The Xiong Family Tomb National Archaeological Site Park

The Xiong Family Tomb National Archaeological Site Park
熊家冢考古遗址公园

Address: Zhangyang village, Chuandian town, Jingzhou city, Hubei province
Hours: 9 am - 5:30 pm

The Xiong Family Tomb is 26 kilometers south of Jinan city, the capital of the ancient State of Chu (?-223 BC). It is an imposing tomb complex for an aristocrat of the Chu State that boasts the grandest scale, the most complete and elegant of structures as well as the richest of archaeological remains from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC), consisting of the main tomb and its subordinate tombs, chariots pits, sacrificial tombs and pits.

To the west and south of the main tomb, a group of densely placed sacrificial pits, square and round in shape, were discovered with a large quantity of ruins of ground buildings at around the same time. In addition, nearly 2,300 pieces (sets) of cultural relics were unearthed during the archaeological excavation between 2005 and 2011, including wares made of jade, agate, crystal, glass, bronze, iron, ceramics, bones, stone and bamboo.

Yet the identity of the occupant of the main tomb from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty has not been identified. The reason the ruins are named after the Xiong Family is because of other discoveries dating to more recent historical times found to the east of the main tomb. Two land ownership certificates unearthed from the two Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) tombs prove that the occupants of these tombs were members of the Xiong family who settled there some 2,000 years later, which also confirms the local references to the site as the Xiong Family Tomb.

Built upon the Xiong Family Tomb, the site is an integral component of the Jinan City National Archaeological Site Park. It covers an area of 47.2 hectares, including an exhibition hall of horse and chariot pits in large span steel structures over 10,000 square meters.