In 2002, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration drew up its first list of treasures that may never leave the country for an exhibition: 64 objects. The Changxin Palace Lamp is one of them. It was found in 1968, when army engineers working inside Lingshan hill at Mancheng, Hebei, broke into the tombs of a Western Han prince and his wife. In her tomb knelt a gilded bronze servant girl, 48 cm tall, holding up a lamp. Her raised sleeve is the hood: the smoke rises into it, runs down her hollow right arm into her hollow body, and the soot settles at the bottom. She is cast in six separate pieces that slot together, so she can be taken apart and cleaned. One of the two curved screens slides to dim the light, and the lamp plate turns to aim it. The lamp also carries the names of three households. "Yangxin household" (阳信家) is neatly inscribed six times. "Changxin" (长信), the palace of Empress Dowager Dou, was scratched in later, more roughly; the lamp's modern name comes from it. Its last owner was Dou Wan, wife of her grandson Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, and the lamp was buried with her. That it was a gift from the Empress Dowager is likely, not certain. In 2021 a lamp inspired by its design carried the flame for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics from Athens to Beijing. Who was the "Yangxin household"? Historians still disagree: Liu Jie, Marquis of Yangxin (his son lost the title in 151 BC, Shiji ch. 19), or Princess Yangxin, Emperor Wu's elder sister (based on 1981 finds of "Yangxin household" bronzes near the Maoling mausoleum). SOURCES • Hebei Museum, collection page on the Changxin Palace Lamp (archived 2010) and CCTV "Han Tombs" special • Fan Dewei, research curator, Hebei Museum (China News Service, 2023): structure, smoke path, sliding screen • Xinhua, 28 Aug 2019 (discovery, 1968) and 20 Oct 2021 (flame lamp design and journey from Athens) • Li Zecong, China Art News / CSSN, 3 Mar 2023; Shijiazhuang Daily, 3 Nov 2024 (the inscriptions) • Sima Qian, Shiji, ch. 19 and ch. 111 NOTES • Many articles say there is water inside her body to trap the smoke. Neither the museum nor its curator says so, so we don't show it. • The casting year is disputed (172 or 150 BC, depending on how the inscription is read), so the video gives none. • 3D scenes are reconstructions, not historical footage; the inner joints are schematic. The tunnel scene is an AI-assisted illustration. The Chang'an plan and the maps are schematic. CREDITS • Photos: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0: Cangminzho (长信宫灯河北博物院.jpg), 陳寅恪 (长信宫灯2.png), 我乃野云鹤 (Chang Xin Gong Deng 03.jpg), wcr1993 (inscription close-up), Refrain on zh.wikipedia (ChangXingongdeng 2.jpg) • Map data: Natural Earth (public domain) • Music: "That Zen Moment" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) • Narration: AI voice #ChineseHistory #HanDynasty #AncientChina #Shorts - @standing.history