Mena: The Chinese created the best preserved mummy in history. The 2000 years old mummy of Lady Xin Zhui who have elastic skin, movable limbs, internal organs and brain. The Chinese embalmers wrapped Lady Xin mummy in silk after that they placed the body in many coffin, then they poured a secret mercury type liquid inside the coffin that played a great role in preserving the mummy after that they closed the coffin. The coffin was then buried underground in a nature cold tomb. Lady Xin Zhui mummy was better preserved then any Egyptian mummies.
he Lady of Dai undergoing examination. Photo credit: Hunan Provincial Museum
Lady Xin Zhui coffin The enduring mystery of The Lady of Dai mummy (Read the article on one page) When talking about body preservation and mummies, people all over the world think of Egypt and the mummified bodies of Pharaohs, such as Tutankhamun. But how many know that the world’s best preserved bodies actually come from China? The Lady of Dai, otherwise known as The Diva Mummy, is a 2,100-year-old mummy from the Western Han Dynasty and the best preserved ancient human ever found. Just how this incredible level of preservation was accomplished has baffled and amazed scientists around the world.
AD Tools to Help Manage and Grow Your Publication Sponsored by Revenue.com In 1971, at the height of the cold war, workers were digging an air raid shelter near the city of Changsha when they uncovered an enormous Han Dynasty-era tomb. Inside they found over 1000 perfectly preserved artefacts, along with the tomb belonging to Xin Zhui, the wife of the ruler of the Han imperial fiefdom of Dai. Xin Zhui, the Lady of Dai, died between 178 and 145 BC, at around 50 years of age. The objects inside her tomb indicated a woman of wealth and importance, and one who enjoyed the good things in life. But it was not the precious goods and fine fabrics that immediately caught the attention of archaeologists, rather it was the extraordinarily well-preserved state of her remains that captured their eyes. Despite the fact that she had been buried for over two millennia, her skin was still moist and elastic, her joints still flexible, every feature still remained intact down to her eyelashes and the hair in her nostrils, and blood still remained in her veins. When she was removed from the tomb, Oxygen took an immediate toll on her body and so the state in which she is seen today does not accurately reflect how she was found. Nevertheless, when forensic scientists conducted an autopsy on the Diva Mummy, they were stunned to discover that the body was in the same state as an individual who had recently died. The Lady of Dai undergoing examination The Lady of Dai undergoing examination. Photo credit: Hunan Provincial Museum The autopsy revealed that all her organs were still intact, even down to the lungs vagus (nerve), which is as thin as hair. Blood clots were found in her veins and evidence was found of a coronary heart attack, as well as a host of other ailments and diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease, and gallstones. The Lady Dai died of a heart attack at the age of 50, brought on by obesity, lack of exercise and an over-indulgent diet. When they were still studying her organs, the pathologists found 138 undigested melon seeds in her oesophagus, stomach, and intestines. Melon seeds take about 1 hour to digest so scientists were able to determine that she died shortly after eating some melons. Archaeologists and pathologists have not determined all the factors behind her state of preservation, but they have a few clues. A well-sealed tomb Lady Dai was found in an airtight tomb 12 metres underground, locked inside four layers of coffins. A thick layer of white paste-like soil was on the floor. Her body had been swaddled in 20 layers of silk and she was found in 80 litres of an unknown liquid that was mildly acidic with some magnesium in it. The layers of caskets were put inside a compartment in the centre of a funnel shaped, clay lined, massive cypress, burial vault. Five tons of moisture absorbing charcoal was packed around the vault. The top was sealed with 3 feet of additional clay. Hard rammed pieces of earth filled the shaft all the way to the surface. No substance of any kind was able to get in or out of the sealed tomb. Decay-causing bacteria trapped inside would quickly die because of the lack of oxygen. Destructive ground water could not penetrate the sturdy barriers. The result of such diligent hard work that went into sealing and protecting the late Lady Dai, was a cool, highly humid, almost sterile, environment. The Coffin of the Second Layer The Coffin of the Second Layer. Photo credit: Hunan Provincial Museum Precious Valuables Archaeologists found Lady Dai's burial chamber filled with more than 1,000 precious goods – fine fabrics, bizarre delicacies (such as caterpillar fungus), a complete wardrobe of more than 100 silk garments, 182 pieces of lacquer ware, and 162 carved wooden figurines that represented the large army of servants who would tend to her needs in the after world. The opulence found within the tomb revealed a world where the rich and powerful not only desired to live forever – they expected to.
The enduring mystery of The Lady of Dai mummy (Read the article on one page) The lacquer ware was regarded as the most precious of all manufactured goods. The collection of plates, bowls, trays, vases, basins, and toilet boxes were all part of the treasures, their deep black and bold red coating almost as perfect as the day it was buried.
