When Hong Kong workmen dug up 2,000-year-old tomb and were all set to demolish it until public’s enthusiasm saved the day
After discovery of tomb, officials declared it would be open to public for 10 days, then flattened. But public gatecrashed site on first day it was open, prompting a rethink and its preservation as Lei Cheng Uk museum
“Centuries Old Tomb Discovered In Kowloon”, ran a headline in the South China Morning Post on August 10, 1955. The story continued: “Workmen levelling hilly ground east of the Li Cheng Uk Resettlement Area at Tonkin Road, Kowloon, have unearthed what appears to be a centuries-old tomb.
“Early yesterday, the workmen […] uncovered an opening in the hillside which was lined with faded red brick.”
Though experts had yet to examine the site, preliminary investigations indicated “that the tomb was constructed between 220 A.D. and 618 A.D., between the Han and the Tang Dynasties”.
On August 12, a follow-up story revealed that “a perfect miniature clay stable, a broken bronze mirror, thin pieces of bronze basins and eight pots were uncovered from the north and east chambers”.
That same day, Professor F.S. Drake, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the University of Hong Kong, told reporters that there was no trace of a skeleton, and that “it might have disintegrated” or “the tomb might have been empty from the start”.