Qualla: Tomb of Wang Chuzhi https://qualla.com/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:38 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/c/k/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Tomb of Wang Chuzhi https://qualla.com/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi Tomb of Wang Chuzhi: Introduction https://qualla.com/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi/ Photo credit XRAY96, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the year 2000, a painted marble relief panel appeared in a Christie's auction catalogue in New York, listed among 'Fine Chinese Ceramics, Paintings, and Works of Art.' It depicted a scene of extraordinary delicacy -- court musicians frozen in stone, their instruments identifiable, their costumes detailed. What the catalogue did not say was that the panel had been blasted from a tomb with dynamite six years earlier by thieves who knew exactly what they were stealing. The tomb belonged to Wang Chuzhi, a warlord who died in 923 after being overthrown by his own adopted son, and whose burial site in Quyang County, Hebei, contained some of the finest funerary art of medieval China.

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Image: XRAY96 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/c/k/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-wp/wwck-tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Tomb of Wang Chuzhi: A Prince Betrayed https://qualla.com/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. Wang Chuzhi was the Prince of Beiping and military governor of Yiwu during one of Chinese history's most turbulent transitions -- the collapse of the Tang dynasty into the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era. From his base in Baoding, Hebei, he wielded significant and som...

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Image: BabelStone | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/c/k/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-wp/wwck-tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-a-prince-betrayed.mp3 0:06 2 full Tomb of Wang Chuzhi: A Fifteen-Member Ladies' Orchestra https://qualla.com/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. The tomb's most remarkable feature is a set of painted marble reliefs depicting court musicians and servants. On the western wall, twelve women form an orchestra. The front row shows five musicians playing the konghou (bow harp), the guzheng (a plucked zither with moveable bridge...

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Image: BabelStone | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/c/k/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-wp/wwck-tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-a-fifteen-member-ladies-orchestra.mp3 0:06 3 full Tomb of Wang Chuzhi: Dynamite, Christie's, and Diplomacy https://qualla.com/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. The tomb was rediscovered in 1980 in Xiyanchuan Village. For fourteen years it sat largely undisturbed. Then in July 1994, thieves armed with dynamite blasted their way in and removed several painted marble relief panels, recognizing their extraordinary artistic value. The tomb w...

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Image: BabelStone | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/c/k/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-wp/wwck-tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-dynamite-christies-and-diplomacy.mp3 0:06 4 full Tomb of Wang Chuzhi: Music Across a Millennium https://qualla.com/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. What makes the tomb's reliefs irreplaceable is not just their beauty but their documentary precision. Each instrument is rendered with enough detail for musicologists to identify the tuning systems and playing techniques of the era. The konghou, a harp-like instrument that later ...

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Image: BabelStone | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/w/c/k/tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-wp/wwck-tomb-of-wang-chuzhi-music-across-a-millennium.mp3 0:06 5 full