Tianzi Jialiu Museum Luoyang

The museum is built over the sacrificial pit area for the emperors in Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770BC – 256BC) with its capital at the site of the present-day Luoyang. The burial of the royal horse and chariots here in Luoyang is earlier than that of the Terracotta Warriors during Qin Dynasty (221–206 B.C.) in Xian.

The city of Luoyang went through thirteen dynasties and 105 emperors starting Xia Dynasty (2070BC-1600BC), Shang Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC), Eastern Zhou Dynasty(770BC-256BC), Beiwei Dynasty (493AD-534AD), Sui Dynasty (605AD-619AD) and more with a history of over 4,000 years!

“Tianzi” means emperors, while “Jialiu” means their chariots driven by 6 horses. The discovery of the Tianzi Jialiu Site has a great impact on Chinese archaeology and history.

It is proof that in the Zhou Dynasty, the emperors had 6 horses to drive their chariots; the vassals 5 horses; the ministers 4 horses; scholar-bureaucrats 3 horses; scholar-officials 2 horses, and Common People 1 horse, a kind of strict etiquette formed in Zhou Dynasty, which had been only recorded in ancient books before it was discovered underground in 2002. So the number of the horses indicated the rank and identity of the nobles.

In 2002, the expansion construction of the Luohe Center Plaza stumbled upon the sacrificial site of the Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits. Its discovery immediately arose the great attention of the local government. A special expert team was set up to access and study the site ending up with a detailed protection proposal.

The construction expansion of Luohe Central Plaza was halted, and a new museum was established. On October 01, 2003, the museum was open to the public. So the horse and chariots site has been there for over 2000 years!

– Tour-Beijing.com Website Museum of Luoyang Eastern Zhou Royal Horse and Chariot Pits