Overview

The Han Emperor's Jade Hoard: China's Buried Imperial Fortune by Peter H. Fairbanks takes readers deep into one of the greatest and least understood treasure mysteries of the ancient world: the vast imperial wealth buried with China's Han dynasty rulers. While the mausoleum of the First Emperor is known worldwide, it represents only a fraction of a far larger funerary landscape. Across plains, mountains, and distant frontier regions, dozens of colossal Han tombs remain sealed, unexcavated, or known only from historical records. Rising from the collapse of the Qin, the Han dynasty ushered in an era of unprecedented wealth, territorial expansion, and artistic achievement. Emperors and princes believed that jade could preserve the body, gold could secure the afterlife, and monumental tombs could extend power beyond death itself. Fairbanks follows the emergence of this belief system through jade burial suits sewn with gold wire, hidden chambers carved beneath artificial mountains, and imperial caches meant to last for eternity. The story moves from the imperial capital of Chang'an to remote borderlands along the early Silk Road, where exotic materials and foreign luxuries flowed into Han coffers. It explores the ambitions of Emperor Wu, whose reign saw both the height of imperial splendor and the strain of overreach, and examines how rebellion, looting, and political collapse caused entire fortunes to vanish from the historical record. Along the way, discoveries such as the intact tomb of the Nanyue king and the spectacular burial of Prince Liu Sheng offer glimpses of what untouched imperial hoards may still conceal. Drawing on archaeological reports, classical Chinese histories, museum collections, and modern non-invasive surveys, this book balances established scholarship with cautious speculation. It examines why many Han tombs remain sealed today, how modern technology is reshaping what can be seen beneath the ground, and where scholars believe the greatest unexcavated chambers may still lie. Ideal for readers fascinated by lost treasure, ancient empires, and enduring mysteries, The Han Emperor's Jade Hoard: China's Buried Imperial Fortune reveals a hidden world beneath China's landscape, where immense wealth, belief, and secrecy have waited for more than two thousand years.

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