Zhao Mo

Zhào Mò (Chinese: 趙眜) was the second ruler of the kingdom of Nanyue (Vietnamese: Nam Việt). It included parts of southern China, as well as northern Vietnam. His capital was Pānyú, modern Guǎngzhōu. The culture of the kingdom encouraged assimilation between the native Yuè and immigrant Chinese. Zhào Mò was a grandson of Zhào Tuō (who had outlived his sons). Compared to his grandfather, Zhào Mò was considered a weak king and allowed Nam Việt to fall under the influence of China. (In traditional history, his political weakness is treated as a reflection of personal moral failing.) He rule began in 137 BC and ended with his death in 122 BC. Chinese-oriented historians consider Nanyue to be a Chinese kingdom. But in Vietnamese history, he is considered to be a ruler of the Trieu dynasty and a king of Vietnam.

Name

Records from this period were written in classical Chinese and are transliterated, typically into either pinyin (romanized Chinese) or into alphabetical Vietnamese. The given name 趙眜 transliterates as Zhào Mò in pinyin, but as Triệu Mạt in Vietnamese. Zhào/Triệu is a family name, so Zhào Mò's dynasty is referred to as the Triệu Dynasty. His temple name described him as the "literary emperor." (Chinese: 趙文帝; pinyin: Zhào Wén Dì; Vietnamese: Triệu Văn Đế).

Tomb

The tomb of Wen was discovered in 1983, 20 meters under Elephant Hill in Guangzhou on a construction site for a hotel, and has been excavated. The tomb measures 11 meters long and 12 meters wide. It is divided in seven parts, with a front chamber, east and west wing rooms, the main coffin chamber, east and west side rooms, and a back storage chamber. The tomb has yielded more than 1000 burial artifacts, and a chariot, gold and silver vessels, musical instruments, and human sacrifices were found (15 courtiers were buried alive with him to serve him in death). It is also the only tomb of the early Western Han Dynasty that has murals on its walls.

The tomb also yielded the oldest imperial seal discovered in a Chinese tomb: the seal, with the name "Zhào Mò", declared the royal corpse to be “Emperor Wen", indicating that he considered himself equal in rank to the Han ruler.

Alongside Chinese artifacts, pieces from the steppes, and Iranian and Hellenistic Central Asian regions have been found: a Persian silver box found in the tomb is the earliest imported product found to date in China.

The Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, located in Jiefang road in Guangzhou, stands on the site of the tomb of Zhào Mò.

See also

• The Nanyue King's Tomb slideshow
• Museum of the Nanyue King Mausoleum

References