Portable lodge from the fifth century BCE: a study of the tent of the Marquis Yi of Zeng

Abstract

Abstract A set of bronze parts, excavated in a funeral pit next to the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (Hubei, China), is recently restored to its rightful shape, a hip-roof tent from the fifth century BCE. Measured 10m long and built with 127 wooden poles and 338 bronze parts, it is considered to be the largest and the most complicated tent in pre-imperial China, which is portable, easy to assemble, disassemble, and manufactured in an engineering design context.