Revealing the mystery of the ancient tomb with intact bodies in Thanh Chuong

(Baonghean.vn) -In recent days, Thanh Chuong residents have been buzzing about the ancient tomb of the ancestor of the Tran Van family in hamlet 10, Thanh Dong commune - an ancient tomb with many special features.

Previously, on January 8, the descendants of the Tran Van family, whose ancestral temple is located in Ru Cuu, Thanh Dong commune, along with many local people, solemnly held a burial ceremony for their ancestor at Doi mountain. Up to now, this ancestor has been buried at least three times.

According to the Tran Van clan council, the ancestor Tran Khac Tuan was originally from Trang village in Ha Tinh. During the turbulent years of the mid-17th century, he settled in Thanh Dong commune and worked as a herbalist. For hundreds of years, the descendants of the Tran Van clan in Ha village (11 generations) have passed on to each other the story of the ancestor's tomb in Mua Mon mountain (now in block 1, Dung town) being built "inside the mandarin's office and outside the coffin".

In 1982, the Tran family organized a reburial of their ancestor's grave to gather them in the cemetery, but could not find the grave they were looking for.

When he first discovered the grave, because no one had claimed it yet, Mr. Toan had a crane put it on a buffalo cart and brought it to Con Trop cemetery.

Suddenly at 8:00 a.m. on December 7, 2016, while digging soil in the Mua mountain area to construct the Dai Yen parish project, Mr. Nguyen Duc Toan in hamlet 10 and workers unexpectedly discovered this "inside and outside coffin" tomb.

Mr. Toan said that at first, he thought it was a rock but later realized it was a grave. He contacted the Tran family about the discovery of the grave. When the Tran descendants had not yet claimed the grave, he and everyone else took it to the cemetery of the parish in the Con Trop area in Hamlet 9.

The coffin of the ancient tomb was like a solid block of stone.

After confirming that it was indeed the ancestral grave of their family, on January 8, 2017, the Tran Van family held a funeral ceremony for him again, moving his grave from the Dai Yen parish cemetery in Con Trop to the Tran family cemetery at Doi mountain, hamlet 9.

At around 5am on January 8th, when the Tran descendants gathered at Con Trop cemetery, they discovered that their ancestor's grave had been dug up by thieves during the night of January 7th. The grave was dug up, the coffin was tilted to one side, revealing the ancestor's body. The Tran descendants and those present that day were extremely surprised to discover that the body was still intact after nearly 350 years.

The body in the ancient tomb after nearly 350 years is still intact

This tomb has a structure of “inside the coffin, outside the coffin”. The coffin is a concrete-like compound that encases the coffin, about 2.2 m long, 0.75 m wide, and 0.8 m high. According to knowledgeable people, this compound is white in color, quite smooth, and can be made from molasses, crushed seashells, etc.

The coffin was likely made of mulberry wood, painted red on the inside, and the color was still bright. The coffin and the coffin were stuck together, and because the coffin had a broken bottom, the thief tipped the coffin over and pried off the coffin's "bottom" board.

Tran descendants buried their ancestor's grave at Doi mountain cemetery.

Mr. Tran Van Hung (34 years old) - Captain of Dung town, the 10th descendant of the ancestor, said that the body was wrapped in a thick layer of cloth from head to toe. On this layer of cloth, in the middle, from the neck to the waist, there were many strings tied together to form a diamond-shaped strip like a row of buttons. Notably, even though it had been buried for more than 350 years, the body was still intact.

In the coffin, there were many black, crumbly materials, a lot of cotton, a brown cloth bag about 25 cm long and more than 10 cm wide that had been cut open and was hollow (suspected that the thief had cut it open and taken the things inside), a board about 1 cm thick, lying inside the coffin that had been broken in half, on the board there were 7 round holes, about 2 cm in diameter, evenly punched. The things in the coffin gave off a fragrant smell like the smell of traditional Chinese medicine.

The discovery of an ancient tomb hundreds of years ago, “inside and outside the coffin”, with the body still intact is a rare and strange thing. Unfortunately, no specialized agency has had time to study and research this special tomb, so people’s discussions and questions about the tomb such as the exact age, burial techniques, embalming, “concrete” compound, scent… are still a mystery for the time being.

Huy Thu