After opening the coffin, archaeological experts discovered something surprising about the owner’s identity.

The discovery of the ancient tomb occurred in May 2014 in Xinpu town, in Guizhou province, China. At that time, the local government decided to convert Duong Gia Lake into a water reservoir to improve water use by farmers.

However, the construction of a reservoir can cause surrounding areas to be flooded. Therefore, according to regulations, localities need to conduct a review of cultural relics around the lake.

The tomb found was extremely ordinary, but the owner’s identity was not simple. (Photo: Kknews)

Although no relics have been found in this area before, the government still has to comply with state regulations. They invited an archaeological team from a local museum to help with the survey. As a result, they actually found an ancient tomb . This is an underground tomb of a commoner in ancient times. They have found many similar graves before.

At first, the team of experts planned to open the coffin to relocate the owner’s remains, but then they discovered something extremely interesting. They noticed that all the nails on the coffin were made of gold. This proves that the owner of the tomb has a not simple background.

The inscription on the silver base proves that the owner of the tomb is famous general Duong Gioi and his wife. (Photo: Kknews)

Continuing to excavate, archaeologists have found more than 40 cultural relics . There were many pieces of gold and silver jewelry, including a gilded silver cup decorated with a fish. However, in the ancient tomb, experts did not find any epitaphs, not even fragments to determine the owner’s identity.

Later, they found on a silver base the words “At Mao Dien Do Thong Ti” engraved, meaning the owner of the tomb had the surname Dien, who died in 1255 AD.

This made the expert exclaim in surprise, “The owner is an extremely talented famous general.”

According to historical records, the owner of the tomb is the talented general Duong Gioi  in Ba Chau and his wife. The territory of Bazhou (now part of Guizhou province) was ruled by the Yang family.

A gilded cup was found in the tomb. (Photo: Kknews)

Duong Gioi is the 14th generation to govern the Ba Chau territory of the Duong family. After Duong Gioi passed away, the Southern Song emperor personally agreed to build his and his relatives’  tombs according to the scale of the royal family.

In fact, his tomb was made from precious Nam Moc wood, but due to lake water erosion, the tomb collapsed, causing experts to mistake it for an earthen tomb.

Several other valuable antiques were found. (Photo: Kknews)

Test results of the pieces of wood around the coffin were indeed Nam Moc wood. The cultural relics found inside the tomb were later restored and put on display in the Guizhou museum.