Digging for treasure in the Nan'an Temple Pagoda from the Liao Dynasty

The Nan'an Temple Pagoda was built by China's northern nomads in the Liao Dynasty some 10 centuries ago. For more than a thousand years, the underground palace had been undisturbed.
But Wang Zhendong was an unexpected visitor. It took him and others nine months to dig a ten-meter tunnel to the buried treasure. But it took much less time for him to go to jail.
The tower is located in a residential area, and it was one of those residents, Zhang Hu, who called the police. The hole was in his house, with more than 500 bags of earth piled around.
Xie Yan, police officer, said, "There are tools and bags of earth at the scene. The hole goes directly into the palace, nearly no deviation. It is very professional."
The hole is 1.3 meters in width, big enough for a man to crawl into. It went down three meters before crossing the street underground, directly linking to the palace. However, in 9 months of digging, no one had any suspition of illegal activity.
A local resident said, "Nothing unusual ever found. Nothing. Even the dog never barked."
By keeping the earth inside the house, the robbery remain unnoticed. According to Wang Zhendong confession, two groups of robbers participated in the course of nine months, investing a total of 4,600 US dollars.
Wang Zhendong, crime suspect, said, "I heard they were digging, but nothing had been found. But I kept on and wanted to try my luck."
In the end, however, luck was not on his side. Zhang Hu was afraid someone would discover the four tons of earth in his house, so he called the police. Otherwise, there's no telling when the robbery would have been discovered.
Zhang Hu, crime suspect, said, "They gave me 4,600 dollars to keep quiet. But how could I deal with the dirt? So I called the police."
Unfortunately, Zhang's phone call still came too late for the relics that were damaged.
Source: CCTV News Channel

Archaeologists discover smelting furnaces dating back to Liao Dynasty in Beijing

Smelting furnaces dating back to Liao Dynasty (907–1125) have been excavated in Beijing. The discovery has filled a blank in the research of smelting history in Liao Dynasty.

After years of survey and analysis, relevant archeological protection department has announced that the ruin of smelting furnaces, which was accidentally found by local villagers in 2005, is an intact smelting site tracing back to Liao Dynasty.

From four smelting furnaces in the 150 square-meter site, archaeologists have unearthed a variety of historical relics using for smelting, such as raw material, fuels, and fire-proofing materials.

"Some of the furnaces were built by stones, but there were some fire clay between the stones to protect the furnace," acknowledged Chen Jianli, associate professor at the School of Archaeology and Museology in elite Peking University.

"A furnace like this could produce more than one ton of smelted products in Liao Dynasty and that means 200-300 people were needed," Chen added.

The products from the ruins may be Iron weapons as the Beijing region then belongs to battlefield in Liao Dynasty. It also can serve as a piece of evidence to prove that the smelting skill spread from Central Plains to surrounding areas.

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Discovery in Shangjing capital of Liao dynasty

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Shangjing City, one of the five capitals of the Liao Empire in Chinese history is located in Chifeng city of North China's Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Region. A large-scale excavation of its relic gate which lasted four months is now over. The excavation has made clear the structure of the city gate and provides an important basis for historical research.

Built in 918 AD, Shangjing City of Liao was divided into two city areas, the Imperial City and the Han City. As the first capital built in the plains area by northern minorities, the Imperial City was the residence of Khitan nobles. Its construction strongly emphasized military defense. The highlight of this project is to unearth "Qiandemen", the west gate of the Imperial City, exploring its shape and structure in detail.

A large-scale excavation of relic in Shagjing city has made clear the structure of the city gate and provides an important basis for historical research.

The excavation work of the city gate started in July. After more than four months, a well reserved gate has been cleared out. According to archeologists, "Qiandemen" had been constructed for three times, twice during the Liao Dynasty and once in Jin Dynasty. The gate constructed in Liao period is 20 meters long and 6.2 meters wide. Stone and wooden doorsill and city gate jamb have been found in the relic site, which indicates the high building level in Liao Dynasty.

Archeologist Dong Xinlin, from Chinese Academy of Social Science, said: "There are two parts of 'Qiandemen'. One part is the gateway of the front gate which had a high tower above in the past. The other part is the Weng City that we are looking at. It is aimed at military defense. Walk out of the city and turn left, you can see its gate. We have cleared it too."

In 1961, Shangjing City site of Liao Dynasty was one of first batch of cultural relics protected at the national level set by the State Council. Since 1962 small-scale drilling, mapping and experimental excavation had been conducted several times by archeologists. Now it is the first time that an archeologist team from Beijing and Inner Mongolia undertake such a large-scale excavation.

CNTV.CN, 15 November 2011