From a tomb sealed in Chongqing more than two millennia ago, three lacquer boxes have emerged as quiet witnesses to the deliberate intelligence of Han dynasty craftspeople. Dated to 186 BCE, these objects — now subjected to six modern analytical techniques — reveal not improvisation but specification: chosen woods, layered coatings, and pigments applied with purpose. In decoding their chemistry, researchers have given the ancient artisans something they could not have anticipated — a permanent record of their knowledge.