|Cliff Coffins of the Bo People |
The Cliff Coffins of the Bo People is the ancient grave groups before the Ming Dynasty. It is a Key Cultural Relic under State-level Protection. Located mainly in Matangba and Sumawan, the cliff coffins have interested a lot of tourists as they reveal a special burial method of putting coffins on the cliffs.
The Cliff Coffins in Matangba are the most important ones of cliff coffins of the Bo People in Gongxian County. Located at Matangba in the southwest of Luobiao Town in Gongxian County, most of the cliff coffins are on the cliffs near Guancaipu, Shiziyan, Jiuzhandeng, Dadongkou, Dengjiayan, Sanxiandong, Zhenzhusan, Laoyingyan and other places. The existing 223 cliff coffins are mainly supported by wood stakes. The coffins were normally put on the cliff between twenty to sixty m from the ground. Some were put on the cliffs more than 100 m high from the ground. There are traces of the holes of stakes like dense holes on bee hives and more than two hundred red frescos. The content of the rock paintings varies. There are figures riding, shooting, dancing, doing acrobatics, and all kind of animals, weapons as well as other geometry figures. The images are primitively simple and vivid.
The cliff coffins in Sumawan are located on the north bank of the Dengjiahe River of Haitang Village of Caoying Town. There are many ancient forts and villages on the mountain, on the opposite of which is the cliffs where Cliff coffins are located. Among the 42 existing coffins, seven were put in natural caves and rocks, 35 coffins were put on wood stakes.