Chapters 129 Buried Treasures, Part 1

Chapter 129

The Emperor Driving Six

The Six Horses; full name is The Museum of Luoyang Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits. It is also known as The Emperor Driving Six. It was discovered in 2002 when workers started digging to expand a shopping center. The museum is underground and built over the sacrificial pit area for the emperors of the Zhou Dynasty. The pit is over 2000 years old. Horses, chariots and other things are buried there. The museum opened October 1, 2003. This is located in the Wangcheng Square (Plaza) next to the shopping area called Bai Huo Lou.

I lived about twenty minutes walk from here. I came by here often. It is a nice place for people to get together and also take their children there to play.

Some history about this. The city of Luoyang was the capital of China for thirteen dynasties and 105 emperors starting with the Xia Dynasty (2070BC-1600BC), Shang Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC), Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770BC-256BC), Beiwei Dynasty (493AD-534AD), Sui Dynasty (605AD-619AD) and more with a history of over 4,000 years. The museum’s former English name is “Tianzi Jialiu Museum”. “Tianzi” means emperors, “Jialiu” means their chariots driven by six horses.

The discovery of the Tianzi Jialiu Site has a great impact on the Chinese archaeology and history. It is proof that in the Zhou Dynasty, the emperors had six horses to drive their chariots; the vassals five; the ministers four; the scholar-bureaucrats three; scholar-officials two and common people one horse. This is kind of a strict etiquette formed in the Zhou Dynasty, which had been recorded in ancient books before it was discovered underground in 2002. So the number of the horses indicated the rank and identity of the nobles.

This is the entrance to the museum. You go down the steps to buy the ticket and go in.

Two horses pulling the chariot. (These three pictures are from online.)

Four horses pulling the chariot.

Six horses pulling the chariot.

A lot of people will go here to socialize and take their children to play.

This picture is looking south toward the Luo River. In the middle of the picture, you can see the six horses, they are facing the other direction. You can see the two tall buildings in the center of the picture. The white and green one on the left is the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC). The building just to the right and behind the ABC is a law building where judges and lawyers have their offices. The tower to the right in the back with what looks like a ball on it is the Luoyang TV Tower by Luopu Park. It is a good landmark to go by. It is easy to know where you are when you see it. The blue building to the right is the Public Security Building (PSB).

Summer (Xia Dandan), Emily (Bai Li) and Susan (He Shu)
These three women are teachers that I worked with at the Number 19 High School.