Curious farmer uncovers governor's tomb

When a farmer in north China's Hebei province curiously dug up some loose earth on his cropland on Monday, he found a stone horse and a stone goat that eventually led to the discovery of a senior official's tomb.

Underneath the 2-tonne horse and the 0.5-tonne goat, archeologists found the tomb of Chen Tingmo, a governor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a spokesman of Cheng'an county government said Friday.

He said Chen, who died in 1638 at the age of 46, was a native of Cheng'an county. According to history books, Chen's tomb is located in the western Gaolingfu Village of Cheng'an county, exactly where villager Han Liang found the stone animals, which experts said were typical guardians of Ming Dynasty tombs.

Chen, who was governor of the southwestern Sichuan Province at the height of his political career, was widely recognized as a clean and knowledgeable official.