Three dock workers have been sentenced to prison after being convicted of stealing cultural relics from exposed Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD25) tombs in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, according to a report by The Paper on Saturday.

Photo: The People's Court of Wushan

The three men, identified as Liu and two other accomplices, were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from three years and 10 months to four years and six months, and each was fined 30,000 yuan ($4,190).

In 2011, Liu and his co-defendants discovered exposed tombs when the water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir receded. The trio excavated the site and found 20 items, including Western Han Dynasty bronze drinking and ritual vessels. They later gave up to the police and confessed their crimes in March 2024.

China has a large number of buried cultural relics, especially in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. As early as 2 million years ago, the famous Wushan Man lived in this area. The region is also known for the Bachu culture as well as cultural relics. 


Global Times