Lady Dai’s mummy is in such magnificent condition that she is sometimes called the Sleeping Beauty of China. Despite her over 2,100 years, she looks pretty good, but scientific studies show that this noble woman lived a lavish lifestyle that was detrimental to her health.
Lady Dai’s tomb, also known as Xin Zhui, was accidentally discovered by construction workers in Mawangdui, near Changsha, China, in the 1960s. With the help of hundreds of schoolchildren, archaeologists excavated the site in the early 1970s and uncovered three tombs dedicated to the family of Li Cang, the Marquess of Dai, who held significant power in the western Han dynasty (206 BC to 9 AD).
Alongside his wife, Lady Dai, who died in 163 BC, thousands of things were also buried in one of these tombs, including delicate silk manuscripts from the ancient Han dynasty, polished vessels, and herbal remedies made with cinnamon, magnolia bark, and black pepper.
A third tomb contained the body of a younger man, possibly their son or Lady Dai’s brother. Strangely, however, unlike Lady Dai, Li Cang and the young man’s remains had truly succumbed to time.
The mummy, which is about 2,100 years old, is in extraordinary condition. His veins are still filled with clotted blood, and most of his soft tissues are intact. His wrinkled body looks more like a fresh cadaver on a funeral table than an old mummy from an old dynasty.
There are a few clues as to how it has stayed in such good shape all these years. The body was found cocooned in the innermost part of four lacquered coffins covered with a beautiful silk painting. In addition, his body was wrapped in 18 layers of silk and linen clothing. When all these factors came together, it protected the body quite well.
Also, the coffin was filled with a strange, clear liquid that turned brown after exposure to air. Some believe that this fluid is his bodily fluids, but others suspect that it may be a traditional Chinese herbal solution that aids the preservation process.
Detailed autopsy of the body by Chinese scientists showed that the health of this noble woman was actually quite bad. He appears to have died in his 50s from a heart attack shortly after eating. The researchers write that this is likely the result of a wasteful and lazy lifestyle that caused her to become overweight and diabetic.
“Judging by the fact that she was a noblewoman with a richly paved tomb and many servants waiting for her,” one Chinese scholar wrote, “it probably didn’t need much effort.”
Examination of his body also determined his last meal. They found more than 100 musk melon seeds in his esophagus and stomach, and researchers believe he “swallowed them in great haste.”
Lady Dai’s mummy is now housed in the Hunan Provincial Museum next to the glass jars containing her organs. It is often said that people visited the corpse in the belief that this ancient woman was keeping some sort of secret to longevity.
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