Sunday 18 December 2016

Lady Xin Zhui

Lady Xin Zhui was the wife of a minor Chinese nobleman during the Han dynasty. She lived an extravagant lifestyle for the time and place, eating a lot of meat and generally sitting around not needing to work. Luxury eventually caught up with her when she died, morbidly obese, of a heart attack in the year 163 BCE.
When her body was discovered in 1971, her skin was still soft and her limbs could still flex at the joints. Lady Zhui is no Snow White, but the preservation after over 2000 years is still uncanny. It is unclear what caused her body to remain in this state. There are no signs of either embalming or sainthood.
mentalfloss  everlastingblort