Ancient Chinese attached equal importance to decoration of coffin chambers and coffins.

A court lady carved on the stone coffin belong to a prince of the Tang Dynasty.

housing structures, or in the shape of a bed with the four sides surrounded by screens.

    In Datong of Shanxi Province, archeologists found a bed-like coffin in the tomb of a person named Sima Jinlong who lived during the Northern Wei period (386-543). The coffin consists of six fine sand stone blocks, with the lower part of one carved into three legs. The legs have giants in relief carrying the "'bed" on their backs. In between the legs there are carved patterns of waves and flowers, and the space surrounded by the legs feature relieves of dragons, tigers, phoenixes, legendary birds with gold wings and birds with human heads. These are magnificent with smooth lines and lively figures, and human figures are roughly in the same artistic style as stone statues in Yungang Grottoes built during the same period.

    Stone coffins have been found also in tombs in Luoyang , Henan , which were built during the Northern Dynasties period. It is said that in the past, tomb robbers unearthed no less than ten stone coffins from ancient tombs in the area including a few with drawings done by line cutting on them. One stone coffin in the collection of an art museum in Texas, the United States, has three groups of carved drawings on either side. Each group consists of up to three

Relief on a stone coffin of the Sui Dynasty.

A group of maidservants as depicted in a mural in the tomb of Princess Yong Tai of the Tang Dynasty.

    In tombs of the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties, archeologists have found stone coffins and screens erected round bed-like coffins with drawings carved with fine lines. Carved drawings of the Northern Qi have been found in Qingzhou. Shandong which depict travel of the tomb occupier with ox carts and camels carrying his belongings. One drawing, in particular, shows people paying tribute to the tomb occupier. Unfortunately, the stone coffin had been ruined by the time the tomb was opened, and it is impossible to piece together bits of the drawings for something more meaningful.

    In 2000, archeologists identified a tomb in a village near Xi'an as belonging to a man named An Jia from Central Asia who died in 570, during the Northern Zhou period. The coffin has I I screen-like walls round its bed. All the "'screens" are decorated with relieves, each consisting of two vertical columns, which depict travels, hunting, feasting and dancing. The relieves are painted or covered with gold leafs and the colors were still bright when the tomb was opened.

    In 1999, a stone coffin in the shape of a palace hall was found in a tomb of the Sui Dynasty (581-618). The tomb owner, whose Chinese name was Yu Hong, was from Central Asia, and died in 592 in China. Though the coffin resembles a typical Chinese palace structure, relieves on its walls are distinctly foreign in composition and artistic style. Many images are clearly of Sasanian. A kingdom that existed from 224 to 651 in Persia. The relief on the front wall of the coffin depicts the tomb owner, in Sasanian clothes, wining and dining. The base of the coffin bears two relieves of fire attended by a divine bird with a human head, the logo of Zoroastrianism. Like those on An Jia's coffin, relieves on Yu Hong's coffin are painted and coated with gold leafs, which are perfectly preserved.

    The stone coffins of Yu Hong and An Jia are highly valued not only as artistic objects, but also as important material documentation for study of exchanges between China and foreign countries in ancient times and of the spread of Zoroastrianism in the country.