Tomb of Gao Dingzi and Gao Sidao

Tomb of Gao Dingzi and Gao Sidao

The tomb of Gao Dingzi and Gao Sidao is a Suzhou municipal cultural relic protection unit.

The tomb of Gao Dingzi and Gao Sidao is located to the north of Baoshan Temple on West Dongting Mountain. It was once a cultural relic protection site under Wu County. Now that Wu County has been incorporated into Suzhou City, it has naturally been upgraded to a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit.

According to the cultural relic protection plaque: Gao Dingzi (1177–12

47), courtesy name Zhanshu, was a native of Piuqiu in Qiongzhou. He was born in the fourth year of the Chunxi era during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty, and died in the seventh year of the Chunyou era during the reign of Emperor Lizong, at the age of seventy-one. He had an extensive knowledge of the Six Classics. In the second year of the Jiatai era (1202), he passed the imperial examination and rose through the ranks to become a participant in military affairs and concurrently a vice chancellor. Later, he retired to live in central Wu. Gao Sidao, son of Gao Dingzi (1207–1273), was posthumously granted the title of Baron of the Founding State and granted a fief of three hundred households.

According to Li Genyuan’s “Record of Visiting Antiquities in Western Suzhou,” it states: “We visited the tombs of Song Dynasty’s Gao Dingzi and his son Sidao. Dingzi served as Grand Academician of the Taizi Teaching Palace and was posthumously titled Duke of Chengguo; Sidao was the magistrate of Deqing Prefecture and was posthumously titled Baron of the Founding State of Wu County. It is commonly rumored that Wei Liaoweng (also known as Wenyijing Gong) and Dingzi were maternal half-brothers from different fathers, which is incorrect. In reality, Liaoweng was Dingzi’s cousin. This is evidenced by the epitaph of Sidao’s tomb.”