Nanjing Ming Culture Village (Yangshan Stele Materials)

Nanjing Ming Culture Village (Yangshan Stele Materials)

Nanjing Ming Culture Village (Yangshan Stele Materials) is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a key cultural relic protection unit of China.

Yangshan Mountain (formerly known as Yamen Mountain) is located in the northwest corner of the Tangshan Scenic Tourism Area. In 1405, the Ming Emperor Zhu Di, in honor of his father Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, recruited thousands of skilled craftsmen from across the country to quarry three massive stele materials here: the stele base (17 meters high, 29.5 meters wide, 12 meters thick, and weighing 16,250 tons), the stele body (51 meters high, 14.2 meters wide, 4.5 meters thick, and weighing 8,799 tons), and the stele top (10 meters high, 22 meters wide, 10.3 meters thick, and weighing 6,118 tons). If combined, they would form a single colossal stele, standing 78 meters tall—equivalent to a 28-story modern building—and weighing a total of 31,167 tons, an extraordinary rarity in the world and a marvel unseen elsewhere. The Qing Dynasty scholar and renowned poet Yuan Mei, when visiting Yangshan, wrote the admiring verse: “The stele stands like a long sword leaning against the blue sky, so mighty not even ten thousand camels could pull it.”

In 1955, the Yangshan Stele Materials in Nanjing were listed as a provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit. In July 1992, the Tangshan Town government established the “Yangshan Stele Materials Park Management Office” here to oversee the restoration and preservation of the steles. Leaning on the railing, visitors can take in the charming scenery all around, filled with poetic and picturesque charm.

Address: No. 8, Wenquan West Road, Tangshan Subdistrict, Jiangning District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

Recommended visiting time: 3–4 hours

Phone: 025-84111108

Opening hours:

9:00–17:00

Further reading:

· First and second batches of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units

· Seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units