AD Tools to Help Manage and Grow Your Publication Sponsored by Revenue.com A lacquered item, as lustrous as the day it was buried A lacquered item, as lustrous as the day it was buried. Photo credit: Hunan Provincial Museum The Lady Dai was also buried with a massive array of foods and fine cuisine stored in thirty bamboo cases and several dozen pottery containers, including: wheat, lentils, lotus roots, strawberries, pears, dates, plums, pork, venison, beef, lamb, hare, dog, goose, duck, chicken, pheasant, turtledove, sparrow, crane, fish, eggs, and owl. The common people of this time period ate nothing of the sort. Their diet had basic wheat, millet, barley, and soybeans. China’s eternal mummy While the factor’s surrounding Lady Dai’s burial appear to solve the question as to how such an incredible state of preservation was achieved, scientists today have not been able to replicate it using modern methods, nor have they discovered the source of the mystery fluid found within the tomb. In fact, other tombs containing bodies similarly preserved were found within a few hundred miles of Lady Dai, but each time the liquid appeared to have different properties. Whatever the ancient morticians did, they managed to create China’s eternal mummy, the Lady of Dai, who is now housed in the Hunan Provincial Museum. Visitors flock from all over the world to share in gazing at the amazing sight of a Lady Dai's well preserved body and the intriguing pieces of Chinese history she left behind. Featured Image: The Lady of Dai. Photo Credit: Hunan Provincial Museum By April Holloway References The Diva Mummy – Off the Fence The Long Lasting Remains – Hunan Provincial Museum The Discovered Body & Tomb of Lady Xin, the Marquise of Dai – by Rana Wiseone Lady Dai Tomb Among Richest Finds In China History – by Sue Manning The Diva Mummy – The Mummy Blog Related Videos
Xin Zhui (Chinese: 辛追; pinyin: Xīn Zhuī; died 163 BC), also known as Lady Dai or Marquise of Dai, was the wife of Li Cang (利蒼), the Marquis of Dai, during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). She gained fame more than 2,000 years after her death, when her tomb was discovered inside a hill known as Mawangdui, in Changsha, Hunan, China. After opening the tomb, workers discovered her exceptionally preserved remains alongside hundreds of valuable artifacts and documents. Her body and belongings are currently under the care of the Hunan Provincial Museum, which has allowed occasional international exhibits.[
In 1971, workers digging an air raid shelter for a hospital near Changsha unearthed the tomb of Xin Zhui, as well as the tombs of her husband and a young man who is most commonly thought to be their son.[3] With the assistance of over 1,500 local high school students, archaeologists began a large excavation of the site beginning in January 1972. Xin Zhui's body was found within four rectangular pine constructs that sat inside one another which were buried beneath layers of charcoal and white clay. The corpse was wrapped in twenty layers of clothing bound with silk ribbons.[5][7]
Xin Zhui's body was remarkably preserved. Her skin was soft and moist, with muscles that still allowed for her arms and legs to flex at the joints. All her organs and blood vessels were also intact, with small amounts of blood being found in her veins. This preservation allowed doctors at Hunan Provincial Medical Institute to perform an autopsy on 14 December 1972.[7] Much of what is known about Xin Zhui's lifestyle was derived from this and other examinations.[5]
More than 1,000 precious artifacts were found with Xin Zhui's body.
Significance[edit] Xin Zhui's body and tomb are considered one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.[2] Besides having some of the best preserved human remains ever discovered in China, the contents of Xin Zhui's tomb revealed an incredible amount of information about life in the Han dynasty that was previously unknown. The discovery continues to advance the fields of archaeology and science in the 21st century, particularly in the area of preservation of ancient human remains. Scientists in 2003 developed a "secret compound" that was injected into Xin Zhui's still existing blood vessels to assure her preservation.[7] Research at the Hunan Provincial Museum continues in an effort to perfect corpse preservation, using Xin Zhui as the main candidate for such procedures.
Xin Zhui (Chinese: 辛追), also known as lady Dai, was the wife of the Marquess Li Cang (利蒼) (d. 186 BCE), chancellor for the imperial fiefdom of Changsha during the Han Dynasty. This is a reconstruction of her.
The preserved body of Xin Zhui.
Xin Zhui tomb
Lady Xin Zhui
Posted by Mindovermatter (Member # 22317) on :
How this can be better preserved then any Egyptian mummies, when Egyptian mummies are some of the oldest in the world and predate any Chinese mummies and some still are preserved to this day, especially given the climate and atmosphere of a hot place like the Nile area?
Also how do these chinks know this is how Lady Xin Zhui actually looked like? Modern Chinese are not the same racially and ethnically as BC and AD period chinese. So that model of that Chinese lady is not an accurate depiction.....
