Musical find nets farmer 20,000 yuan
Print Edition
THE story of a Chinese farmer’s unearthing of a 2,000-year-old musical instrument for which he earned a cash reward has gone viral online.
In Aikou Village in Majing’ao Township in central China’s Hunan Province, Zhang Zhilin was taking care of his paddy rice as usual on June 22.
In the brook beside him, which was swollen due to days of rain, something greenish peeking out from beneath the water caught his eye.
The hollow object, which was about 30cm long and weighed 1kg, resembled a spade, with decorations of dots and braid patterns.
“Historical artifacts were unearthed in my town in the 1950s and 1990s,” said Zhang, 47. “Villagers believed I’d come across another treasure.”
Last month, he took some pictures of the “spade” and went to the city’s cultural relics bureau.
“I showed them the pictures and said it looked like something antique,” he said.
Bureau staff immediately followed Zhang to his home for an examination.
Experts spent weeks examining the find before they were convinced of its age and what it was.
“The bronze was then named after a very similar piece discovered earlier in the area and collected by the Xiangxi Museum. They are both from chimes dating back to the Warring States Period (447-221 BC),” said Zhang Feng, head of the cultural relics bureau.
Zhang Zhilin was given 20,000 yuan (US$3,000) for voluntarily handing in the treasure.
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