# Tomb of Li Dan

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Northern Zhou period (557-581 CE) funeral monument

Tomb of Li Dan Tomb of Li Dan, Xi'an City Museum. Created 564 CE Discovered September 2005 Location Xi'an

Decorations at the entrance of the tomb of Li Dan, line drawing. It represents two haloed guards in non-Chinese style, and a central fire altar, which could be [Zoroastrian](/source/Zoroastrianism).[1]

The **Tomb of Li Dan** ([Chinese](/source/Simplified_Chinese_characters): 李诞墓; [pinyin](/source/Pinyin): *Lǐ Dàn mù*), is a [Northern Zhou](/source/Northern_Zhou) period (557-581 CE) funeral monument to a foreigner named "Lǐ Dàn" (李诞) in the Chinese [epitaph](/source/Epitaph). The tomb was excavated in the east of the ancient city of [Xi'an](/source/Xi'an), capital of the [Western Wei](/source/Western_Wei) (534-557 CE) and [Northern Zhou](/source/Northern_Zhou) (557-581 CE) dynasties, in the same area where the tombs of Kangye, [Anjia](/source/Tomb_of_Anjia) and Shijun were discovered. The tomb with its epitaph are now located in the collections of the [Xi'an City Museum](/source/Xi'an_City_Museum). Lǐ Dàn died in 564 CE.[1]

## Epitaph

According to the epitaph, Lǐ Dàn was a "[Brahmin](/source/Brahmin)" (Chinese: [婆罗门](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A9%86%E7%BD%97%E9%97%A8) *Póluómén*).[1] He descended from an honourable family, and his grandfather had once been a tribal leader. Between 520 and 525 CE, he and his family migrated from the [Jibin](/source/Jibin) (area of [Gandhara](/source/Gandhara) or Kashmir of the Indian subcontinent) to China, and received the favours of Emperor [Taizu](/source/Yuwen_Tai) (507–556 CE).[1] Lǐ Dàn died at the age of 59 in his home in Xi'an, in 564 CE. He received posthumously the title of "Prefect of the [Hán Prefecture](/source/Handan)" ("邯州刺史") from the Emperor. His son Panti (槃提) wrote the epitaph.[1]

The epitaph reads:

Epitaph of Li Dan

"Epitaph of Li Dan, also named Li Tuosuo, deceased Prefect of the [Province of Han](/source/Handan), who lived in Pingji, [Zhao country](/source/Zhao_County), descendant of [Bo Yang](/source/Bogar). His grandfather was Feng He, a tribal ruler, who worked hard and maintained the standing of his lineage. The deceased was an honorable man, who traveled from [Jibin](/source/Jibin) to the Imperial court during the [Zhengguang era](/source/List_of_Chinese_era_names) (520–525 CE). Because he was a [Brahmin](/source/Brahmin), [Emperor Taizu](/source/Yuwen_Tai) offered him plenty of gifts and rewards. The deceased died at the age of 59, on April 9th, in the 4th year of the [Baoding era](/source/List_of_Chinese_era_names) (564 CE), year of the [Wood Monkey](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%94%B2%E7%94%B3), at his home in Wanjili. The Emperor gave him the title of "Prefect of the [Province of Han](/source/Handan)", and he was buried in the [leap month](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%96%8F%E6%9C%88) of that same year in Zhonxiangli. His elder son Panti, fearing cataclisms, and afraid the name of his father might be forgotten, reverently wrote this inscription on a black stone, so that his story can be transmitted unblemished."

— Epitaph of Li Dan, written by his son Panti in 564 CE.[2]

## Tomb

Li Dan's tomb was discovered in September 2005 by Xi'an Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology in the northern suburbs of Xi'an.[3] The tomb was a single arc-square brick chambered tomb, with a long sloping passage and tunnel, reflective of traditional Chinese tombs of the Northern Zhou period.[1] Enclosed by a brick wall, it had a stone gateway, behind which the stone coffin was placed. The coffin contained two skeletons, of a man and a woman, wrapped in three layers of textiles, accompanied by a Byzantine gold coin [Justinian I](/source/Justinian_I), (527-565 CE) inside the mouth of the woman.[1][4] Traces of pigments suggest that the inside walls of the tomb were originally painted.[1]

The coffin is decorated with fine incised carvings representing traditional Chinese cosmology. The motifs also included two haloed guards in non-Chinese style, and a fire altar, which could be [Zoroastrian](/source/Zoroastrianism).[1]

Xi'an, location of the tomb of Lidan (red dot).[5]

		- Epitaph from the tomb of Li Dan.

