Four Treasures in Hubei Museum

The Sword of Gou Jian

The Sword of Gou Jian

The Chu Culture Exhibition Hall features the regional culture of the Chu State. The most eye-catching relics are the ancient weapons of the Chu State such as the sword of Gou Jian, the king of the Yue State in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC) and the shaft of Fu Chai, the king of the Wu State in the Spring and Autumn Period.

The sword is as legendary to the Chinese people as King Arthur's sword in the West. It has some rhombic etchings and 11 concentric circles located only 0.2 millimeters apart at the tip of the handle. The sword is 55.7 centimeters long with a 4.6-centimeter-wide blade and an 8.4-centimeter-long handle. Each side of the blade is decorated with turquoises. On the blade near the handle there are eight seal characters, which means: "This Sword belongs to Goujian, the King of the Yue State".

The Sword of Gou Jian was unearthed in 1955 from the No 1 Wangshan Tomb, in Jiangling city, Hubei. Made of bronze, the sword is more than 2,000 years old but still remains in good condition despite the passage of time. It is incredibly sharp, able to slice through 20 pieces of paper with a flick.

The blue-and-white glazed jar

The blue-and-white glazed jar

A large number of porcelain wares are housed in the museum. The most remarkable one is a blue-and-white glazed jar unearthed in 2006 from the Jingwang Tomb, Zhongxiang city, Hubei province. The jar is believed to be a burial article of the wife of Zhu Dong, the 24th son of the First Ming (1368-1644) Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.