◎Tombs of Princes of Zhongshan

Dingzhou has a long history.It was first called“Zhongshan”in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period.In 154 BC,Emperor Jing of Han named Prince Liu Sheng as the first Prince of Zhongshan,with Lunu (present-day Dingzhou) as the capital,which was the origin of the Zhongshan State of the Han Dynasty.There were 17 generations of Prince of Zhongshan throughout the Han Dynasty for over 300 years,leaving a number of tombs of Prince of Zhongshan.In the 20th century,relevant departments organized many excavations of tombs for Prince of Zhongshan,such as Liu Yan,Prince Jian,Liu Chang,Prince Mu,and Liu Xiu,Prince Huai.The tomb owners were all dressed in jade suits sewn with golden wire,and more than 2,000 cultural relics were unearthed,including artifacts made of gold,silver,copper,iron,jade,pottery and lacquer,ancient bamboo slip books,and stone carvings with inscriptions,which are now collected in Dingzhou Stone Carving Museum and Dingzhou Museum,among which“Jade with Dragons Holding a Ring”and“Jade Screen of King Father of the East and Queen Mother of the West”are national treasures that can be called the best jade artworks in the Han Dynasty.