Scientists used DNA from Emperor Zhou Wu’s remains to recreate his portrait, who made great contributions to unifying China in the 6th century.
Emperor Wu of Zhou ruled under the Northern Zhou Dynasty from 560 until his death in 578, at the age of 36. He is best known for building a powerful army, unifying northern China after defeating the Northern Dynasty. Qi. However, the cause of this emperor’s death at such a young age has long been a controversial issue. Some historians wonder whether he was poisoned by his enemies. Others believe he died of an unknown illness.
Archaeologists first discovered the tomb of Emperor Wu of Zhou in 1996. The tomb contained the emperor’s remains, including a nearly complete skull, from which the team was able to obtain DNA for analysis. genetic accumulation. “Our research helps revive historical figures,” said Pianpian Wei, assistant professor in the Department of Museology and Cultural Heritage at Fudan University in Shanghai.
According to research published on March 28 in the journal Current Biology, đIt is an image of a man with brown eyes, black hair and dark skin, similar to people in North Asia and East Asia today. The study also confirmed that Wu was from the Xianbei, a nomadic people living in what is now Mongolia and northern China. DNA analysis shows that the Xianbei people migrated from southern to northern China, mixing with the Han people. “This is an important piece of information for understanding how ancient people were distributed in Eurasia and how they integrated with local people,” said Shaoqing Wen, a doctoral student in archaeological science at the Fudan University, shares.
“Some scholars believe that the Xianbei people had unusual appearances such as thick beards, high nose bridges and blond hair. Our analysis shows that Emperor Wu of Zhou had facial features typical of East Asia or East Asia. North Asia,” Wen said.
New DNA analysis also confirmed that Emperor Zhou Wu most likely died from stroke complications. This analysis is consistent with historical records describing Wu as suffering from aphasia, an inability to understand or express clearly due to brain damage, sunken eyelids and abnormal gait, potential symptoms of stroke.
The research team now plans to continue their analysis by studying people who once lived in Chang’an, an ancient capital in northwest China. It was the capital of many Chinese emperors for thousands of years and was located at the eastern end of the Silk Road, a key trade route that existed from the 2nd century BC to the 15th century.