Digging a 3,500m high 'water tomb', China found a huge treasure mine, the secret of the Silk Road is revealed!

This discovery shocked Chinese archaeologists.

More than four decades ago, China first discovered the Tibetan Royal Tombs Complex with a total of more than 100 tombs of various sizes in the Reshui area, Dulan County, Qinghai Province, western China.

This discovery was so massive that even now, Chinese experts continue to search for historical stories from the artifacts buried here.

42 years of constantly finding new records

In fact, this place is called Nhiet Thuy because the land here has many hot springs that are thousands of years old.

"The hot water in Nhiet Thuy is like holy water, as precious as the golden spring"  - That was the exclamation of Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) after he came here many times to purify his body after his dusty battles since 1678.

Not only does Nhiet Thuy have hot springs as precious as golden springs, it also has a massive mausoleum complex that is ranked as a national "treasure" by China.

It all started in 1982  when  the Qinghai Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Team accidentally discovered a group of ancient tombs while conducting a survey of ancient cultural relics in Reshui Town, Dulan County.

Immediately afterwards, the Qinghai Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology began surveying and exploring. In total, they conducted four unprecedented large-scale excavations at Jingpeng Pass on the Tibetan Plateau.

One of the tallest mounds in the Tibetan Royal Tombs Complex. (Photo: Baidu).

From 1982 to 2024, a large team of Chinese and international archaeologists made a huge discovery:  They discovered the Tibetan Royal Tomb Complex with more than 100 tombs of various sizes located at an altitude of 3,200 meters to 3,500 meters in Reshui. The tombs are scattered over an area of ​​about 7,000 meters in 4 villages of Reshui, dating from the 8th to the 9th century.

Because this tomb complex was discovered in the Reshui area, it is also called the "Reshui Tombs" (Hot Water Tombs) . What shocked the Chinese archaeological community was that this was the first large Tibetan tomb complex discovered in the country.

So what does China gain from this massive treasure trove?

1. The treasure is not all gold, silver, or rare items.

At this Tibetan Royal Tomb Complex, archaeologists have found a literal treasure trove.

In more than 100 tombs in Nhiet Thuy, scientists found numerous Sogdian gold/silver jewelry/items (from Iran) along with luxury silk fabrics, agate beads, bronze plates, bronze perfume bottles and many other 'aristocratic' objects and cultural relics.

One of the exquisitely crafted gold artifacts. (Photo: Baidu).

In addition, they also found many extremely rare antiques of contemporary historical value such as precious wooden objects and a number of brocades (among them gold-embroidered brocades discovered for the first time in China) and many Persian brocades with quality not inferior to modern times, along with Buddha statues and Western Regions' objects. These are all the first treasures discovered in China.

An expert evaluates one of the gold objects found at the Reshui Tomb, Qinghai, China. (Photo: Baidu).

These prove that this area was  an important node on the Silk Road.  A part of the history of the 6,437km long trade route system connecting Asia to Europe has the opportunity to rise after thousands of years of slumber underground.

The discovery of Sogdian gold and silver, of extremely fine and distinctive workmanship - suggesting that merchants from Iran came to China to exchange goods - proves this.

2. Land position "Back to mountain, Face to river"

Because the owners of the tombs were all royalty and aristocrats, one common luxurious feature of these tombs - besides their very "aristocratic" burial objects - is that all the tombs were covered with multi-layered cypress wood.

This feature is just one of the burial methods that strictly follow Feng Shui theory that the ancients highly valued. See how elaborately and meticulously they buried hundreds of these graves to pray for great luck?

Since ancient times, people have longed for a life of wealth and prosperity, a stable family background, and a prosperous and peaceful nation. This wish is true even when a person has passed on to the other world. Therefore, choosing a grave with good feng shui and dragon veins is a way for the living to believe that the deceased can bless their descendants for generations to come.

The Tibetan Royal Tombs fully meet the ancient feng shui standards. Most of the tombs are 'backed by the mountain, facing the river', all giving the feeling of being protected by the mountain, solid and opened by the river to the outside world, wide open.

Not to mention, the tombs are covered with cypress wood. Above the 9-layer cypress wood is a layer of gravel, then a layer of soil and a mound. The bottom of the tomb is usually paved with stones and wooden planks.

The Tibetan Royal Tombs Complex consists of four large tomb clusters (M1 to M4) scattered over an area of ​​about 7,000 meters in four villages of Reshui. Photo: Archaeology (China).

Among the four large tomb clusters (symbols M1, M2, M3, M4), there is one largest tomb. This largest tomb is located on a natural hill 30 meters high, leaning against Nhiet Thuy mountain and facing the river, majestic like a city. In which, the burial mound (additional earth) will be 11 meters high, 55 meters long from east to west, 37 meters wide from north to south.

From top to bottom of the tomb, every 1 meter or so, there is a layer of wood neatly stacked on top of the mound, up to 9 layers, all made of medium-thick cypress wood.  This form and style of tomb construction is the only one seen in all the archaeological excavations ever conducted in China.

In front of each tomb gate, there are more than 70 animal skeletons including cattle, horses, sheep, dogs and deer buried as part of the offerings for the deceased. Furthermore, the mausoleum complex is built in dangerous terrain, implying that the tomb owners will not be disturbed by "mortals" .

Cattle burial pits in front of each tomb cluster gate. Photo: Archaeology (China).

Most notably, archaeological discoveries in 2018 at Tomb No. 1 (M1) demonstrated that this is one of the highest-level tombs with the most complete layout, clearest structure, and most complex shape found in both this Complex and even on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

This shows how " feng shui masters" thousands of years ago valued and strictly and meticulously met feng shui factors in tomb construction .

3. Opening the door to decoding the thousand-year-old "Tibetan Code"

Chinese scholars and historians believe that the excavation of the Tibetan Royal Tombs is of great value for the study of the history of Tibetan civilization, the study of tomb forms in pre-Tang Western China , the cultural/trade exchange between the local area and Central Asia, and the discussion of the origin of the Tibetan people.

A large number of silk brocades excavated from tombs clearly demonstrate that from the late 6th century to the second half of the 8th century, Qinghai was one of the key trading nodes on the Silk Road and an important transit point of East-West trade.

That is the reason why this mausoleum complex at an altitude of 3,500 meters is highly valued by China in particular and the world in general.

In 1983, the country's Ministry of Culture recognized the Complex as one of China's six important discoveries.

In 1996, with further important discoveries in the Complex, it was recognized by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage as one of the top 10 archaeological discoveries in China in 1996. It has since become a national key cultural relic site.

In 2021, following new archaeological discoveries here in 2020, the Tibetan Royal Tombs Complex was selected as one of China's top 10 new archaeological discoveries in 2020.

Notably, in October 2021, this Complex continued to be selected as one of the top 100 archaeological discoveries of the century.

Currently, this mausoleum complex continues to attract Chinese archaeologists to explore and decipher.