

A man who pulled over for a roadside leak in Chengdu, Sichuan province last week was rewarded with a porcelain figurine from the Song Dynasty that he managed to uncover with his mighty stream.

According to Chengdu Business Daily, the 20-year-old man surnamed Xu was on his way home from work when he pulled over next to a mound of dirt to drain the lizard. After shaking it off, the man looked down to see the head of a ceramic figurine peeking up from the loosened soil. After digging the object out from the dirt (with two sticks, according to record) he took it home with him.

Xu passed the figurine along to local cultural authorities who identified it as a kowtowing female dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The statuettes were usually buried near tombs in pairs, a male and a female, to ward off evil spirits, according to Li Tiechui, a senior consultant from the Ancient Ceramic Research Center in Sichuan. Such objects were often used in Song-time funeral rites and a local provincial community already showcases two similar figurines.

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