The Yongling Mausoleum (), commonly known as the tomb of Wang Jian (), is the burial place of Wang Jian (847–918), the founding emperor of

Former Shu Great Shu (Chinese: 大蜀, Pinyin: Dàshǔ) called in retrospect Former Shu (Chinese: 前蜀, Pinyin: Qiánshǔ) or occasionally Wang Shu (王蜀), was one of the Ten Kingdoms formed during the chaotic period between the rules of the Tang dynas ...

. It is located at 10 Yongling Road,

Jinniu District Jinniu District () is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, Southwest China. It is bordered by Chenghua District to the east, Qingyang District to the southwest, Pi County to the north ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China. In the

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...

dynasty (923–937), Emperor

Meng Zhixiang Meng Zhixiang (; 10 May 874–7 September 934, courtesy name Baoyin, ;''New History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 64. formally Emperor Gaozu of (Later) Shu ) was a general of the Later Tang who went on to found the independent state of Later Sh ...

issued a decree to protect the tomb. However, the auxiliary buildings of the site decayed from the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

(960-1127) on. Only the

grave mound A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

and the

coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...

chamber survive. It was excavated between 1940 and 1943 by the archaeologist Feng Hanji and others and confirmed as Wang Jian's tomb. A number of cultural relics were found, which were transferred to Sichuan Museum. It has twice been listed as a cultural relics protection site in Sichuan Province. In 2001 a tomb passage was rebuilt in the style of other

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

imperial

mausoleums A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

Description

The Yongling Mausoleum is located at 10 Yongling Road,

, China. To date, it is the only ancient Chinese royal tomb found with the coffin chamber above ground. The grave mound is circular, and the coffin chamber is located underneath the middle of the mound. The chamber has three rooms, with a coffin in the middle room and a stone statue of Wang Jian in a sitting position in the room behind.

History

Wang Jian (847 – July 11, 918), formally Emperor Gaozu, was the founding emperor of the

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

state

. He died in the first year of the ''Tianguang'' period (918 CE) at the age of 72, with a temple name of ''Gaozu'' and was buried in Chengdu.欧阳修等《新五代史·卷六十三·前蜀世家第三》：王建，字光图，许州舞阳人也。......（天复）三年八月，唐封建蜀王。......武成元年正月，祀天南郊，大赦，改元......六月，以遂王宗懿为皇太子。建加尊号英武睿圣皇帝。......光天元年六月，建卒，年七十二。......谥建曰神武圣文孝德明惠皇帝，庙号高祖，陵曰永陵。 In December 918 and again in March 925 (the first year of the ''Xiankang'' period), Wang Yan, Wang Jian's successor, visited the tomb to show his respect. In 933 (the fourth year of the ''Changxing'' era of the Later Tang dynasty),

had the tomb renovated and formally prohibited the cutting of firewood in the nearby area. In 1014 (the 7th year of the ''Dazhongxiangfu'' era of the

), several of the mausoleum buildings were demolished, and the material used to repair a local

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

temple named ''Yuejuhua''. The remaining buildings were served as a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple named ''Yongning'', renamed ''Yongqingyuan'' in 1103 (the second year of the ''Chongning'' period of the Northern Song Dynasty). The whole structure was later destroyed by fire, with only the grave mound surviving. The location of the tomb was not recorded accurately in historical records. The most widespread description of its location was in a poem by

Lu You Lu You (; 1125–1210) was a Chinese historian and poet of the Southern Song Dynasty (南宋). Career Early life and marriage Lu You was born on a boat floating in the Wei River early on a rainy morning, November 13, 1125. At the time of his b ...

, which described the tomb of Wang Jian along with that of his empress as being located immediately outside the "Old West Gate". The poem described the grave as having already been heavily damaged, stating that only two stone columns, carved with scriptures, and several huge human and horse statues still stood. Since then, records of the tomb in local

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

s followed Lu You's description.

Excavation

In 1940, brick walls of the grave were discovered during the construction of a bomb shelter. The discovery drew the attention of Feng Hanji, an

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

professor at

Huaxi University The West China Union University ( zh, t=華西協合大學), also called West China University or Huaxi University, was a private university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. It was the product of the collective efforts of four Protestant, denominational ...

. After an investigation, Feng identified the mound as an ancient tomb. Due to conditions at the time, the exposed parts of the site had to be temporarily closed, and an

excavation Excavation may refer to: * Excavation (archaeology) * Excavation (medicine) * ''Excavation'' (The Haxan Cloak album), 2013 * ''Excavation'' (Ben Monder album), 2000 * ''Excavation'' (novel), a 2000 novel by James Rollins * '' Excavation: A Memo ...

plan was not developed until the establishment of the Sichuan Museum in 1941. On September 15, 1942, the excavation of the tomb began, led by Feng Hanji and Liu Fuzhang. The tomb was filled with

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

, and archaeologists were only able to clear a 3-meter path to the chambers. During the excavation, several items made of

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

were unearthed and it was determined that the tomb was the Mausoleum of Wang Jian. The site of the tomb is close to the location given in Lu You's poem, but the archaeologists did not find the huge stone human statue it described. The

sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...

