The Tombs of the Southern Tang Dynasty

The Tombs of the Southern Tang Dynasty

The Tombs of the Southern Tang Dynasty are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Tombs of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Nanjing are located on the southwestern foothills of Zutang Mountain. They consist of the Quling (Imperial Tomb) of Li Bian, the founding emperor of the Southern Tang, and the Shunling (Peaceful Tomb) of his son, Li Jing. Viewed from afar, the surrounding mountains resemble a coiled dragon, with Zutang Mountain as the dragon’s head, and the two tombs precisely positioned at the dragon’s mouth—clearly, this was a carefully chosen imperial feng shui site.

The two tombs are adjacent to each other, with Hongshan Mountain to the east, Baishan Mountain to the north, a valley to the west, and an open hillside to the south. Both tombs are built against the mountain and are about 100 meters apart. To the east lies the joint tomb of Li Bian and his empress Song, known as Quling, built in 943 AD. To the west is the joint tomb of Li Jing and his empress Zhong, known as Shunling, built in 961 AD. Li Bian’s tomb was constructed during the peak of the Southern Tang’s power, hence it is larger in scale and richer in burial objects, while Li Jing’s tomb, built when the dynasty was in decline, is slightly smaller and contains fewer burial items.

Emperor Li Bian’s Quling measures over 21 meters in length and more than 10 meters in width, comprising three main chambers (front, middle, and rear) and ten side chambers. The front and middle chambers, along with their four side chambers, are built of brick, while the rear chamber and its six side chambers are constructed of stone. The tomb entrance and the three main chambers imitate the prevalent wooden architectural styles of the time, with beams, arches, pillars, and bracket sets crafted in brick or stone relief, then painted with vibrant mineral pigments such as azurite, malachite, orpiment, and cinnabar. The designs feature motifs like peonies, lotuses, sacred lilies, pomegranates, and cloud patterns. Scholars regard these as the earliest surviving examples of painted decorations on column and beam sections in China, holding significant value in both architectural and art history.

Between the middle and rear chambers of Li Bian’s tomb is a passageway. Above the doorway of the middle chamber’s northern wall sits a large stone relief carving of twin dragons clutching a pearl, flanked by two stone warrior figures in armor, standing atop auspicious clouds and wielding swords—originally all gilded and painted. The rear chamber’s ceiling is formed by massive blue stone slabs arranged in a corbelled dome, adorned with a colorful celestial map depicting over a hundred suns, moons, stars, and constellations. The floor of the rear chamber features carved stone patterns resembling winding rivers, symbolizing a geographical map. This combination of celestial and geographical motifs in tomb decoration follows the tradition of imperial mausoleums since the Qin Shi Huang Tomb. At the rear of the chamber lies a stone coffin platform, its sides adorned with relief carvings of dragons and decorated with shallowly engraved scroll and pomegranate floral patterns.

The side chambers attached to the front, middle, and rear chambers of Li Bian’s tomb all contain brick platforms for burial objects. Originally, these held gold, jade, bronze, iron, and ceramic artifacts, but they were looted or disturbed by grave robbers long ago. The remaining artifacts unearthed include jade funeral texts and pottery figurines, the former inscribed with gold-filled characters indicating the tomb’s name and burial date, while the latter comprise hundreds of male and female court attendant figurines, dancing figurines, and various animal figurines—rare finds in southern Tang and Song tombs.

Li Jing’s Shunling lies to the west of Li Bian’s Quling, similar in size but entirely built of brick. It also has three main chambers and eight side chambers, but lacks the twin-dragon and warrior reliefs at the rear chamber entrance. While the rear chamber ceiling features a celestial map, there is no stone-carved geographical diagram on the floor, nor dragon reliefs on the coffin platform—reflecting the Southern Tang’s declining power, its submission to the Later Zhou Dynasty, and the subsequent renunciation of the imperial title in favor of "ruler of the state." Nevertheless, the three main chambers still display brick reliefs of beams, brackets, pillars, and bracket sets, all painted with floral motifs like peonies and scroll patterns, though most have been eroded by mud. The remaining burial objects mainly include pottery figurines and jade funeral texts, but in terms of quality and variety, they are inferior to those found in Li Bian’s tomb.

As the Southern Tang Dynasty established its capital in Jinling (937–975 AD) and was one of the more economically and culturally advanced states in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, with notable literary figures like Emperor Li Jing and Emperor Li Yu (renowned poets in Chinese literary history) and a famous imperial painting academy, its physical relics are now scarce. Thus, these two underground palaces—along with their architecture, paintings, carvings, and unearthed pottery figurines—are incredibly precious.

Further Reading:

· First and Second Batches of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Third Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units