Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng belongs to the years before the Common Era — dated here to c. 433 BCE at Leigudun, China. The date is a scholarly centre of gravity, not a foundation-stone timestamp.
A Warring States burial with a 65-bell bronze bianzhong set still playable — a concert hall underground.
How it was made
Lacquer coffins, weapons, and bells inscribed with pitch names. Music as statecraft, buried whole.
Why it still counts as a wonder
It never needed a Greek list to be a wonder: the labour, the alignment, or the survival is enough.
It is a wonder of sound. Most tombs are silent; this one still has a score.
On dating
BCE in this series means years before the traditional birth of Christ, counted backward. A monument listed as c. 433 BCE may have been founded earlier, rebuilt later, or famous only in one phase. Where ancient writers disagree — as they do for Babylon’s gardens — we say so.
This is story 89 of 100 in The Trend Ledger’s illustrated desk on world wonders raised before the Common Era.