Tomb of Zou Rong

Tomb of Zou Rong

The Tomb of Zou Rong is a Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a patriotic education base.

The Tomb of Zou Rong is located in Jianhua Village, Huajing Town, covering an area of over one mu. The tomb platform faces south and overlooks the main road, surrounded by evergreen pines and cypresses, giving it a solemn and respectful atmosphere. On both sides are square green spaces planted with various flowers and plants.

Zou Rong was born in 1885, four years younger than Mr. Lu Xun, and came from Chongqing. In 1902, he went to Japan to study. In 1903, he wrote the book "The Revolutionary Army." That same month, Zhang Taiyan published the article "Refutation of Kang Youwei's Theory on Revolution," in which the eight characters “载湉小丑，不辨菽麦” (transliterated here) shocked the nation. The "Su Case" erupted, Zhang Taiyan was arrested and imprisoned, and the next day Zou Rong voluntarily turned himself in (an act comparable to Tan Sitong’s, though constitutionalism was already a thing of the past at that time). Initially sentenced by the foreign concession to “life imprisonment,” the sentence was later commuted to two years of hard labor in prison due to public pressure. On April 3, 1905, Zou Rong died in prison. Some say he was killed, but there is no solid evidence.

According to the Shanghai Tong website: After Zou Rong's death, “his remains were thrown outside the prison wall. Fellow villagers working at the newspaper 'Zhongwai Ribao,' such as Chen Jingquan, prepared a simple coffin to collect his body and temporarily placed it in the Sichuan Guild Hall on North Sichuan Road, with 'Zhou Rong' engraved on the coffin to avoid detection by the Qing government. His friends regretted not being able to give him a proper burial site. On the night of February 29, the 32nd year of Guangxu (the first anniversary of Zou Rong's death, 1906), Liu Jiping from Huajing, Shanghai County, who admired Zou Rong’s revolutionary spirit, secretly gathered four fellow villagers and used a small boat to transport Zou Rong’s coffin to Huajing Town, where he was buried next to Liu's own residence, the Huangye Tower. Contractor Yang Sisheng contributed to the funeral expenses, and Cai Yuanpei wrote the inscription, still under the name Zhou Rong. After the Xinhai Revolution, when the provisional government was established, in the first year of the Republic of China (1912), Zou Rong was posthumously awarded the title of General. Because the burial site was remote, few people knew about it. In the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), Zhang Taiyan and others found the location of the tomb. In the 13th year, together with Zhang Shizhao, Zhang Ji, Li Genyuan, and Yu Youren, they initiated its restoration and erected a tomb stele. In 1963, the Shanghai County People’s Committee designated the Tomb of Zou Rong as a county-level cultural relics protection unit and allocated funds for its restoration. During the Cultural Revolution, the tomb was destroyed. In 1981, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, the Municipal Cultural Relics Management Committee rebuilt the Tomb of Zou Rong, with the tomb stele and epitaph remaining as the original artifacts. The tomb area covers approximately 800 square meters. The tomb is cylindrical, 2.36 meters high and 2.48 meters in diameter. Behind the tomb is a stone screen, and stone pavilions stand to the east and west. Inside the pavilions are stone tablets inscribed with the “Tomb Stele of General Zou Rong of Baxian County,” 1.06 meters high, written by Zhang Taiyan and calligraphed by Yu Youren. The western pavilion houses the epitaph, written by Zhang Taiyan and calligraphed by Li Genyuan. In front of the tomb is a stone altar. In the tomb path stands a tower-shaped tomb marker inscribed with “Tomb of Zou Rong,” 2.40 meters high. The surrounding area is planted with pines, cypresses, and wintergreens.”

In 1981, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government erected a plaque designating the Tomb of Zou Rong as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit.

Zou Rong (1885–1905), a renowned bourgeois revolutionary propagandist in modern China, was originally named Guiwen, also known as Weidan, Weidan, and Shaotao. He adopted the name Zou Rong while studying in Japan. A native of Baxian, Sichuan (now Chongqing), he was born into a commercial capitalist family. He took the Baxian county children’s examination but dropped out in anger over obscure exam questions, developing a strong aversion to the imperial examination system and the rigid Eight-Legged Essay. Following his father’s wishes, he entered the Chongqing Classics Academy but was expelled for scorning traditional learning. Later, he gradually became interested in reform and innovation. In the 27th year of Guangxu (1901), he went to Chengdu to apply for a government-sponsored study program in Japan. Due to his inclination toward reformist ideas, he was... More details about Zou Rong ++

Huajing Town: Originally known as Longhua Township, Huajing Town was transferred from Shanghai County to Xuhui District in 1992. In 1998, Longhua Township was abolished and Huajing Town was established. The area includes 15 administrative villages (five within the town proper and ten spread across six subdistrict areas, whose administrative jurisdiction was handed over to relevant subdistricts), 11 neighborhood committees, 446 resident groups. As of June 30, 2006, the town had an actual population of 64,303, including 60,517 permanent residents—27,521 registered residents and 18,846 migrant residents, along with 75... More details about Huajing Town ++