Changsha

City and capital of Hunan province, China, where Neolithic sites have been investigated since 1955. Isolated finds hint at Shang and Western Zhou settlement in this area. Over a thousand Chu burials have been excavated, with the richest being the early 2nd century BC tombs at Mawangdui. Artifacts from the Chu capital at Jiang-ling are comparable in date and importance.

[Ch’ang-sha]. Present-day capital of Hunan province, China. Only a few isolated finds hint at Shang and Western Zhou settlement in this area, but in Eastern Zhou and Han times Changsha was a major centre of the Chu culture. Well over a thousand Chu burials have been excavated in the neighbourhood, the richest by far being the early 2nd century bc tombs at Mawangdui. Changsha lay in the southern part of the Chu state; finds made at the Chu capital 250 km to the north at Jiang-ling are comparable in date and importance.