Believed tomb of Chinese playwright 'improperly dug'

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Chinese authorities have asked to shut down the excavation of a tomb in the east of the country that is thought to contain the body of “China’s Shakespeare”, after accusing the archaeologists of failing to follow lines of reporting.

On August 28, the local government of Fuzhou city, Jiangxi Province held a press conference claiming that a cluster of 42 tombs found in the city belonged to ancient playwright Tang Xianzu and his family.

The excavation scene /Photo via The Paper

However, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) now says that the local government did not have the official approval it needed to hold the press conference, and that it had failed to notify the SACH about findings at the site.

Archaeologists had “improperly dug” the main structure of what is believed to be Tang’s tomb, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The excavation scene /Photo via The Paper

SACH opened an investigation into the excavation on August 31, three days after the press conference, according to China’s Sanlian Lifeweek Magazine.

Zhang Ling, deputy head of the archaeology section of the SACH, told the magazine that spadework had not followed the plan that SACH approved in April.

“The plan explicitly said 'the excavation should be carried out on the basis of abundant investigation and exploration, the digging should be limited to annexes and outbuildings only,'” Zhang said.

Instead, the archaeologists may have misunderstood and worked on the external structure of the tomb believed to be Tang’s, she added.

Tomb bricks with the Chinese character "Tang", the surname of Tang Xianzu /Photo via The Paper

More importantly, according to the official, the archaeologists and local authorities went ahead with the press conference without permission and without telling the SACH the significant findings they unearthed.

A portrait of Tang Xianzu /Photo via The Paper

Tang is often compared with his contemporaries Shakespeare and Cervantes, as they all died in 1616. The Chinese playwright’s masterpiece "The Peony Pavilion" tells the magical story of a poor, young scholar's love for a noblewoman.

Last year, Fuzhou City, Tang's birthplace, held events marking the 400th anniversary of the death of the three literacy giants. And a theater exchange program themed around Tang is set to hold in the city from September 24 to the end of October.