Han Dynasty brick relief illustrates salt-mining scene

Southwest China’s Sichuan province has boasted abundant well salt resources for more than 2,000 years. An Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) brick relief illustrates the salt-mining scene of that time.

On the brick, the processes of digging wells, drawing and transporting salt water, boiling salt and carrying firewood are vividly depicted, reflecting the advanced manufacturing technology of ancient Sichuan.

Excavated in Qionglai, Chengdu city, Sichuan province, during the Republic of China (1911-1949), the brick relief is in the permanent collection of the Sichuan Museum.