Gold-filled Ming Dynasty tomb found in China

BEIJING: A 500-year-old gold-filled tomb of a concubine turned military strategist from the Ming Dynasty has been discovered in China.

The brick tomb containing gold treasures was found at a construction site in Nanjing by archaeologists from Nanjing Municipal Museum and the Jiangning District Museum of Nanjing City.

The tomb also contains two stone epitaphs that tell the story of Lady Mei, a woman who went from being a concubine to becoming a political and military strategist.

The epitaphs unveil that Lady Mei was a 21-year-old "unwashed and unkempt" woman who "called herself the survivor."

She later became the mother of a duke who ruled a province in southwest China, 'Live Science' reported.

According to the epitaphs, which were translated from Chinese, Lady Mei came to wield much power, providing her son with "strategies for bringing peace to the barbarian tribes and pacifying faraway lands."

The treasures in her more than 500-year-old tomb include gold bracelets, a gold fragrance box and gold hairpins, all inlaid with a mix of gemstones, including sapphires, rubies and turquoise.

Lady Mei was one of three wives of Mu Bin, a Duke of Qian who ruled Yunnan, a province in southwest China, researchers said.