A glimpse into Sui Dynasty China from the tomb of a young princess

A new exhibition showcasing artifacts belonging to 9-year-old princess Li Jingxun from China's Sui Dynasty (581–618 AD) has opened at the National Museum of China in Beijing.

The exhibition offers a rare complete display of more than 240 pieces and sets of cultural relics from the museum's own collection, together with over 150 additional artifacts from more than 10 museums across China, including Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Ningxia and Tianjin.

Centered on the artifacts unearthed from the Sui Dynasty tomb of Li Jingxun – discovered undisturbed in 1957 near Xi'an in Shaanxi Province – the exhibition showcases representative treasures from important archaeological finds spanning the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-589 AD) to the Sui Dynasty. It is divided into four thematic sections that illuminate the art, culture and connections of the era.

Li Jingxun (600-608 AD) was a Sui princess who died at the tender age of nine. Born into one of the most powerful aristocratic families of the time, she was the beloved granddaughter of Empress Dowager Yang Lihua. Raised in the imperial palace under her grandmother's care, she had a lavish tomb that reflects the profound imperial favor bestowed upon this young girl and offers a window into the royal daily life, Silk Road exchanges and cultural fusion of late 6th and early 7th-century China.