Tomb of Zong Ze

Tomb of Zong Ze

The Tomb of Zong Ze is located at the northern foot of Jingxiang Mountain, 2.5 kilometers east of Zhenjiang City. Locals refer to it as Zong Ze Mountain or the Zong Family Tomb. Zong Ze, courtesy name Rulin, was a native of Yiwu, Zhejiang. He passed the imperial examination in the sixth year of the Yuanyou era (1091) during the Song Dynasty and served in various local government positions, gaining a reputation for integrity and competence. In the first year of the Xuanhe era (1119), he was appointed to an official post in Nanjing but was later demoted and exiled to Zhenjiang due to false accusations. After his wife, Lady Chen, passed away, she was buried on Jingxiang Mountain. Zong Ze then built a thatched cottage by Longmu Lake at the foot of the mountain. Later, after being pardoned, he was appointed in the first year of the Jingkang era (1126) as the Commander-in-Chief of the Volunteer Army in Hebei, and was soon promoted to Deputy Marshal. After the capture of Emperors Huizong and Qinzong by the Jin forces, Zong Ze remained to defend Kaifeng. Eager to reclaim lost territories, Zong Ze submitted 24 memorials to Emperor Gaozong (Zhao Gou) urging him to return to the capital, but these were rejected by the appeasement faction. Overwhelmed with frustration and illness, Zong Ze eventually passed away and was posthumously honored with the title “Loyal and Upright.”

After Zong Ze’s death, his son Zong Ying and his student Yue Fei escorted his coffin to Zhenjiang for burial alongside his wife. In 1934, a stone memorial archway was erected at the entrance of the tomb pathway, which was destroyed in 1966. The tomb was renovated in 1984, with the project completed in June of the same year. The restoration of Zong Ze’s Tomb followed the original layout, facing south and extending northward. The circular tomb enclosure was built against the mountain slope using block stones, with a diameter of over 9 meters. The burial mound itself has a diameter of 3.5 meters and is surrounded by an arc-shaped stone wall for protection. It is covered with a mound of earth, reaching a total height of 2 meters. In front of the tomb stands a marble stele, 1.9 meters high, inscribed with “Tomb of Zong Ze, Loyal and Upright Duke of the Song Dynasty.” The steps leading to the tomb gate form an L-shape following the terrain, with a circular flower bed in front of the steps and a 90-meter-long tomb path ahead, lined densely with holly trees on both sides.

Additionally, a pair of square granite pillars from the stone memorial archway in front of Zong Ze’s Tomb, built during the Republican era, were discovered in Chenjiawan Village near the tomb site. These pillars were placed on either side of the tomb pathway. The front of the pillars is inscribed with “A Pillar Holding Up a Crumbling Great Song” and “A Hero Crying Out Three Times Even in His Final Moments,” while the back reads “Praising the Meritorious Deeds of Eight Hundred Years Ago, Forever Shining as Bright as the Sun and Moon” and “Bestowed Upon Future Generations, Its Value Shines Forever Across Heaven and Earth.” In 1990, the Zhenjiang Cultural Relics Management Committee restored the archway, with a central white marble plaque bearing the three characters “Tomb of Zong Ze” in clerical script.

Further Reading:

· First and Second Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units