Royal chariot
Drawn by six horses.
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A museum built over a chariot-and-horse burial pit uncovered on the site of the royal city of the Eastern Zhou, which made Luoyang its capital more than two and a half thousand years ago; it opened in 2003 on the spot itself to protect the finds, among them 21 medium-sized tombs and two chariot-and-horse pits. Its name means «the Son of Heaven rides with six», a phrase from ancient Chinese texts saying that only the king's chariot was drawn by six horses, and its highlight is a chariot pulled by a team of six, bearing out what those texts recorded. Visitors walk on galleries above the great pit, looking down on wooden chariots that have become imprints in the earth, their spoked wheels still visible, and on the skeletons of the horses lined up as they were buried; the museum also has halls of bronzes, jade and ancient spade-shaped coins, and a large bronze sculpture of a six-horse chariot stands before its entrance. Tickets cost CNY 30 with advance real-name booking; it opens Tuesday to Sunday from 8:30 to 18:30 and closes on Mondays, per visitor guides.
Drawn by six horses.
As it was buried.
From the Zhou era.
North of Zhongzhou Road, between Renmin East and West Roads, Xigong District, Luoyang
It means «the Son of Heaven rides with six», as only the king's chariot was drawn by six horses, and the museum shows a royal chariot of this kind from the Eastern Zhou era.
