Haihun Hou Archaeological Site Museum

The Haihun Hou Archaeological Site Museum sits about 50 kilometers north of Nanchang near Xinjian, at the site where the tomb of Liu He was excavated from 2011 to 2016. The museum opened in 2024 and is organized around the active excavation site, allowing visitors to view the ongoing archaeological work through glass viewing galleries. The artifacts on display include the gold coins and jade objects from the original excavation, with explanatory panels covering the history of the brief-reigning emperor who ended up here.

The sheer scale of the finds — reflecting the enormous wealth that could accumulate in a minor Han-dynasty marquisate in what was then the peripheral province of Jiangxi — makes this one of the more thought-provoking sites near Nanchang. Combine it with a visit to the related collections in the Jiangxi Provincial Museum in Honggutan. Accessible by car or chartered taxi from Nanchang.

things to do museum sight
A story
The Haihun Hou — "Marquis of Haihun" — was Liu He, a Han emperor who reigned for just 27 days in 74 BCE before being deposed for incompetence by the imperial council. Stripped of power and demoted to a marquisate in Jiangxi, he apparently spent the rest of his life in comfortable obscurity, accumulating extraordinary wealth. When his tomb was excavated in 2015, it contained 20 tonnes of bronze coins, large quantities of gold, elaborately lacquered furniture, and a set of jade suits — making it one of the richest Han-dynasty tombs ever found.

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