Rising over the Mancheng district, 120 miles south of Beijing, is Lingshan. More than 2,000 years ago, thousands of tons of rock were removed from its eastern slope to create complex tombs housing the remains of an elite couple: Liu Sheng, prince of Zhongshan, and his wife, Dou Wan.
Miraculously unlooted for the next two millennia, the tombs’ 1960s discovery stunned archaeologists, not only for their engineering but also for the dazzling grave goods they contained. The couple’s remains were wrapped in jade burial suits now regarded as some of China’s greatest national treasures.
Lord of the North
Liu Sheng’s father, Jing Di, was the sixth emperor of the Han, the second of China’s imperial dynasties, which ruled between 206 b.c. and a.d. 220. Beset with rebellions, in 154 b.c.,…