No.1 Ancient Tomb of Drumbeating Mound

Edited by He Sai ＆ Bai Ning

Photos by Zhang Qijun

On the last evening of February,1978,pure tranquility prevailed along the bank of East Lake in Wuhan City.Tan Weisi,who had just returned from the evacuation site of the No.1 Tianxing Taoist Abbey Tomb of the Chu State at Jiangling (a famous historical city in Hubei Province,which was renamed Jingzhou in 1995),was busy drafting his report on the result of the evacuation event,totally immersed in his work.He was then the deputy curator of Hubei Provincial Museum and had been heading the archaeological team for over twenty years.

“In life,you always encounter lots of unimaginable coincidences,” Tan Weisi said.“The tomb at Suizhou and those at Jiangling shared a similarity in time and cause,and can it again be another big harvest?”

A long distance call

“Mr.Tan,there is a long distance call for you from Xiangyang.Hurry up!” someone was shouting from outside.

The call came from Wang Shaoquan,a person in charge in Xiangyang Prefectural Museum,before his departure to Suixian County.He informed Tan Weisi in his call that brown earth was discovered and some rock slates were found in the earth layers when the army at the Drumbeating Mound was trying to expand their workshop,and below them he believed there was a large-scaled ancient tomb.He asked Tan Weisi to go with his team and make further confirmation.

Tan Weisi asked Wang Shaoquan to immediately take someone to Suixian County to find out the truth and report back as soon as possible,and at the same time passed the word to the Suixian County Government and the army to stop any explosions and to protect the site,and he would be there soon afterward.

On March 5,Wang Shaoquan reached the Drum-beating Mound of Suixian County together with cultural official Liu Bin and two drillers,and the ancient tomb was unquestionably confirmed after on-site prospecting.He wrote a letter that night and rushed back to Xiangyang Prefectural Museum the following day to report.On March 10 of the same month,Wang Shaoquan,who just got off the train,hurried to the Hubei Provincial Museum and made a detailed report to Tan Weisi,ascertaining that it was very likely to be a large-scale ancient tomb.

Tan Weisi was overjoyed.Taking Wang Shaoquan by the hands,he kept saying “Wonderful,wonderful.” He exclaimed,“This will be a major battle,and we will have to do a good job there.”

After an immediate discussion with the leaders of the provincial museum,a decision was made that Tan Weisi would go to Suixian County with his team in order to uncover the ancient tomb.

On the morning of March 19,1978,Tan Weisi arrived in Suixian County with Wang Zhengming and Chen Xiling,archaeological technicians from Hubei Province and converged with Wang Shaoquan from Xiangyang Prefectural Museum,drilling technicians Li Zucai and Zeng Xianmin,Liu Bin from Xiangyang Prefectural Cultural Center and Wang Shizhen from Suixian County Cultural Center.They formed a joint exploration team and marched into the Drum-beating Mound area together.The news got the soldiers of the encampment and local people greatly exhilarated.

No.1 Ancient Tomb of Drum-beating Mound being excavated 湖北随县擂鼓墩一号大型古墓挖掘中

1978年2月的最后一个夜晚，武汉东湖之滨寂静悄然。从江陵天星观一号楚墓发掘现场归来的谭维四，正在室内伏案书写发掘调查报告，聚精会神。他是湖北省博物馆副馆长，曾任省文物考古队长20 多年。

开进擂鼓墩

“谭队长，你的长途电话，襄阳来的，快！”有人在室外催喊着。

电话是襄阳地区博物馆负责人王少泉去随县之前打来的。他在电话里告诉谭维四，随县擂鼓墩空军某部在扩建厂房时，挖出了褐色土和土层中的石板，下面应该是大型古墓，请求谭维四带人去确认。

谭维四吩咐王少泉立即带人去随县查明情况，尽快报告，并转告随县政府和驻军部队停止放炮，保护好现场，他随后就到。

王少泉3月5日带文物干部刘炳和两名钻探工人到了随县擂鼓墩，经过现场踏勘，确认古墓无疑。他连夜给谭维四写了信，次日赶回襄阳地区博物馆汇报。3月10日，刚下火车的王少泉赶到湖北省博物馆向谭维四作了详细汇报，认为这应该是一座大型的古墓。

What a narrow escape! If those explosives had been lit,God knows how many treasures would have been blown up and how many cultural relics wouldhave been ruined with the roaring blast!

Those who believed there was an ancient tomb underground like Zheng Guoxian and Wang Jiagui felt more certain in their mind that this time the new comers were the real experts.They were expecting that from underground would come out another wonder like the Sword of Goujian,the King of the State of Yue,and the ancient corpse discovered in Jiangling.

Spring was,to Tan Weisi,a fortunate season.Three years before,also in the springtime in March,Tan Weisi,together with his teammates,came to Fenghuang Mountain and discovered over 180 ancient tombs and successfully unearthed an ancient male corpse.Three years later the same team discovered the underground ancient tombs when leveling the ground.

“In life,you always encounter lots of unimaginable coincidences,” Tan Weisi said.“The tomb at Suizhou and those at Jiangling shared a similarity in time and cause,and can it again be another big harvest?”

The archaeological team settled down in the barracks.The soldiers set up the camp beds for them,the canteen was responsible for their meals,and lights were hung on the work site.

Secrets unveiled

At the sight of the ancient tomb,Tan Weisi was inspired with enthusiasm.He went into work the night they arrived,braving the light rain.Facing the huge slates one over another,simply unable to wait to explore the secrets under them,the drillers started working with their spades and shovels.The rain later got heavy,saturating their clothes,and the wind chilled into their bodies.Tan Weisi had to call for a halt.

The rain kept pouring down the following day,Tan Weisi and his colleagues put on raincoats and continued their work.For the whole morning they cleared out the four sides of the tomb,and found out the exact shape of the foundation ditch of the tomb and the location of the coffin.

This tomb was of a peculiar shape,different from other ordinary rectangular,square,or H-shape or L-shaped tombs.No tomb passage was found and the pit opening showed an irregular polygon,the length from the east side to the west side measuring 21 meters,and 16.5 meters south to north,covering a total space of 220 square meters.Its large scale and peculiar shape were rarely seen,and was also a first for Tan Weisi.

“人生总是能碰上许多难以想象的奇巧事，”谭维四心里想着，“随州的古墓和江陵的古墓在时间和原因上相同，是不是也会有大的收获呢？”

谭维四十分兴奋，他拉着王少泉的手连连叫好。他说：“这是一场重大战役，我们一定要打好这一仗。”

谭维四当即与省博物馆的领导商量决定，他带领队伍去随县解开古墓之谜。

1978年3月19日上午，谭维四带着湖北省考古技术人员王正明、陈锡岭到达随县，与襄阳地区博物馆王少泉及钻探技工李祖才、曾宪敏、襄阳市文化馆刘炳、随县文化馆王世振会合，组成了省、地、县联合勘探小组，开进擂鼓墩，驻军官兵和地方干部群众兴奋异常。……