Reading between the lines

This immensely powerful figure was not lying there all alone. In fact, his burial pit is among 10 others arranged in two lines that make up what's known today as the Fanshan Cemetery. Collectively, the 11 tombs have yielded nearly 7,000 jade items, most of which were finely crafted.

If the pharaohs had chosen to cover themselves with gold, one of the biggest assets of ancient Egypt, then the Liangzhu rulers did so with jade, a substance that had endowed them with the same supreme power.

Equally interesting is the fact that this burial ground is merely a trench away from a palatial complex that lies to its southeast. Composed of three earth mounds piled on top of a rammed-earth platform measuring about 630 meters from east to west, and 450 meters from north to south, the whole structure is believed to have once sustained the weight of some monumental constructions.

"They were more likely to be temples of worship than residential palaces," says Wang.

The archaeologist became increasingly convinced of his judgment, as the true scale of the Liangzhu Ruins, including a walled city centered on the complex and a colossal water conservancy system affecting an area as vast as 100 million square meters, has been uncovered over the past 15 years.