Cultural relics from the Southern Song Dynasty at the Quzhou Museum. [Photo/qz828.com]

Seven pieces of national first-class cultural relics from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) are the highlights of the Quzhou Museum in Quzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

These precious cultural relics were excavated from the tomb of Shi Shengzu and his wife Yang.

The seven cultural relics include a golden baby sculpture, a golden hairpin, silver shoes, a white jade writing brush washer, a jade paperweight, a jade vase, a jade belt buckle and two pen racks.

Lotus leaf-shaped white jade writing brush washer

The white jade writing-brush washer is shaped like a lotus leaf. [Photo/qz828.com]

The lotus leaf-shaped white jade writing brush washer is made of Hetian jade and is highly valuable for the study of the life, burial customs, and sense of aesthetics of officials at that time.

The items unearthed from the tomb of Shi Shengzu, who was a mid-level official in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), are exquisite and fully reflect the craftsmanship of gold, silver and jade products in the Southern Song Dynasty. These items are also shining examples of how developed the economy and culture in Quzhou were during that period, said Mao Hui, director of the Quzhou Museum.