city, East China’s Shandong province

Bus Route: No 11, K10, K87, K6 and K7, get off at the Yimeng Building Station

Tel: +86-539-8312-649