Shou Qiu
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Shou Qiu () is a historical site on the eastern outskirts of the city of
Qufu Qufu ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, and a total population of ...
in
Shandong Province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizatio ...
, China. According to the legend, Shou Qiu is the birthplace of the
Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...
. Shou Qiu itself is today marked only by a pyramidal monument, covered in stone in the 12th century, that represents the legendary hill itself. It is now part of the same complex as the tomb of Shaohao, the son of the Yellow Emperor. Because Shaohao's tomb stands very closely behind the pyramidal monument, the pyramid is often mistaken as the tomb itself. Shou Qiu was encased in stone in the 12th century, resulting in a step pyramid. At its top is a small pavilion. The structure seen today dates from the
Qianlong The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his Temple name, temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing empe ...
era. The pavilion contains a small statue, the identity of which is now uncertain; since the Qing dynasty reorganisation of the enclosure, the statue has been identified as one of Shaohao. In the 11th century, a large complex was built around the pyramid, including governmental buildings and a shrine to the Yellow Emperor himself. The reigning
Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
emperors at the time venerated the Yellow Emperor as their ancestor, so the shrine was intended to feature two giant turtle-borne steles that were much larger than was usual for temples. Today, the two stele are all that remain of the original complex. They now stand near the Shou Qiu monument with a small lake between them. The western stele is known as the "Qing Shou" Stele (); the eastern stele as the "Wan Ren Chou" Stele (), supposedly because it took so many people to move it. The former shrine to the Yellow Emperor on the site was built in 1012 CE, during the Xuanhe era of the
Huizong Huizong are different temple names used for emperors of China. It may refer to: * Wang Yanjun (died 935, reigned 928–935), emperor of the Min dynasty * Emperor Huizong of Western Xia (1060–1086, reigned 1067–1086), emperor of Western Xia * E ...
Emperor of the
Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
.Peter Valder, Gardens in China, Timber Press, 2002, p. 111
/ref> The steles were also carved on site during the time, but were left lying on the ground unfinished, because the Song Dynasty lost control of the area to the invading
Jurchens Jurchen (Manchu language, Manchu: ''Jušen'', ; zh, 女真, ''Nǚzhēn'', ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking peoples, descended from the Donghu people. They ...
in the
Jin–Song wars The Jin–Song Wars were a series of conflicts between the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty (1115–1234) and the Han-led Song dynasty (960–1279). In 1115, Jurchen tribes rebelled against their overlords, the Khitan-led Liao dynasty (916–1125) ...
. After suffering further damage during the Cultural Revolution, the steles were restored in 1992. Missing fragments that could not be located had to be replaced; some say that this resulted in some changes of the
giant tortoises Giant tortoises are any of various large land tortoises Giant tortoise or giant tortoises may also refer to: * Galápagos giant tortoise, ''Chelonoidis nigra'' are a complex of the largest living species of tortoise. :: Pinta giant tortoise or ...
' appearance: according to one local guide, "the older claws were sharper and showed more strength. The newer replicas are flabby and lack character." With more than in height, the steles are among the tallest in China. The "Wan Ren Chou" Stele, which (including the turtle base and the dragon crown) is 16.95 m tall, 3.75 m wide, 1.14 m thick, and weighs 250 tons, is often said to be the largest blank stele in China.Pauline D Loh,
Sons of the Yellow Emperor
. 2011-07-31, ''China Daily''. (This appeared in the hard copy of the newspaper on 2011-08-01)
File:Shou Qiu - western turtle - seen from the E - P1050843.JPG, The ''Qing Shou'' Stele File:Qiu Shou - western turtle - Qing Shou Bei - P1050784.JPG, The ''Qing Shou'' Stele, close-up File:Shou Qiu - eastern turtle - seen from SE - P1050825.JPG, The ''Wan Ren Chou'' Stele


See also

*
Shaohao Tomb The Mausoleum of Shaohao () is located in the north-east of Jiuxian Village, on the eastern outskirts of the city of Qufu in Shandong Province, China. The mausoleum complex honours Shaohao, the son of the first mythical Chinese ruler (the Yellow ...
, nearby site (just 100 m to the north of the stele), traditionally believed to be the burial site of the Yellow Emperor's son, and which encloses the Shou Qiu monument itself *
Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor () is the alleged burial site of the legendary Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) of China. It is located in Huangling County, Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province, China. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor attained immort ...
, in
Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...
,
Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
*
Han Family Tombs Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese ...
(), a monumental complex at the graves of the Tang-era ''
jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate", ...
''
Han Yunzhong Han Yunzhong () (814–874), né Han Junxiong (), was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang dynasty who seized control of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) in a mutiny and subsequently ruled it as its military governor ...
and his relatives, in Shandong's
Shen County Shen County (), or Shenxian, is a county of western Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the south and southwest and Hebei to the west. It is the southernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Liaoc ...
.韩王墓
(Tombs of Princes Han).
It is centered around a pair of giant tortoise-borne stelae fairly similar to those at Shou Qiu.


References

{{Shandong topics Qufu