Extremely rare royal seal and tens of thousands of Ming Dynasty artifacts found in China

The golden seal of a Ming Dynasty prince was discovered by archaeologists at a 17th-century battlefield site near the Minjiang River in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The seal is made of solid, high-quality gold. It is the first find of its kind in China; according to archaeologists, of incalculable value.

Legend has it that a ship carrying gold, silver, precious jewellery and valuables from the collection of Zhang Xianzhong, a peasant who defied the government and took power in the area in 1644, sank during a battle at the site of the present excavation. That this was not a mere legend but a real event was confirmed recently when the historically significant site of Jiangkou Chenyin on the Minjiang River was looted in an organised and systematic way.

In 2016, extremely unique Ming Dynasty gold and silver artifacts began to appear on the black market. As a result, police launched an investigation and uncovered 10 organized gangs, arrested 70 antiquities dealers and recovered hundreds of artifacts worth more than 50 million crowns. Subsequent archaeological research has unearthed more than 10,000 artifacts in 2017 alone. In the next two years, a staggering 42,000 archaeological objects were added. The latest excavation took place between January and April this year and covered an area of 5,000 square metres.

Among the finds were earrings, rings, bracelets, clasps, gems, coins, ingots and decorative objects made of gold and silver. One of the gold coins is displayed as a medallion with the name of the leader of the peasant rebels, Zhang Xianzhong (Yellow Tiger), who gave it to one of his close subordinates for military merit. Some of the silver ingots found also bear the marks of Zhang's short reign (1644-1646).

The recently discovered seal has a square base with a side of 10 cm and a thickness of 3 cm. The decorative handle of the seal is an artistically rendered turtle. The material consists of high purity 95% gold. The characters of the seal bear the inscription 'Shu Shi Zi Bao'. Shu is the contemporary name of the Ming Dynasty in Sichuan Province and "Shi Zi" represents the title of the first-born son - the hereditary prince.

Another golden seal belonging to Zhang Xianzhong was found in the area earlier. However, it was found by a looter and sold to a private collector. It was seized by the police in 2016. The tiger-shaped handle was broken off the base of the seal. The royal seal from this year's find also bears the marks of notches and has been broken into several pieces. It was probably deliberately damaged before it ended up in the river.

Experts say these rare artefacts have huge archaeological significance beyond their market value, adding important information about the craft of metal and jewellery of the Ming dynasty, military technology at the time, or state administration during the troubled final years of the reign, when peasants led by Zhang Xianzhong rebelled against the government.

This year's excavation at the Minjiang River was the last. After conservation, the artifacts have been temporarily stored until a new museum is built to house the entire vast collection.

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Roman Nemec

Sources: chinaplus.cri.cn, thehistoryblog.com, archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com, news.cgtn.com