Museum of Luoyang Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits

Museum of Luoyang Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits is located at the center of Luoyang Eastern Zhou Royal City Square. It is a special museum which mainly displays the giant horse and chariot sacrificial pit of Eastern Zhou Dynasty on its original site. Besides the latest discoveries unearthed from the king's tomb and some precious relics of Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the brief

Entering the museum gate, you will see the whole No.1 section. This section consists of four parts. The first part is a map which shows the locations of the five ancient capitals in Luoyang area and their location relation ship with the existing modern Luoyang. The second is an introduction to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The third part is the exploration and discovery of the king's tombs. The fourth part displays some costful cultural relics of Eastern Zhou.

Going westward through a corridor, you will get to the No.2 section, the giant exhibition room of horse and chariot sacrificial pits of Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Here only displays two horse and chariot sacrificial pits of the 17 excavated by archaeological personnel over 2002 and 2003. The one in the north is 42.6 meters long and 7.4 meters wide which has rarely been found in China.

More marvelous attraction of the pit is that all carriages were arranged in double columns which seemingly presented a grand view of the royal family journey. And what attracts people's attention most is the Tianzijialiu chariot, which clearly and directly gives us enough evidence for the precious description about the king's carriage is pulled by six horses in some ancient literature. It is the only one Tianzijialiu display at its former address in China.

With its excellent cultural relics display and marvelous scene, Museum of Luoyang Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits well unfurls Luoyang's distant history and prosperous culture to the world people. It will certainly be the cultural window for advancing Luoyang this ancient capital's city civilization and propagandizing the new Luoyang to home and abroad.

The Luoyang Museum

Luoyang, a major Chinese cultural center, was the capital of more than a dozen ancient dynasties, such as the Xia (2,100 -1,600 B.C.), the East Chou (770 - 256 B.C.). It experienced prosperous growth, making it one of the most affluent cities of the Tang Dynasty. Its rich history is reflected in the Luoyang Museum, located in the Luoyang downtown area. Among its excellent selection of

Firstly you will see a Gold Seal crafted during the West Jin Dynasty (265 - 316 A.D.) Its base is square and engraved with five Chinese characters in the style of seal cutting. You will find the layout and the design of this seal simple but orderly. A Ceramic Glazed Teapot comes second. It has a flat bottom, a dragon-like handle and its body is primarily a brown ceramic glaze with grey-white spots, which gives the teapot an elegant appearance. Speaking of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), you may know of the world-renowned Tang tri-colored glazed pottery, a type of pottery produced with three colorful ceramic glazes, namely yellow, green and blue and the museum exhibits such pottery, including this classic example of a plump and life-like woman; mirroring the female aesthetic of the Tang Dynasty. Careful inspection will reveal complicate craftwork of the Tang tri-color glazed pottery, and that she is in a long brown gown, coils her hair in a bun and has but light makeup. Next up is a small figurine crafted in jade. The figure is crouching on the floor with two hands crossing in front of his abdomen. He is a high cheek boned man with thick eyebrows and a wide mouth and his mysterious status is complemented by a mask over his face. His heart-shaped and short-sleeved garment is very valuable for researching the fashion of dress during the Warring States Dynasty (475 - 221 B.C.). The last piece is a replica of 'Golden Throne' sent by the Beijing Forbidden Palace Museum. In China's ancient history the golden throne was used exclusively by successive Emperors in the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian) within the Forbidden City in Beijing. The replica, made at a ratio of 1:7, is carved with dragons and embedded with jade and ruby.

All in all, the exhibits from different dynasties displayed in the museum number far, far more than the above-mentioned items. If you are an archaeological or historical enthusiast, the Luoyang Museum should definitely be incorporated in your travel plan.

Luoyang Ancient Tombs Museum

The museum is located on Mang Hill (where an ancient Mang Village was located) in the northern suburb of the Luoyang city. In China's long history, thirteen dynasties had their capital established in Luoyang. Many imperial burial tombs were built in the city, especially near the Mang Hill. Tombs excavated here proved to be the imperial burial sites of Eastern Han emperors and the emperors of

Luoyang Capital Museum

Luoyang Capital Museum is a special museum based on The Zhongong Temple to carry forward Zhougong culture and lay out Yingtianmen relic culture of Sui & Tang dynasties. The Zhougong Temple is a ancestral temple built for the memory of Zhougong, named Ji Dan, a famous politician, ideologist and militarist. He is also the founder of ancient Luoyang City and China Confucianism.

The Zhougong Temple is the important site to sacrifice Zhougong in China. It was founded in year 618, the end of Sui dynasty and early of Tang dynasty. The existing one is rebuilt in year 1,525 of Ming dynasty, and got several times heavy repaired during Qing dynasty by emperor of Kangxi, Qianlong and Guangxu. Zhougong Temple is a well preserved and integrated ancient architecture of Ming-Qing dynasty. It is a key cultural relic protection unit in Henan Province.

West to the Zhougong Temple is the Yingtianmen Relic. Yingtianmen is the frontispiece of the palace of Luoyang during Sui-Tang dynasty. It was constructed in year 605 of Sui dynasty with a original name Zetianmen. It was reconstructed in early Tang dynasty. To taboo the name of Wu Ze Tian, Li Dan (Tang Rui Zong)'s mother, it was changed into Yingtianmen and followed up to present. At that time, Yingtianmen is the important locale for court to hold big national affairs ceremonies and diplomatic activities. By devolution, the ceremonies, of declaring Queen of Wu Ze Tian and Tang Xuan Zong's interview with the 8th dispatching messengers to Tang dynasty, were all celebrated at the gate tower of Yingtianmen.

The architectural shape of Yingtianmen directly influenced the Danfeng Gate of Bianliang (capital of North Song dynasty) and Wu Gate of the Imperial Palace in Beijing (capitals of Ming and Qing dynasties). Yingtianmen Relic plays an allimportant consequence in China capital architecture. Yingtianmen was unearthed in 1990, and was regarded as one of the 10 grand archaeological discoveries in year 1990 by China Government. Yingtianmen Relic is a key cultural relic protection unit in China.

The Studio of Thousand Tang Tablets

Located in Tiemen Town, Xin'an County 50 kilometers west of Luoyang City, It is the greatest collection of epitaphs and stone sculptures with over 1,400 tablets, of which 1,185 were inscribed in the Tang Dynasty; hence, the name. This entire collection of inscribed tablets can be regarded as the "sculptural history book" of the Tang Dynasty.

Luoyang Folk Museum

Located on the west bank of the Nanya River on Dongguan Xin Street in Luoyang, the museum was built up in 1744, the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. It includes the Cunwu Tower, the Great Hall, the back hall, two accessory halls in the east and west and the Bell and Drum Tower in which exhibitions on folk beliefs, weddings, birthday celebrations and folk art are shown

The Shang Imperial City Museum

Located in the urban area of Yanshi City, 30 kilometers to the cast of Luoyang City, the museum was built on the site of the imperial of land with a collection of 1,000 pieces of cultural relics from the Shang Dynasty such as bronze, jade and earthenware. The site of the Shang Imperial City is the earliest and largest unearthed. It is also under the best preservation.