Liu Sheng's tomb was discovered in 1968 by
Wang Zhongshu at
Mancheng in the
Hebei Province, west of Beijing. He was buried along with his wife,
Dou Wan. It was the first undisturbed Western Han tomb discovered. The two were buried in two caves inside a mountainside. Each cave contained two side rooms for storage, a rear chamber for the coffin, and a large central chamber with a tiled roof and wooden supports that has since collapsed. The tomb contained over 2,700 artifacts. In total, the following objects were excavated: inlaid with gold; from the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan, at Hebei Mancheng, Western Han period, 2nd century BC • 419 bronze artifacts • 499 iron artifacts • 21 gold artifacts • 77 silver artifacts • 78 jade artifacts • 70
lacquered artifacts • 6 chariots (south-facing side room) • 571 pieces of pottery (north-facing side room) • Silk fabric The artifacts included gold and silver acupuncture needles, and decorative iron daggers. Two key items are the bronze incense burner, known as a
boshanlu () and Sheng's jade burial suit. The
boshanlu resembles the sacred mountains of the Isles of the Immortals in the Eastern Sea. Han
Daoists believed that the mountains were a path to everlasting life. It has a deep hemispherical bowl and an elegant base with classical Chinese intertwining dragons. There are wavy inlaid gold lines in the work, which likely represent the Eastern Sea. Projecting from the jagged peaks are relief figures of humans and animals. The
boshan is an attribution to both Sheng's immense wealth and the skill of Han
bronze casting. Both Sheng and his wife were buried with intricated jade suits that each contained over 2,000 pieces of jade. ==See also==