Southern Dynasties Stone Carvings

Southern Dynasties Stone Carvings

The Southern Dynasties stone carvings are a cultural tourism attraction.

Southern Dynasties Stone Carvings

The Southern Dynasties tomb stone carvings in Qixia are the most extensively preserved at the district/county level across China. These carvings provide important material for studying the burial systems and cultural and artistic development of the time. Most of the Southern Dynasties stone carvings in the area are exquisitely carved and vividly depicted, making them renowned precious artworks both in China and abroad. Among them, the stone carving of the Xie (a mythical beast) on the eastern side of the spirit way of Xiao Jing’s tomb is the most beautifully shaped, and its design was adopted for the city emblem of the municipal government. Its spirit way pillar is also the best-preserved among all Southern Dynasties tomb spirit way pillars.

The eight stone carvings along the spirit way of Xiao Xiu’s tomb, comprising three types, represent the largest number of preserved stone carvings in front of a prince or marquis tomb. Meanwhile, over 1,400 characters of the inscription on the spirit way stele of Xiao Zhan’s tomb remain legible, making it the tomb stele with the most surviving text from the Southern Dynasties in the Nanjing area, holding significant importance in both historical research and calligraphy. The excavation of the Six Dynasties tomb epitaphs in Qixia not only reflects the evolution of Chinese writing and calligraphy, but also supplements specific geographical locations and place-name relationships in historical records. For example, the tombs of Xiao Rong and his wife, as well as that of Ming Tanxi, are located near Zhangjiaku, which during the Southern Dynasties was part of the immigrant county of LinYi. The discovery of the epitaphs of Xiao Fu and his wife solved the long-standing mystery of the “Huanghu Mountain in Changgan Li,” while the epitaphs of the Wang family tombs revealed that the area around Yantaiji and Taishan (also known as Xiangshan) was under the jurisdiction of Jiankang County during the Eastern Jin Dynasty.