, Michael Sullivan joined the excavation; he was mistaken by a

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

student for a foreign

grave robber Grave robbery, tomb robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a grave, tomb or crypt to steal commodities. It is usually perpetrated to take and profit from valuable artefacts or personal property. A related act is body snatching, a term ...

, reported to government officials, and detained along with other archaeologists. The excavation work was interrupted by this misunderstanding. In November 1942, the excavation work was temporarily suspended. On March 1, 1943, the archaeologist Wu Jinding and Wang Zhenduo, an expert in museology, launched the second stage of the excavation. This stage focused on the southern part of the grave mound and the main chamber. The excavation discovered traces of grave robbing and unearthed a large number of cultural relics. On September 21, all excavation work was completed. The cultural relics were transferred to Sichuan Museum, and the mound was closed again. In 1971, when building a house to the south of the tomb, a member of the Fuqin production brigade of Chengdu Jinniu District found a stone statue high, confirming the Lu You's description.

Recent developments

The tomb of Wang Jian has twice been listed as a cultural relics protection site in Sichuan Province: in 1956 and 1980. In 1961, it was listed as a national key cultural relics protection site. In 2001 a tomb passage was rebuilt on the south side of the Wang Jian Tomb, using materials and techniques found in other

imperial mausoleums; and several stone statues were added by the Yongling Museum.

In popular culture

The grave is widely believed to be the location of the legendary meeting between

Sima Xiangru Sima Xiangru ( , ; c. 179117BC) was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician who lived during the Western Han dynasty. Sima is a significant figure in the history of Classical Chinese poetry, and is generally regarded as the greatest of all com ...

and

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...

, two famous military strategists during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period. According to the folk legend, they played the ''qin'', a traditional Chinese musical instrument, on the grave mound during their meeting. This caused the grave mound to be named ''Fuqintai'', meaning the place where ''qin'' are played.

Note

References

{{reflist, 2, refs= 欧阳修等《新五代史·卷六十三·前蜀世家第三》：王建，字光图，许州舞阳人也。......（天复）三年八月，唐封建蜀王。......武成元年正月，祀天南郊，大赦，改元......六月，以遂王宗懿为皇太子。建加尊号英武睿圣皇帝。......光天元年六月，建卒，年七十二。......谥建曰神武圣文孝德明惠皇帝，庙号高祖，陵曰永陵。 {{Cite book , editor=傅璇琮 , editor2=徐海荣 , editor3=徐吉军 , display-editors=etal , script-title=zh:五代史书汇编10·蜀梼杌 , location = 杭州 , publisher = 杭州出版社 , date = 2004-05-01 , pages =6707 , ISBN =7-80633-648-6 {{Cite book , author=陆游 , editor = 钱仲联 , script-title=zh:剑南诗稿·上 , location = 长沙 , publisher = 岳麓书社 , date = 1998-09-01 , pages =790 , ISBN =7-80520-809-3 {{Cite book , author=冯汉骥 , script-title=zh:前蜀王建墓发掘报告 , location = 北京 , publisher = 文物出版社 , date = 2002-10-01 , pages =93 , ISBN =7-5010-1386-1 {{cite journal , author = 李志嘉 , date=June 1980 , title=王建墓 , journal=文物 , pages=94–97, 109 {{cite journal , author = 陈古全 , date=June 1981 , title=成都永陵出土石人 , journal=文物 , pages=28 {{Cite book , author=（宋）黄休复 , script-title=zh:茅亭客话 , location = 北京 , publisher = 中华书局 , date = 1991 , pages =86 , ISBN =7-101-00894-1 {{Cite book , editor=（宋）袁说友等；赵小兰整理 , script-title=zh:成都文类·下 , location = 北京 , publisher = 中华书局 , date = 2011-12-01 , pages =449-1458 , ISBN =978-7-101-07436-9 {{cite news, language =zh-cn, url =http://www.cdylbwg.org/newspic.aspx?mid=444&sid=, title =千载帝陵图册, publisher =成都永陵博物馆, date =2013, access-date =2018-02-09, url-status =live, archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180318000458/http://www.cdylbwg.org/newspic.aspx?mid=444&sid=, archive-date =2018-03-18 {{cite news, language =zh-cn, url =http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2015-12/21/c_1117525176.htm, title =建在地表券拱结构成都永陵王建墓室如此出众, publisher =成都日报, date =2015-12-21, access-date =2018-02-09, url-status =dead, archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180314174748/http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2015-12/21/c_1117525176.htm, archive-date =2018-03-14 {{cite news, language =zh-cn, url =http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2012-07/03/content_1075329.htm, title =永陵访古, publisher =人民日报海外版, date =2012-07-03, access-date =2018-02-09, url-status =live, archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180316023030/http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2012-07/03/content_1075329.htm, archive-date =2018-03-16 Buildings and structures completed in 918 Tombs in China Former Shu Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Sichuan Tourist attractions in Chengdu 10th-century establishments in China 918 establishments 1940 archaeological discoveries