Tomb of Shao Bao

Tomb of Shao Bao

The Tomb of Shao Bao is a cultural relic protection unit of Wuxi City.

The Tomb of Shao Bao is located at Taohuacunwu in Xiuling on Huishan in Yuexi City (now part of Shanbei Township in the suburbs). It was built in the sixth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1527), renovated in the first year of the Jiaqing reign (1796) and the twenty-second year of the Daoguang reign (1842) of the Qing Dynasty, and restored by the Municipal Cultural Relics Management Committee in 1985.

Shao Bao (1460–1527), styled Guoxian, also known as Quanzhai and by the sobriquet Erquan Jushi, was a native of Wuxi. He passed the imperial examination in the twentieth year of the Chenghua reign (1484) during the Ming Dynasty and rose to the position of Minister of Rites in Nanjing. He founded the Shangde Academy and Erquan Academy at Huishan, and authored works such as "Essentials of Canal Administration," "A Concise Study of History," and "Collected Works of Rongchuntang." The restored Tomb of Shao Bao features a bluestone stele in front of the burial mound, inscribed with “Tomb of Shao Bao of the Ming Dynasty,” along with a bluestone offering platform in front of the stele. Nearby stands a four-sided stele erected by Shao Bao for his mother, Lady Guo. The inscription on the stele was composed and written by Wang Ao, a grand secretary of the Ming Cabinet, though the characters have become blurred over time.

In November 1983, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit by the Wuxi Municipal People's Government.