		- Type of the gold coin of [Justinian I](/source/Justinian_I) discovered in the tomb.[6]

		- Decorated back panel: the traditional tortoise [Xuanwu](/source/Black_Tortoise), with a haloed deity holding a sword.[7]

		- Side panel decorated with a [white dragon](/source/White_dragon).

## Similar coffins

		- Sarcophagus of Li He, a [Northern Zhou](/source/Northern_Zhou) general, of similar design (李和墓, 505–582).[8]

		- Sarcophagus of [Emperor Xuanwu](/source/Emperor_Xuanwu_of_Northern_Wei) (483-515 CE).

## See also

- [Sogdian tombs in China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Sogdian_tombs_in_China)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-LY_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-LY_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-LY_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-LY_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-LY_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-LY_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-LY_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-LY_1-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-LY_1-8) Li, Yusheng (2016). ["STUDY OF TOMBS OF HU PEOPLE IN LATE 6TH CENTURY NORTHERN CHINA"](https://www.academia.edu/37360592). *Newsletter di Archeologia CISA*. **7**: 94–96.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Original text of the epitaph: [周](/source/Northern_Zhou)故[邯州](/source/Handan)刺史，李君墓志铭，/君讳诞，字陁娑，[赵国](/source/Zhao_County)平棘人，其/先伯阳之后。祖冯何，世为民酋，/考傍期，不颓宗基。君禀玄妙气，/正光中自[罽宾](/source/Jibin)归阙，[太祖](/source/Yuwen_Tai)以/君[婆罗门](/source/Brahmin)种，屡蒙赏。君春秋五/十九，保定四季歲次甲申四月/九日薨萬季里宅 皇帝授君/[邯州](/source/Handan)刺史，其年閏月葬中鄉里/长子槃提恐山移谷徙声谧无/闻敬镌玄石以传不朽。

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Du, Panxin; Xu, Yu; Zhang, Xiaoli; Meng, Hailiang; Zhu, Kongyang; Huang, Zixiao; Ma, Xiaolin; Wang, Rui; Yang, Yini; Xie, Shouhua; Yang, Xiaomin; Xiong, Jianxue; Allen, Edward; Wang, Bangyan; Zhang, Baoshuai; Chang, Xin; Bai, Tianyou; Wang, Lingxiang; Yu, Yao; Xu, Yiran; Zhang, Xiangyu; Hong, Xiuyuan; Ren, Xiaoying; Wu, Xin; Wang, Hui; Han, Sheng; Jin, Li; Feng, Jian; Wang, Chuan-Chao; Wen, Shaoqing (December 2025). "Ancient genomic evidence uncovers a 6th-century cross-border couple between South Asia and East Asia". *Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports*. **68** 105474. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105474](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jasrep.2025.105474).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Tomb of Li Dan, Chang'an, the Byzantine gold coin"](http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/fisher/image.html?id=FISHER_n2007081135&rotation=0&). *Dla.library.upenn.edu*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Li, Yusheng (2016). ["STUDY OF TOMBS OF HU PEOPLE IN LATE 6TH CENTURY NORTHERN CHINA"](https://www.academia.edu/27092301). *Newsletter di Archeologia*. **7**: 115, Fig.2.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Tomb of Li Dan, Chang'an, the Byzantine gold coin"](http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/fisher/image.html?id=FISHER_n2007081135&rotation=0&). *Dla.library.upenn.edu*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Li, Yusheng (2016). ["STUDY OF TOMBS OF HU PEOPLE IN LATE 6TH CENTURY NORTHERN CHINA"](https://www.academia.edu/37360592). *Newsletter di Archeologia CISA*. **7**: 94–96, 118 Fig.7.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** RIBOUD, PÉNÉLOPE (2007). "Bird-Priests in Central Asian Tombs of 6th-Century China and Their Significance in the Funerary Realm". *Bulletin of the Asia Institute*. **21**: 17. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0890-4464](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0890-4464). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [24049360](https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049360).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tomb of Li Dan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Li_Dan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Li_Dan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.