Reshui Tombs

水漫三楼

5.0/5

Outstanding

The Reshui Cemetery, located in Xuewei Grassland, Reshui Township, Dulan County, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, is a large-scale early Tang Dynasty cemetery. The cemetery is distributed along both banks of the Chahanwusu River in Reshui Township. The tombs are generally situated on gentle slopes at the foot of mountains and on alluvial fan terraces with deep loess layers, mostly at an altitude of 3400 to 3500 meters. Among them, the Xuewei No. 1 Tomb, the 2018 Xuewei No. 1 Tomb, and the "Sheepfold Tomb" are the three largest tombs, located on the north bank of the Chahanwusu River. These three tombs are connected in an east-west line, roughly symmetrically distributed with the 2018 Xuewei No. 1 Tomb as the center. The Xuewei No. 1 Tomb is on the west side, and the "Sheepfold Tomb" is on the east side, with a distance of approximately 400 meters between them. The Reshui Cemetery is an important cemetery complex dating from the 6th to 8th centuries. The large number of artifacts unearthed there strongly proves that during the Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Qinghai Road was an important trunk line of the Silk Road, and Dulan was a transit point for trade between East and West. The Reshui Tombs are important cemetery remains along the Qinghai section of the Silk Road, serving as crucial evidence of cultural contact, penetration, collision, and exchange between East and West. The archaeological excavation of the Reshui Tombs is significant for understanding the tomb structures and customs of ancient Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and will also provide a clearer understanding of the history of the Qinghai section of the Silk Road. On November 20, 1996, the Reshui Tombs were designated as a fourth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The No. 1 Reshui Tomb is located at an altitude of approximately 3436 meters, nestled at the foot of the Xuewei Mountain to the north and bordered by the Chahanwusu River to the south. The tomb mound is trapezoidal in both plan and elevation, superimposed on a trapezoidal platform formed by the underlying natural mountain. Its northern part connects to the natural rock face, while its southern part protrudes beyond the mountainside. The mound is wider in the south and narrower in the north, measuring approximately 58 meters in length from north to south, 65 meters wide on the south side, 55 meters wide on the north side, and 12 meters high. The lower platform is approximately 160 meters wide on the south side and narrows to about 60 meters at its narrowest point on the north side. The mound rises 35 meters from the top of the upper layer to the southern ground level. The mound is composed of loess, gray sand, gravel, and boulders, with a three-layered stone wall at the base, each layer approximately 1 meter high and 3 meters wide. Above these are layers of rammed earth and stone, as well as layers of rammed sand and earth. Every meter or so from top to bottom, a layer of flat, neatly arranged timber surrounds the mound. 4.5 meters below the top of the mound is a rectangular animal burial pit, surrounded by stones, with several large cypress logs lining the entrance. Buried within are over 70 individual animals, including cattle, sheep, dogs, deer, and horses. The No. 1 Reshui Tomb is located 11.5 meters below the burial mound, at its center, and built on a lower trapezoidal platform, with a cruciform plan. It measures approximately 21 meters east-west and 18.5 meters north-south, and consists of a sealing stone, a screen wall, a wooden cover, a tomb passage, a tomb door, a corridor, an east chamber, a west chamber, a central chamber, and a south chamber, forming a cross shape. The interior walls of each chamber are neatly stacked with stones, interspersed with cypress logs. The screen wall is built on the cypress log beams of the tomb door. The entire tomb chamber is covered with 61 large cypress logs, all charred, ranging in length from 3 to 5 meters. The tomb passage is a rectangular vertical shaft located in the northern part of the tomb and sealed with large stones. To its south is the sealed door, south of which is a passageway connecting to the corridor and opposite the central chamber's door.